In 2012 STC Insiso identified a gap in the market when it came to incident investigation. Eight years on and COMET has been successfully developed, rigorously tested and adopted globally by a number of multinational companies across sectors delivering valuable results and securing confidence in its proven methodology.

But how did we get there?

2012-2013 The Birth of COMET: Revolutionising Incident Investigation and Root Cause Analysis

Engineering solutions provider Senior PLC had a problem with incident investigation and root cause analysis – they evaluated the market, and nothing met their expectations. Presented with this problem, STC Global brought together a team of professional investigators, industry professionals and information designers with the aim of addressing the major challenges of existing solutions – too HS&E focused, too complex, incomplete or too expensive.

Following initial research, the development process began with STC Global and Senior PLC, the proof of concept client, entering 18 months of intensive research and testing to produce a robust product for organisations who strive for performance improvement across their company.

This process involved us identifying the issue, documenting what was missing, defining which application areas were needed, building and testing the root cause spectrum (which drove the name COMET), establishing a process, and building a training course to eventually roll-out.

Senior PLC were happy – they had their solution. We were happy too, and we set about phase one of client recruitment… COMET was born!

2014 COMET's Global Expansion: Winning Endorsements and Transforming Root Cause Analysis

First to join were technical and business services organisation Lloyd’s Register, who rigorously tested all aspects of the COMET methodology before adopting it globally. Their decision was a huge endorsement and gave us the confidence to recruit other major cross-industry organisations including American Fortune 500 corporation Cummins Inc., engineering services provider Babcock International, international polymer business Rehau, and marine and subsea services company Bourbon to continue the rigorous development of the platform.

“Probably the best root cause analysis process and toolkit. But beyond enabling us to adequately identify root causes, COMET also allows us to track trends using the root cause codes to help address systemic opportunities in our management system.”  Bertrand Piredda, Cummins Inc.

2016 Embracing Digital Transformation: The Launch and Success of COMET Root App

We continued to respond to our customers’ needs with a drive to become digital with the development and testing of COMET Root App. Using the COMET methodology, the app allows you to capture, track and measure all aspects of an incident investigation online and now has over 1,500 registered users from across the globe.

2017-2019 COMET Evolution: Expanding Client Base and User-Driven Innovation

COMET Root App brought a new dimension to the end-to-end investigation management process and triggered phase two of client recruitment from the automotive, maritime, oil & gas, aerospace, manufacturing, and pharmaceutical industries. New clients including Apache, BCM Construction, Chrysaor, EnQuest, TAQA and Premier Oil begin to benefit from the COMET methodology.

In a bid to make COMET user-led, we put together a COMET Steering Group bringing our client talent into the development team to plan the future development of the platform.

COMET's Groundbreaking Innovations in 2020 and Beyond

COMET's human factors (HF) analysis tool is launched, making COMET the first commercially available investigation and root cause analysis methodology to include HF analysis functionality. The unique ‘deep dive’ HF tool, developed in partnership with a major oil and gas operator and accredited human factors experts, integrates seamlessly with the existing COMET process.

And we are continuing to evolve our existing products including developments in Serious Injury and Fatality (SIF) and Serious Operational Failure (SOF) data analysis, as well as bringing products to market, all with our core aim in mind – tackling organisational root cause.

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