Set the rules and reasons for closing events

Every event is born “New” and can be closed later. What closing requires — which closing reason, whether a written justification is needed, what must happen first for an accident — is set in two places: the Event handling policy and the Close reasons list. Both live in the editor of the diary’s Events element.

Where you use the rules you set

This article covers the settings. You change the status in the side panel of the Reports → Events table (Handle events from the table); closing is also offered by the suggestion after a work order is closed. The rules you set apply to every way of closing. An event’s status shows in the table, in the panel and in the export; it deliberately does not appear in the diary or in the shift PDF.

Before you start

• Permission: the right to build the diary structure — layout:manage (or full administrator). Another right, such as handling events, is not enough for this.
• Where to find it: Master data → Diary elements → expand the Events element. Below the Event types box there are two more boxes: Event handling policy and Close reasons.
• Organisation default or site: only someone with access to every site can set the organisation default. Someone with access to just some sites can set a site-level tightening.

A site can only tighten

The organisation default applies to every site. A site can make a rule stricter (for example “Block” instead of “Warn”) but not looser: a value looser than the organisation default does not take effect. The In effect line always shows what actually applies at that site.

Set the policy

1. Open the Event handling policy box.
2. In the Scope list, choose what you are setting: the Organisation default (all sites) or a specific Site.
3. Set the five rules one by one (below). A field left empty (— inherit —) means the organisation default applies (at a site) or the factory default (at the organisation level). Under each row you see the In effect value or the Factory default.
4. Press Save policy. Only the rows you changed are written, and the change applies immediately.

The three-state rules (Off · Warn · Block) work like this: a Warn rule can be passed with a justification (the justification is stored in the event’s history and in the audit trail), a Block rule cannot be passed.

Rule	What it controls	Factory default
Written reason for closing	A free-text reason is required next to the closing reason. Warn: can be closed without text, but the screen flags it. Block: cannot be closed without text.	Warn
Close HSE events only after review	An incident or accident cannot be closed straight from New — someone has to review it first.	Block
Close HSE events only after investigation	An incident or accident can only be closed if it has been Investigating.	Warn
“New for too long” highlight (days)	After this many days a New event is marked for highlighting. 0 = no highlight.	3 days
Suggest closing the event when its work order closes	When a work order raised from the event is closed, the screen suggests closing the event. It never closes it automatically.	On
Suggest closing the event when its tasks are done	When every task raised from the event is reported done, the event panel suggests closing it as “Handled by task” (Issue a task from an event). It never closes it automatically.	On

Where the “New for too long” highlight shows

In the Events table a New · N days badge appears next to a “New” event that has waited longer than the configured number of days; under Filters, the New for too long button lists only those. 0 switches the highlight off.

Incident and accident are the two HSE severities. A near miss does not fall under the two HSE rules.

Manage the close reasons

Closing an event always needs a closing reason. The list consists of factory reasons, and you can add your own.

1. Open the Close reasons box. The header shows the number of active reasons.
2. Add a reason: type the name in the New close reason… field (1–120 characters), tick Requires a written reference if this reason must say what it refers to (for example the ID in another system), then press Add reason.
3. Rename: change the name in your own reason’s row and press Save. The “Requires a written reference” tick can be changed there too.
4. Archive: the Archive button removes the reason from the selectable list. There is no delete, because closed events refer to it. Under Archived reasons the Restore button brings it back.

The factory reasons are: Handled · No action required · Handled by work order · Handled by task · Handled in another system · False / duplicate. Handled in another system and False / duplicate need a written reference.

Factory reasons are protected

A factory reason’s row shows Factory and Protected: it can be neither renamed nor archived. If a factory reason’s name does not suit you, add your own next to it and use that.

If you did it right

• After Save policy the message “Policy saved.” appears, and the In effect value under the row shows the new one.
• The new closing reason is among the active reasons, and the box header shows one more.

Common problems

What you see	Why	What to do
“Event handling settings … require the ‘Build the diary structure’ permission.”	You do not have layout:manage.	Ask your administrator.
The Organisation default scope is disabled	Only someone with access to every site can set the organisation default.	Set a site-level tightening, or ask a colleague with company-wide access.
“Invalid value — the number of days must be 0 or a positive whole number.”	A fraction or a negative value went into the “New for too long” field.	Enter a whole number, 0 or more.
“Factory close reasons are protected: they cannot be renamed or archived.”	You tried to change a factory reason.	Add your own reason.
I set a looser value at a site, but it did not take effect	A site can only tighten the organisation default.	Check the In effect line; to loosen it, change the organisation default.

Good to know

• The server enforces the rule. The screen and every way of closing get the same policy; it cannot be bypassed with a hand-made request.
• The closing history cannot be edited. Every status change — who, when, with which reason and justification — goes into a history row that cannot be rewritten afterwards, and leaves an audit trail.
• An event gets an identifier. Every event gets a unique identifier (for example E-2026-…-00001), which the work-order suggestion refers to.

Related

Close the event after its work order is closedThe suggestion that the policy above switches on.

Customize the event typesThe other box in the Events element: names, colours, plants.

Custom roles and the permission matrixGranting the Handle events permission.