Posted By Merv Newman OK, here we go on positive reinforcement. People will not report incidents in which they were involved/may have caused because they fear that someone will put the boot in. (in them). I try to encourage reporting of incidents by encouraging a culture of "please tell us, we NEED to know so that we can avoid another incident". Incident reports only report what went wrong. the errors or failings. But in most incidents SOMETHING went right. Even if it was only that the ambulance was called promptly, emergency procedures were followed correctly. Incident reports NEVER record the positives. Even though the company may need these positive points in any later court case. The whole atmosphere of an incident inquiry is wrong. Everybody KNOWS that we are trying to identify the person to blame. So they defend themselves, their friends, their colleagues. And in some cases their employer. A question I systematically employ in accident/incident inquires, and VERY early in the process is "What did we/you get right ?" This question tends to get over the automatic defensive reactions and leads people to talking about what actually happened. From what went right I can more easily get to the truth about what went wrong. I find that witnesses/participants come out of this kind of an inquiry with more positive feelings to the inquireurs(?) and more confidance that the inquiry will come up with the right results. Discuss Merv