Accuracy and Calibration Failures in Science and Engineering

Templates

Postmortem Review

Use this structured format following a failure, anomaly, or high-risk deviation. It encourages blameless, constructive analysis and helps surface systemic, cultural, and technical contributing factors.

1. Summary of the Event
   • Title/description of incident:
   • Date/time of occurrence:
   • System/process involved:
   • Reported by:
   • Severity level:
     • Near miss
     • Minor impact
     • Major impact
     • Catastrophic
2. What Happened? (Factual Timeline)
   • Sequence of events:(List chronological steps leading up to, during, and after the event.)
   • Key triggers or indicators:(What warnings or data points occurred? Were they seen/interpreted?)
3. Technical Root Cause(s)
   • ☐ Sensor error or drift
   • ☐ Model misclassification
   • ☐ Interface ambiguity
   • ☐ Calibration or standard mismatch
   • ☐ Algorithmic flaw
   • ☐ External/environmental factor
   • ☐ Other: ___________________________
4. Human/Systemic Contributors
   • ☐ Communication breakdown
   • ☐ Hierarchy suppression
   • ☐ Training deficiency
   • ☐ Poor assumptions
   • ☐ Overconfidence/complacency
   • ☐ Data gap or loss of traceability
   • ☐ Missing or unheeded change detection
   • ☐ Unvalidated model edge cases
5. Impact Assessment
   • Technical or operational consequences:
   • Customer or stakeholder impact:
   • Financial cost:
   • Compliance or safety exposure:
6. What Could Have Prevented It?
   • (What signals were missed? What systems failed silently? What safeguards were lacking?)
7. Recommended Corrective Actions

   Action	Owner	Due date	Status

8. Follow-Up and Training Integration