Skip to content

Incident Investigation and Root Cause Analysis

When something goes wrong, the easy answer is operator error, and the easy answer is almost always wrong. Delegates practise securing a scene, interviewing witnesses without intimidating them, and tracing a failure back past the person who touched the equipment to the management decisions that made it possible.

What you will be able to do

  • Secure an incident scene and preserve physical, documentary and digital evidence before it disappears.
  • Interview witnesses using techniques that produce accurate recall rather than defensive answers.
  • Construct a factual timeline that separates what is known from what is assumed.
  • Apply structured root cause methods including the five whys, causal tree and barrier analysis.
  • Identify systemic and organisational causes rather than stopping at the last person who touched the equipment.
  • Write an investigation report with corrective actions that carry owners, deadlines and verification steps.

Course outline

  1. 01First response and scene preservation
  2. 02Evidence types and chain of custody
  3. 03Witness interviewing without blame
  4. 04Building the incident timeline
  5. 05Five whys, causal trees and barrier analysis
  6. 06From immediate cause to systemic cause
  7. 07Report writing and corrective action tracking
  8. 08Verifying that actions actually worked

Who should attend

Safety officers, SHEQ managers, plant and production managers, human resources practitioners involved in disciplinary follow up, and health and safety committee members who sit on investigation teams.

Dates, venues and fees

DatesVenueDaysFeeCalendar
17 to 19 Aug 2026Accra3US$1,500
24 to 26 Aug 2026Lusaka3US$1,500
31 Aug to 2 Sep 2026Kigali3US$1,500
7 to 9 Sep 2026Nairobi3US$1,500
14 to 16 Sep 2026Durban3R13,000
21 to 23 Sep 2026Johannesburg3R13,000
5 to 7 Oct 2026Mauritius3US$1,500
12 to 14 Oct 2026Dubai3US$1,500
19 to 21 Oct 2026Lagos3US$1,500
26 to 28 Oct 2026Harare3US$1,500
2 to 4 Nov 2026Kampala3US$1,500
9 to 11 Nov 2026Dar es Salaam3US$1,500
16 to 18 Nov 2026Pretoria3R13,000
23 to 25 Nov 2026Cape Town3R13,000
7 to 9 Dec 2026Online3US$900
14 to 16 Dec 2026Mozambique3US$1,500
21 to 23 Dec 2026Cairo3US$1,500

Fees are per delegate. South African venues are priced in rand; other locations and online in US dollars. Fees exclude 15% VAT where applicable. Group bookings of three or more delegates from the same organisation qualify for a reduced rate; contact us for a quotation.

Related courses in Health and Safety

Health and Safety

Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment

Most risk assessments are written once, filed, and never used again. The work here is producing baseline, issue based and continuous...

Next session
31 Aug to 2 Sep 2026
Venue
Johannesburg
3 day programme
FromUS$900
Health and SafetyNew

Construction Health and Safety Management

South African construction sites carry some of the heaviest safety obligations of any industry, shared between client, principal contractor...

Next session
31 Aug to 4 Sep 2026
Venue
Cairo
5 day programme
FromUS$900
See all Health and Safety courses