The Safety Investigation Authority ensures investigation team communication, situational awareness and documentation with Secapp

In the work of the Safety Investigation Authority, Finland, rapid response, reliable information flow and secure documentation are a central part of a successful investigation. When an investigation team sets out for an on-site investigation, it must be able to communicate securely, share situational awareness and document events also in a mobile operating environment that may cover a wide area.

Secapp serves as the Safety Investigation Authority’s primary communication system in on-site investigations and investigation team work. With Secapp, information, situational awareness and investigation-related documentation remain in a secure environment in Finland.

The Safety Investigation Authority, also known as SIA, is a safety investigation authority whose goal is to improve general safety through reliable investigations and safety recommendations. SIA investigates serious accidents and incidents, and the purpose of its work is to learn from what has happened and help prevent similar situations in the future.

In the tasks of the Safety Investigation Authority, situations may require rapid deployment regardless of the time of day. International legal obligations and needs related to the continuity of societal functions require that the investigation team can get moving quickly, also at night.

If, for example, a main railway line or an airport runway is closed due to an accident, the start of the investigation also has significance for resolving the wider situation. The investigation must be able to begin without delay, and the conditions for conducting the investigation must be secured.

The Safety Investigation Authority has a 24/7 on-call model in which investigation measures may need to be started also outside office hours. Once the people leaving for the on-site investigation have been reached, Secapp can be used to create a secure environment for the investigation team to communicate and share up-to-date information quickly and securely.

Secapp supports message acknowledgements and response tracking. This allows the sender to see who has received the message and who has reacted to it. This helps quickly form an understanding of whether the necessary team has been reached and whether the start of the assignment is progressing as planned.

Secapp is used by the Safety Investigation Authority to support on-site investigations. Investigations often involve fieldwork across a wide area, where members of the investigation team must be able to communicate with each other securely and in real time. At the same time, for example, the office must also receive information about how the situation is developing.

Secapp enables secure communication between several people. The investigation team can discuss with each other, share information and assess hazards in the same environment. This supports both the work of the team in the field and the situational awareness of the personnel at the office.

– In an on-site investigation, situations change quickly, and information must not remain dependent on individual phone calls or notes. For us, it is important that the investigation team and the office have a shared, secure way to exchange up-to-date information, says Tiina Bieber, Communications Manager at the Safety Investigation Authority.

In practice, Secapp functions as a shared communication channel in on-site investigations, where the people involved in the investigation can share observations, clarify tasks and exchange current information without communication being scattered across several separate channels. When the investigation team is working in the field, at the accident site or otherwise in a mobile environment, information travels with them on mobile devices and in a secure manner.

Secapp provides an environment for communication where information can be shared in a controlled way between the people who have a role in the investigation.

The Safety Investigation Authority also uses Secapp to maintain situational awareness. During an investigation, information is generated from multiple sources and by different people, which makes it important that observations, decisions and events can be brought together in one place.

A situation log can be maintained in Secapp, where information related to the progress of the investigation is recorded. This helps ensure that the course of events, actions taken and key observations are preserved during the investigation. Secapp’s mobile application can also function offline when needed, which supports work in situations where data connections are not available.

The benefit of the situation log in Secapp is that information does not remain dependent only on individual messages, phone calls or notes. When the investigation team’s communication, situational information and documentation are in the same system, it is easier to maintain the overall picture even when the situation changes quickly or several people in different locations are involved in the investigation.

From the office’s perspective, this supports up-to-date situational awareness. Information from the field can be shared onward in a controlled manner, and documented information from the different phases of the investigation is retained for later review.

One of the important benefits for the Safety Investigation Authority has been that forms, instructions and documents related to investigations can be stored in Secapp. For example, important forms related to hearings are available in the system.

Previously, corresponding materials required carrying a separate computer and searching for files in the middle of the situation. With Secapp, the necessary documents and forms are more easily available during on-site investigations, and they can be used as part of the investigation documentation.

Secapp’s documentation and file functions support this practical work. When essential forms, instructions and investigation-related materials are available in the same system, the investigation team does not need to search for them in separate folders or on separate devices. This makes work easier especially in field conditions, where the working situation does not always allow the use of a computer. Secapp’s documentation and file functions also work in offline mode on a mobile device.

For the Safety Investigation Authority, Secapp is not just an individual communication channel, but part of the practical operating model of the investigation. The system brings together the functions that the investigation team needs from the start of the investigation to documentation.

The Safety Investigation Authority uses Secapp especially for:

• secure communication between people involved in the investigation
• sharing situational awareness between the field and the office
• maintaining a situation log during the investigation
• storing forms, instructions and documents related to the investigation
• documenting observations, hazard assessments and the phases of the investigation

The significance of these functions is emphasized in on-site investigations, where the team may work in a distributed way and information is updated as the investigation progresses. When communication, documents and the situation log are in the same environment, the overall process remains controlled even in a mobile situation.

In the selection of Secapp, information security and the fact that information remains in Finland were especially important to the Safety Investigation Authority. Investigation-related communication involves information that must remain reliably under control.

– Investigation-related information is of such a nature that its handling must be trusted at every stage. That is why information security and the fact that information remains in Finland were key issues for us, Bieber says.

With Secapp, the Safety Investigation Authority can share investigation-related information in a controlled way between different roles, the investigation team and the office. This is especially important when several people, different roles and the office are involved in the investigation.

The Safety Investigation Authority has been very satisfied with the use of Secapp. The transition from the old system to Secapp took place quickly, especially in terms of investigation communication.

At the moment, the Safety Investigation Authority uses Secapp’s communication, documentation and situational awareness functions. The organization is also continuously considering how Secapp could be used more extensively.

– The transition from the old system to Secapp was quick. We have been very satisfied with its use and are continuously considering how we could use Secapp even more extensively, Bieber says.

Secapp’s Customer Account Director Janne Mylläri sees the Safety Investigation Authority’s use cases as a good example of how Secapp supports a demanding operating environment in several phases of an investigation.

– SIA’s use case shows well how Secapp can support demanding operations as a whole. It is not just about an individual communication channel, but also about robust communication, the situation log, information archiving and shared situational awareness between the field and the office, says Janne Mylläri, Customer Account Director at Secapp.

In the work of the Safety Investigation Authority, communication, documentation and situational awareness must function also under pressure. When the investigation team sets out, information must flow securely and the right people must receive the information they need quickly.

Secapp helps ensure that the investigation team can communicate in a secure environment and that the events of the investigation can be documented in the same system. In this way, Secapp supports the Safety Investigation Authority’s ability to operate in situations where every second matters.