Report Writing

Question 1

What are the stages involved in writing a report?

Answer 1

Clarifying your terms of reference/type of report required,
Planning your work,
Collecting your information,
Organising and structuring your information,
Writing the first draft,
Checking, peer review And re-drafting

Question 2

What are terms of reference?

Answer 2

Guidelines used to define the scope of your investigation

Question 3

What are the benefits of planning the report?

Answer 3

Assists in writing a clear, concise and effective report and providing adequate time to complete each stage prior to submission for publication

Question 4

How should A report be planned?

Answer 4

Consider the report as a whole,
Break the task of producing the report into various parts,
Allocate a timescale to produce the report,
Divide the time into various stages of the defined parts?
Set deadlines and stick to them

Question 5

When collecting information, what questions should you ask yourself?

Answer 5

What is the information that I need, 
Where will it be found,
How much information do I need,
How will the information be collected,
How will it be arranged within the report

Question 6

When structuring a report what is essential?

Answer 6

Who you are writing the report for

Question 7

What principles should you follow when writing atypical reports?

Answer 7

Write in plain English,
Do not be overly technical,
Explain a technical matters in lay terms,
Avoid rambling,
Follow a logical sequence,
Reference key information

Question 8

What is the purpose of a coroners report?

Answer 8

To determine the circumstances leading to the death of a person

Question 9

What are the types of death that the coroner can declare?

Answer 9

Accidental,
Suicide,
Misadventure,
Unlawful killing

Question 10

In a coroners report what items should be included?

Answer 10

Statements from witnesses example incident commander, firefighting crews,
Report of the investigation to include;
Summary, description of the building, sequence of events, scene examination, profile of the deceased, possible sources of ignition, how possible sources were eliminated, conclusion determining the cause, community fire safety implications,
Photographs,
Plans to explain the incident

Question 11

What should the fire investigator not state in their report?

Answer 11

The cause of the fire was the result of an accident or deliberate