Closing an Incident Record

In Serenity, closing an incident signals the completion of the response, documentation, and review process. While the platform provides guardrails to ensure compliance and completeness, each organization defines its own policies for when an incident can be formally closed.

When Should an Incident Be Closed?

This decision is typically guided by your internal EHS policy or SOPs. Here are some common approaches:

Closure Trigger	Description
📄 After Reports are finalized	Some teams close the incident once injury, spill, or property damage reports are finalized
🔍 Post-Investigation	Others wait until formal investigations and root cause analysis are completed and findings are identified
🛠 After All Follow-ups	Some organizations require that all findings and corrective and preventive actions (CAPAs) are completed

💡 Serenity supports any of these workflows. The only enforced system rule is that all associated detailed reports must be finalized before closure.

System Requirements for Closure

To close an incident, the following must be true:

✅ All injury and illness reports are finalized
✅ All spill/release reports are finalized
✅ All property or vehicle damage reports are finalized

If any of these remain in progress, the “Close Incident” option will be disabled.

How to Close an Incident

Open the incident record
Click the “Close Incident” button (top right of the screen)
A modal window will appear asking you to:
- Enter Close Notes
- ✅ Optionally check Request Review if the closure needs approval
- Select one or more Reviewers if review is required
Click Continue to proceed with digital signature

What Happens Next?

Without Review:

The incident moves directly to the Closed stage
It becomes read-only, and and can only be re-opened by users with the EHS Manager role

With Review:

The incident enters the Closure stage
The selected Reviewers are notified by email
Reviewers can:
- ✅ Approve the incident for closure
- ❌ Request changes, which sends a notification back to the assignee to revise and re-submit the record

🔄 This ensures that your team can apply a review and approval workflow only when needed, without delaying more routine incident closures.

✅ Best Practices

Define closure criteria in your organization’s EHS policy or training guide
Use Close Notes to summarize final observations, especially if review is required