An interview can be described as “a conversation with a purpose”. That purpose is to establish the truth. It is the skills of the interviewer which will dictate how effectively the task is carried out.
To this end, it is necessary that interviews are carried out impartially, with an open mind and that they are planned, carried out effectively and the information gathered is reviewed and analysed.
Before the Interview
Before carrying out an interview there are several aspects to be considered:
▪ Who should be present;
▪ Purpose of the interview;
▪ How will the interview is to be structured; and
▪ Where the interview is to be held.
The interviewee may request to be accompanied by a colleague In this instance. It is essential that the only person interviewed is the interviewee and that the person accompanying them remains a ‘silent support’. It is important to only interview one person at a time. If groups are interviewed, people may not come forward with critical information because the others are there.
The purpose of any interview is to establish the truth. To enable this to be done effectively and efciently, the interview must be planned and a set of aims and objectives prepared. This will not only provide a structure for questions and thus improve the ow of the interview, but it will also give a greater degree of condence to the interviewee.
Factors to Consider
▪ The interviewer controls the interview and by doing so, the interview can full its aims and objectives.
▪ The interview location is comfortable, there is somewhere to sit, it can be held in a condential manner and that others cannot hear what is said.
▪ Plan to ensure there are no interruptions during the interview.
▪ Avoid interviewing people just before they are due to leave the workplace as people will want to get away.
▪ If it is urgent to speak with someone it may be necessary to hold the interview in a location more convenient to them.
▪ Time should be allowed by the interviewer before the interview to think about aims and objectives for the interview. What facts need to be established? What questions should be asked? What points raised in other interviews need verication?
▪ It is often helpful to prepare a list of questions to ask.
During the Interview
Initial introductions are important and an explanation should be given that the purpose of the interview is not to apportion blame but to establish the facts of what happened so actions can be take the stop a reoccurrence. This introduction should also include details of how the interview will progress and what topics will be covered.
Time spent building a good rapport with the interviewee is not wasted. It allows the interviewer to both relax the interviewee and themselves and also to encourage the interviewee to talk.
The interviewer should always try to use appropriate language and speak in a manner which the interviewee understands. Clichés, abbreviations and jargon should be avoided as these may create misunderstandings. Judgmental statements should also be avoided. Always consider the welfare of the interviewee. If the interview is likely to be lengthy, consider arranging refreshments. Make sure that the interviewee is comfortable before the interview commences.
Appropriate questions should be used to stimulate and encourage the interviewee to use their own powers of reasoning and to gather more information about what happened.
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There are three types of questions that should be used:
▪ Open Questions
These allow the interviewee to offer a lot of information, rather than conning them to yes-no answers. For example, instead of asking a closed question, such as ‘Did you see the fork truck?’, to which the answer is either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, ask ‘Tell me what you saw when you entered the warehouse’, which allows the interviewee to open up in their reply.
Open questions allow both the interviewer and interviewee to establish rapport, whilst closed questions limit communication
▪ Probing Questions
These demonstrate an interest in the interviewee and encourages them to keep
talking. They increase the quality and quantity of information disclosed and conrm the interviewer’s understanding of such information, e.g. how fast was the truck travelling?
▪ Closed Questions
These make the pieces of information gathered specic and conrms that the interviewer has listened and understood the precise details of what has been said. However, closed questions, by their nature, can limit access to detailed responses, e.g. was the truck travelling too fast?
The most difcult questioning skill to accomplish is that of asking open questions, which is one to which the interviewee cannot simply give a short reply such as ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Because of this they are very useful for both gathering information and encouraging the speaker to talk more freely and deeply about a subject.
Open questions have a tendency to use the same few words at the start. These are:
▪ What;
It is very difcult to ask a closed question if the sentence starts with one of these words. Closed questions are only of value if we need to check a detail, such as ‘Was the forktruck red?’, to which the answer can only be ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. However they do not normally provide us with signicant information, so are of limited value. Probing questions look like open questions, but are used to explore the topic that the open question has brought out into the open.
Although facing the interviewee with a barrage of questions should be avoided at all costs it must be acknowledged that carefully framed questions are vitally important. Figure 16 suggests that open questions are used to seek information, probing questions to build upon that information and closed questions to test understanding of what has been said.
Figure 16 also demonstrates how the questioning should go through three stages: seeking information, building information, and testing understanding.
Figure 16: Three Stages of Questioning
Gathering Information
Building Information
Open Questions
Probing Questions
Testing
Understanding Closed Questions
Before the interview is nished, a review should be taken of all the information obtained from the interviewee, so that both are quite clear and understand what has been said. It may also be appropriate that the interviewee gives a written statement with regards to the accident / incident.
This should be signed and dated by the interviewee and a copy given to them if requested.
When the interview has nished, the dialogue should never be closed. It should always be explained that if the interviewee remembers anything else that may be useful, they can come back and see the interviewer. The interviewer should also explain that they may need to speak to them again should the need arise during the investigation.
After the Interview
After the interview, there needs to be a time of reect where the following is determined;
▪ Were the aims and objectives achieved?
▪ What new information was gained?
▪ How does all this t in with what is already known?
▪ How did the interviewer perform in the interview?
Consideration needs to be taken of the new knowledge obtained in order to decide what the next step will be e.g. look at other documentation evidence, revisit the scene, interview others etc.
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