A few years ago, I went on the four day IOSH course on accident investigation which I found very useful. One of the things I took away from that course was how to take witness statements. Here is what I do: Step 1 ask the witness to run though what happened Step 2 ask the witness to run through in more detail what happened - asking open questions and taking rough notes Step 3 repeat steps 1 and 2 with all other witnesses Step 4 Ask further open questions for clarification, particularly if there are inconsistencies Step 5 Complete the witness statement for the witness checking they are OK with each sentence - typing onto a laptop - in the first person, e.g. "My name is Fred, I have been working here for x amount of years etc... etc.. On the day of the accident I saw...." Step 6 Ask the witness to read it through - offering to make any corrections they suggest - and then ask them to sign it - as an accurate acount of what happened. I had a debate with one yesterday with one my colleagues who insists on writing them in the third person. e.g. Fred Bloggs, has worked for ... etc etc, on the day of the accident he was..." My problem with the third person style is that when read out in court, I don' think they would sound like they are a genuine endorsed account of what happened from the witness's point of view. However my colleague argued that if she is writing it then, it is not coming from the witness so it would be wrong to pretend otherwise. So here is my question - what approach do you use when taking witness statements for investigations

Buzz, I have to say that if I had gone through all the steps you quoted when I was an HSE Inspector I would never have got my investigations finished. There is an art to taking statements though and the more you do the better you get at it. What I did was: Talk to witness about what happened. Take statement. Witness sigtns statment. HSE Inspectors write them in the first person (that of the witness). The witness is signing the statement so it is supposed to be their words (I did that and then he did that etc). The only reason the inspectors write the statements themselves and then get the witness to sign it (instead of the witness writing it) is to ensure the all relevant information is put down, in the a coherent way and (hopefully) legible hand writing (I always read mine back though instead of getting them to read them). Witnesses just want to tell their story but investigators need background and detail.

IMO a witness statement should be written by the witness and therefore in the first person. If this is not possible, it could be writen for them, again in the first person, however, specifying this fact. What I do once I have received the statement is to hold an interview recording all questions and exact answers - open questions- probing questions- finally closed questions. I also, normally ask permision to tape the conversations and explain that it is to write the details after. This allows free talk without interruptions and ensures you get the most out of the interview. Now, accident reports should be written in the third person and filled in by the first aider or supervisor. Accident investigations also in the third person.

Agree Statement of witness- First person- their thoughts their actions-subjective Incident Report-third person- the facts-objective