Unit of competency
Modification History
Release 1. Supersedes and is equivalent to PMAOHS310B Investigate incidents
Application
This unit of competency covers the skills and knowledge required to investigate incidents in the workplace. These incidents can vary from large to small, completely internal or partially externally coordinated. They include all types of incidents and emergencies (e.g. process, work health and safety (WHS), and environmental).
An incident is an event which causes, or could have caused, injury or illness; damage to plant, material or the environment; disruption to production or public alarm.
An incident is an unintended event, or an unintended consequence of an intended event, such as:
- fire and explosion
- loss of containment
- excursions above/below acceptable limits for emissions or plant conditions
- excursions above occupational hygiene or biological exposure limits
- non-compliance with regulatory requirements
- security breaches
- failure to follow procedures
- complaints
- vehicle incidents
- on/off-site incidents.
This unit of competency applies to operators who are required to secure the incident site, identify and examine a range of evidence to determine likely cause of incident, record evidence and analyse results to identify improvements to procedures/processes.
This unit of competency applies to experienced operators, technicians, supervisors, and those in similar roles who undertake internal investigations of minor incidents and/or who assist in external investigations of more major incidents.
The exact definition of the scope of responsibility will depend on company policy, as will the level of the person undertaking these investigations. These investigations will be in accordance with company procedures for such investigations which will be consistent with any relevant regulations.
This unit of competency applies to an individual working alone or as part of a team or group and working in liaison with other shift team members.
This unit of competency applies to all work environments and sectors within the industry.
No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.
Pre-requisite Unit
Nil
Competency Field
Work health and safety
Unit Sector
Elements and Performance Criteria
Elements describe the essential outcomes. |
Performance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element. |
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1 |
Review incident |
1.1 |
Undertake site inspections of incident scene |
1.2 |
Communicate with relevant personnel regarding specific aspects of the incident |
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1.3 |
Monitor corrective action procedures |
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1.4 |
Communicate changes to the situation to appropriate personnel |
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2 |
Record investigation process and results |
2.1 |
Establish and secure boundaries of the incident scene to prevent contamination of prospective evidence/exhibits. |
2.2 |
Identify and interview persons relevant to the incident |
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2.3 |
Identify and record evidence/exhibits at the scene prior to examination to ensure continuity |
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2.4 |
Assess relevant information, documentation and evidence/exhibits |
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2.5 |
Determine point of origin and most likely cause of incident |
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2.6 |
Determine risk factors affecting the incident |
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2.7 |
Identify and analyse a range of other possible causes |
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2.8 |
Identify and utilise support services to investigate the incident scene |
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2.9 |
Process, record and communicate information/evidence/exhibits, forms and documents to appropriate personnel following enterprise policies and procedures |
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3 |
Make suggestions to improve incident handling and prevention |
3.1 |
Identify and assess tactical factors and resulting priorities occurring during the incident |
3.2 |
Formulate appropriate suggestions to improve handling of similar incidents based upon information available |
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3.3 |
Identify incident cause and make recommendations to prevent a recurrence |
Foundation Skills
This section describes those language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills that are essential to performance.
Foundation skills essential to performance are explicit in the performance criteria of this unit of competency.
Range of Conditions
This field allows for different work environments and conditions that may affect performance. Essential operating conditions that may be present (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) are included. |
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Regulatory framework |
The latest version of all legislation, regulations, industry codes of practice and Australian/international standards, or the version specified by the local regulatory authority, must be used, and include one or more of the following:
All operations to which this unit applies are subject to stringent health, safety and environment (HSE) requirements, which may be imposed through state/territory or federal legislation, and these must not be compromised at any time. Where there is an apparent conflict between performance criteria and HSE requirements, the HSE requirements take precedence. |
Procedures |
All operations must be performed in accordance with relevant procedures. Procedures are written, verbal, visual, computer-based or in some other form, include one or more of the following:
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Hazards and risks |
Hazards and risk factors must be analysed in order to identify possible and likely causes of incidents. Identifying hazards requires consideration of one or more of the following:
Identifying risks requires consideration of specific hazards, including the following:
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Evidence gained |
Evidence gained as a result of investigations include one or more of the following:
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Support services |
Support services include one or more of the following:
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Interview strategies |
The purpose of the interview is to establish what happened, not who is to blame. Interviews must be planned and require consideration of the following:
Legal and policy requirements might apply according to the status of the person being interviewed. Requirements include one or more of the following:
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Post-investigation documentation |
Post-investigation documentation include one or more of the following:
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Relevant personnel |
The relevant personnel for incident investigation referrals will depend on the type of information being conveyed and the enterprise policies and procedures. Typically they will include one or more of the following:
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Unit Mapping Information
Release 1. Supersedes and is equivalent to PMAOHS310B Investigate incidents
Links
Companion Volume implementation guides are found in VETNet - https://vetnet.gov.au/Pages/TrainingDocs.aspx?q=9fc2cf53-e570-4e9f-ad6a-b228ffdb6875