In accordance with the Law on the Railway Code, 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 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.