Editing a Closed Report
A closed safety report can be reopened for editing. There are two ways to do it, and they differ in how much they allow and in what they leave behind.
The report has to have the status Closed, and the buttons only appear for users holding one of the two rights, both found under Safety Reports in the rights configuration.
The two modes
The second mode exists for the small correction: a typo, a wrong wording. Because it leaves no mark, it must not be used to change what the report says.
In both modes, an observation whose task has already been completed cannot be edited at all. That is deliberate: the follow-up is finished, and changing its origin afterwards would leave the two contradicting each other.
How to do it
- In the Audit Tool, open the audit with the closed safety report — through its inspection document or
Show Safety Report. - The cover page shows a banner marking the report as closed.
- Depending on your rights, start either the normal or the administrative edit.
- The banner changes to show which mode you are in — worth a glance, because it decides whether your changes will be marked.
- Make the changes and save. The report returns to the closed state.
What you see afterwards
Observations carry a coloured mark: green where the task is completed, yellow where the entry was modified after the close, orange where it is still open. The yellow mark is the point of the whole exercise — it stays visible that this report was touched after it was closed.
Tasks are kept in step in both modes: a new observation creates its task, and changes to task or description travel to the linked task. The task number is shown with the observation.
Every edit is written to the status history with the user, the time and the mode used. That record is what makes a reopened report auditable — see Show History.
Working on board with office rights
Safety reports can also be filled out and closed under a vessel licence, which used to be possible in the office only. This lets an inspector who is travelling finish their reports on a ship's PC.
Two rights control it, both in the Safety Reports section: one for filling out on board as office crew, one for closing on board as office crew. They are added to the rights catalogue automatically but have to be assigned by hand to the inspectors concerned.
One exception is worth knowing, because it looks like a missing right and is not: for audit types requiring office approval — a master's review, typically — anyone on the vessel may fill out and hand in the report without that right. The button there is Approve on Board rather than a close, the report is always finished in the office, and the right for closing on board has no effect for those types at all.
Distributed audits: review only
An audit distributed to a vessel that did not raise it can only be reviewed there. On such an audit the crew cannot create follow-ups, edit items, add corrective actions or delete anything:
The reason is practical: it prevents a vessel from starting follow-ups on items the office is still working on. A greyed-out button on a distributed audit is therefore expected, not a fault.