CARE Investigation Method™
Causation · Accountability · Recovery · Evaluation
Every incident is an opportunity to learn and improve. CARE is designed to find the real, systemic causes of an event, identify practical improvements, and support the wellbeing and recovery of everyone affected. Rather than focusing on individual fault, it looks at the whole system — the conditions, processes and organisational factors that shape how work happens — so the changes that follow genuinely reduce risk. The aim is simple: a safer workplace, stronger systems, and people who are supported to recover and return well.
ICAM-aligned. CARE is built on the same organisational-accident model that ICAM uses — PEEPO evidence and the four contributing-factor levels — so it meets WHS and ISO 45001 root-cause obligations and produces ICAM-aligned investigation reports. (CARE is an original SureHarbor method, not affiliated with any ICAM training provider; where a principal contractor requires an accredited ICAM investigation, confirm their specific requirement.)
Four pillars, one fair investigation
CARE looks at the whole system that shaped how the work happened — and brings the recovery of the people affected into the investigation itself.
Causation
Understand what happened and why — a clear timeline, evidence gathered across every category, and the system conditions (not just individual actions) that allowed it. Causes are found at four levels, from the failed last-line defences to the organisational factors beneath them.
Accountability
Turn the findings into clear, owned improvements. Each action has someone responsible, a due date and a way to confirm it worked, ranked by the hierarchy of controls. Applied through a just-culture lens, accountability here is about owning the changes that prevent recurrence — fairly and constructively, not about apportioning fault.
Recovery
Put the people affected at the centre. Capture who was harmed or impacted, the support and return-to-work needs, and the actions to restore their health and confidence — recovery is part of the investigation, not an afterthought.
Evaluation
Close the loop. Verify that corrective actions were implemented and actually reduced the risk, capture the lessons, and share them so the same event doesn't happen elsewhere.
Whole-system view
Built on the organisational-accident model — it focuses on the conditions, processes and organisational factors that shaped how the work happened, so improvements address the real causes.
Recovery built in
The people affected and their return to work are part of the investigation — an often-overlooked but vital part of a good outcome.
Defensible & useful
Evidence-based findings, improvements ranked by the hierarchy of controls, and verification that they actually reduced the risk.
The foundations of the method
Developed by SureHarbor
CARE was created to focus incident investigation on what matters most — learning, practical improvement, and the recovery of the people involved. It draws on established safety and quality disciplines:
- Work health & safety
- Incident investigation
- Just-culture principles
- Management-systems auditing
- Return-to-work & recovery
Run CARE investigations in SureHarbor
The full method is built into the platform — timeline, causation analysis, recovery, recommendations and a one-click investigation report. Free for community clubs.
The CARE Investigation Method™ — developed by SureHarbor.