Conduct an administrative inquiry into an unescorted visitor

What is going on

On 30 August a visitor was found walking unescorted between the depot office and the vehicle compound at the Rockhampton depot. The event was recorded in the WHS Incident and Hazard Register, the visitor was escorted out and the security officer was told within 24 hours. The customer has now asked for a formal administrative inquiry into how it happened and whether the escort requirement in the Security Policy is being followed at that site. Marcus Thorne has appointed you as inquiry officer with Tom Whitlock as adviser. The visitor register, the key and access card register, the site induction records and the staff involved are available to you.

Your brief

Conduct a fair, evidence based administrative inquiry that establishes what happened, why the escort requirement failed, whether the policy and procedure are adequate, and what corrective actions are recommended, and report to the General Manager in a form suitable for the customer.

Work through it

You do not need to do it all. Doing a few of these will show you what the work is like. Your ticks and notes stay on this device.

• Read the Security Policy, the Incident Reporting and Investigation Procedure and the register entry for the event, and write terms of reference for the inquiry for Marcus Thorne to approve.
• Collect the documentary evidence: visitor register, key and access card register, site induction records and the Training and Competency Register entries for the staff involved.
• Plan and conduct interviews with the staff member responsible for escort, the person who found the visitor and the site manager, recording each interview fairly.
• Reconstruct the sequence of events with times and identify where the escort requirement failed and the contributing factors.
• Assess whether the Security Policy, the visitor arrangements and the training at the site are adequate, and identify any gap in policy or practice.
• Draft findings and recommendations with corrective actions assigned to named roles with due dates, and update the register entry with the inquiry reference.
• Prepare the inquiry report and a covering brief for Marcus Thorne that can be released to the customer, with personal details limited to role.

What someone in this role would produce

• Approved terms of reference
• Evidence list and interview records
• Inquiry report with findings and recommendations
• Covering brief for the General Manager
• Updated register entry