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Once incidents are recorded, you need to find them, review them, and keep them up to date. Signal provides powerful tools for searching, filtering, and managing your incident records.

Viewing the incident list

The incident list shows all student incidents you have access to. You can find it by clicking Incidents in the sidebar navigation.

Searching

Use the search bar at the top of the incident list to find specific incidents. You can search by student name, keywords in the description, or other details.

Filtering

Narrow down the list using filters. You can filter by:
  • Category — show only incidents of a specific concern type
  • Location — show incidents that occurred at a particular location
  • Date range — show incidents from a specific time period
  • Student — show all incidents involving a particular child
Filters can be combined to get exactly the view you need. For example, you might filter for all Physical incidents at the Playground in the last term.

The incident card

Click any incident in the list to open its detail view. The incident card is the primary way to view and interact with an incident. It shows all information about the concern and provides actions for follow-up.

What you see on the incident card

Each incident card displays:
  • Students — the main student(s) and any linked students
  • Date and time of the incident
  • Location and agency badges (if applicable)
  • Description — the full incident description with any @mentions
  • Creation and edit metadata — who created it, when, and whether it has been edited

AI Summary

If Signal has generated a summary for the incident, it appears in a collapsible AI Summary section. This provides a concise overview of the concern and any patterns identified.

Short Term Actions

Click Create Short Term Actions on the incident card to generate AI-powered recommendations. Signal analyses the incident description, student history, and relevant policies to suggest practical next steps. These recommendations can be reviewed, edited, and saved as comments on the incident.
Short Term Actions are generated on demand — click the button when you want recommendations. They are not created automatically.

Relevant Policies

The incident card shows which safeguarding policies are relevant to this concern. Policies matched by AI are highlighted, while manually linked policies are shown separately. Click a policy to view the full document.

Linked Action Plans

If the incident is linked to any action plans, they appear as badges on the card. Click an action plan badge to navigate to the plan detail page.

Action buttons

The incident card provides several actions:
ActionWhat it does
ViewOpens the full incident detail
Create Short Term ActionsGenerates AI-powered recommendations
Create Action PlanCreates a new action plan linked to this incident
Add to Existing PlanLinks this incident to an existing action plan
EditOpens the incident for editing
DeletePermanently removes the incident

Comments and documents

The bottom of the incident card shows the comments section and documents section side by side. You can add comments with @mentions, upload new documents, and view existing attachments directly from the card.

Editing incidents

You can edit an incident to update its details as the situation develops. Open the incident and click Edit to modify:
  • The description
  • Categories
  • Location
  • Agencies
  • Staff present
  • Linked students
  • Attached documents
You need the Owner, DSL, or Deputy DSL role to edit incidents.

Edit history

Signal tracks every change made to an incident. Each edit is recorded with the name of the person who made it and a timestamp. This ensures full accountability and means you can always see how a record has evolved over time. The edit history is visible on the incident detail view, so anyone reviewing the incident can see what was changed and when.

Visibility exclusions

Only users with the Owner, DSL, or Deputy DSL role can set or change visibility exclusions.
Visibility exclusions control which staff members can see a specific incident. You can set exclusions when creating an incident or edit them afterwards. There are three options:
  • DSL only — only DSLs, Deputy DSLs, and Owners can see the incident. All other staff are excluded.
  • Exclude specific staff — choose individual staff members who should not be able to see the incident.
  • Exclude Staff Groups — choose entire Staff Groups to exclude from seeing the incident.
Exclusions are useful for sensitive cases where wider staff access is not appropriate — for example, when the concern involves a staff member’s own child, or when information needs to be tightly controlled.

Marking incidents as viewed

When you open an incident you have not seen before, Signal marks it as viewed. This helps track which incidents you have reviewed and which are new to you.

Deleting incidents

You need the Deputy DSL, DSL, or Owner role to delete incidents.
In rare cases, you may need to delete an incident — for example, if it was created in error or contains duplicate information.
Deleting an incident removes it permanently. Consider whether editing the incident or adding a clarifying comment would be more appropriate before deleting. In safeguarding, it is generally better to keep a record and annotate it than to delete it entirely.

Document management

Uploading documents

You can attach documents to an incident at any time — both during creation and afterwards. Click the document upload area on the incident to add files such as photos, reports, letters, or screenshots.

Viewing documents

Attached documents appear on the incident detail view. Click a document to view or download it.

Removing documents

If a document was attached in error, you can remove it from the incident. Removing a document detaches it from the incident.
Keep incident records as complete and accurate as possible. If you realise something has changed or was incorrect, add a comment explaining the update rather than silently editing or deleting information. A transparent record is always stronger than one that has been quietly altered.