Every investigation into an accident or incident is subject to a report prepared in a format appropriate to the type and severity of the accident or incident and the importance of the investigation’s results. The investigation reports serve as a reminder as well as an archive, but also allow the lessons learned from accidents and/or incidents to be recognised. Their goal is to encourage the circulation of knowledge acquired in the course of different analyses.
The investigation reports follow the reporting structure prescribed by the Commission’s Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/572 of 24 April 2020.
The various report types published by the IU are:
- Bulletin of general information
- Temporary safety investigation report
- Safety investigation report
- Summary
Bulletin of general information
- Bulletins of general information are a way of quickly sharing the salient facts when we have decided to conduct an investigation.
- After bringing the primary elements together, the IU publishes a bulletin of general information on this website containing factual information;
- The bulletin of general information does not contain an analysis of the event or any conclusions.
- A safety investigation report or a safety notice will be published subsequently.
Safety investigation report and summary
The report outlines the elements that have allowed conclusions to be drawn.
The content is determined in appendix 6 of the law on the railway code.
The IU publishes the report in two languages (French and Dutch).
A summary containing the main elements of the investigation, the conclusions and the recommendations is published in 4 languages (English, French, Dutch and German).
Temporary safety investigation report
When we are unable to complete an investigation within 1 year, we publish a temporary safety investigation report.