incidents

An incident is an event that interrupts normal operations, causes harm, or creates the potential for harm. In safety, security, IT, and other domains, incidents may range from minor disruptions to major crises. The term is often used to distinguish unscheduled or unexpected events from routine maintenance or planned changes.

Incidents can be classified by domain: safety incidents such as injuries or near-misses; security incidents such as data breaches or unauthorized access; IT incidents including system outages or hardware failures; environmental incidents like spills; and transport incidents such as collisions.

Management: Many organizations use an incident management process to detect, report, triage, contain, eradicate, recover, and document incidents. An incident response team or incident commander may coordinate actions. After containment, a root cause analysis is conducted to identify contributing factors and implement corrective actions. Documentation includes timelines, impact, and lessons learned to prevent recurrence.

Reporting and standards: Incident reporting policies vary by sector but often require timely notification to stakeholders and regulators. Frameworks such as ITIL, NIST, and ISO 27001 discuss incident management practices, including service restoration, communication, and risk assessment.

Impact and metrics: Key metrics include detection time, containment time, and recovery time, as well as incident frequency, severity, and recurrence. Ethical and privacy considerations apply, particularly for security incidents involving personal data. Incidents are distinct from accidents, which imply unintended physical harm; the term is often used more broadly to describe any disruptive event.