Its emergency phone is staffed around the clock. Reports of undesirable incidents are logged by the duty officer, who assesses the seriousness of the event and the level of Havtil’s follow-up.
In the event of serious incidents, the duty officer can mobilise Havtil’s emergency organisation. This is then responsible for supervising ongoing developments from its response centre.
Which incidents are investigated?
Havtil may decide to initiate the formal investigation of a serious incident. This decision is taken after the acute circumstances have been clarified.
Several considerations may underlie a decision to investigate. While the seriousness of the incident is the most important criterion, others could also be influential.
Types of incidents investigated by Havtil include:
- major accidents and near-misses of such incidents
- fatalities related to a work accident
- serious personal injury with the potential to be fatal
- serious impairment or loss of safety functions and barriers which threaten the integrity of a facility.
What is the goal of Havtil’s investigations?
Where Havtil as a supervisory authority is concerned, learning lessons and experience transfer are the main reasons for launching investigations. These aim first and foremost to clarify the course of events and underlying causes, so that both industry and government learn from the incident.
Investigations are an important instrument for acquiring knowledge about what can trigger serious incidents, and play an important role in supervising the industry.
Havtil’s investigations are not intended to identify possible criminal actions. These are a matter for the police. If the police investigate an incident, Havtil will usually be asked to provide specialist support.