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Brendan Warner sat down with us to discuss his upcoming webinar about the importance and utility of incident reports. To learn more about the webinar on 28 January or register now, go here. 


Q: How did you become interested in incident report writing?

A: I became interested with incident report writing during my service with the Irish military. My opinion of report writing varied depending on my level of responsibility and experience. In my early days as a naïve junior leader, incident reports were an unimportant administrative burden. On reflection, this was due to the type of incident report writing that I was involved with, routine physical security issues and ad-hoc personnel accident and injury reports.  

As my career developed and my experience widened, I viewed incident report writing as a skill, and reports as valuable tools for all levels of security professionals. Reports could be used as an accurate record of various incidents, providing value for future lessons learned. Reports could be used as justification to update standard operating procedures, change work practices, demonstrate effectiveness of security staff, or be used as evidence for investigations.  

As I progressed to report writing for military intelligence purposes, the value of incident reports changed, and reinforced my opinion of their importance. In situations of ambiguity, reports were to be timely, accurate and actionable. Reports were to be used by stakeholders for situational awareness and strategic decision making. In summary, incident reports mattered.

Q: What advice would you give security professionals interested in incident report writing? 

A: Incident Report Writers:
The reason and type of incident report varies, though their importance and need for accuracy should not. You may routinely draft tactical, operational or strategic level reports, but always remember to be factual. Though reports vary from organization to organization, the basic structure of incident report writing should capture the following information where possible, who; what; when; where; why; how. The use of opinion in an incident report should never occur. However, some reports may require you to include assessments or analysis. Peer review is also important, there should be no ego in security, best practice should include getting your work checked for accuracy. Crucially – understand your customer! Particularly remaining relevant to their needs, being aware of acronyms, and their knowledge levels. 

Incident Report Receivers:
Take time to understand what has been provided to you. Trust the writer, particularly with their analysis or assessments. They may be a subject matter expert or be writing with a larger knowledge base. Do not be hesitant to seek clarity, particularly if the report is required for decision making. Provide constructive feedback to the writer, let them know if the style and content was what you wanted, or if changes are required. 

Q: Why should security professionals have incident report writing on their radar?

A: Incident report writing is a fundamental aspect of all levels of security operations. The context underpinning the incident may determine the type of report which is drafted. At their most basic level, incident reports act as an indicator of a stable, improving or deteriorating environment. Information contained in these reports may be actionable or may highlight key information gaps that can be further explored. They may act to strengthen physical security operations or provide information for strategic decision making.

For writers, security professionals should be aware of how to produce an accurate and unbiased incident report. Security leadership should ensure professionals understand the value of reports and provide writers with necessary support to refine their drafts. Writers should understand their customers, and tailor the report accordingly, in full knowledge that reports are contributing to the overall security architecture.

For receivers, incident reports can act as a tool to quickly get you up to speed with a specific event in which you may not have a current knowledge base. Knowing security professionals are collecting, processing, and analyzing developing or ongoing events, should provide you free to deal with broader concerns. Depending on your organization, reports can be customized to your requirements.

 

brendan-warner.jpg Brendan Warner is currently a global embedded teams manager at Emergent Risk International in Dublin, Ireland. He also served for more than twenty years in the Irish military, including numerous deployments with the European Union and United Nations to Africa and the Middle East.

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