Findings
Recurring findings with an expiration
Purpose Purpose
Some findings are never really done. An audit finds that the warehouse extinguishers were not checked, and from then on they have to be checked every month. A blocked escape route is cleared, and someone has to confirm it stays clear. Closing the finding once does not show that the check keeps happening.
An expiration on a finding tells 21RISK how often it must be verified. When the verification is older than the expiration allows, the finding expires: 21RISK moves it out of its closed status, so it shows up as open work again until someone does the check.
This is relevant for safety and risk managers who follow up on recurring checks, and for site managers who carry them out. Findings work like Compliance answers with an expiration, except that each finding has its own setting.
Adding an expiration to a finding Adding an expiration to a finding
Open a finding, or start a new one, and click Add expiration under Status. Fill in Must be verified every with a number and a unit: days, weeks, months or years. Then choose under How findings expire whether the finding expires in fixed periods or one interval after each verification.
Once the finding is saved, the line under Status shows how often it must be verified, when it was last verified and when it expires. Click the line to change the setting, or click Remove expiration to stop it expiring.
- Findings without an expiration look and work as before.
- Sub-tasks never expire, so they cannot have an expiration.
- Changing the expiration of a saved finding recalculates when it expires straight away. If the new expiration date has already passed, the finding moves to the expired status within the hour. The form warns you before you save.
- Board admins can add an expiration to a finding template under Settings → Templates, so every finding created from it starts with the same setting.
- Every change to the setting shows up in the finding's history.
Fixed periods or rolling expiration Fixed periods or rolling expiration
| Fixed periods | Rolling | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Time is divided into periods of the interval. The finding is verified once per period. | The finding expires one interval after it was last verified. |
| When it expires | When the period it was verified in ends | One interval after its last verification |
| Verifying early | Does not move the deadline | Moves the deadline earlier |
| Best for | Checks that belong to a period, such as "every month", where you want to see that no period was missed | Checks where the full interval counts from the last check, such as "within 30 days of the last walk-through" |
With fixed periods, Periods start on sets the date the periods are counted from. It defaults to the 1st of the current month and must be a day from 1 to 28. For example, a 1-month interval from 1 January gives calendar months, and a 3-month interval from 1 January gives calendar quarters. Periods begin at midnight UTC.
How a finding is verified How a finding is verified
A finding counts as verified on the day it moves to a closed status, such as Completed.
- With fixed periods, that is all there is to it: closing the finding verifies it for the current period. When the period ends, the finding expires and has to be closed again in the next one.
- With rolling expiration, a finding that is still closed can be verified again with the Verify button next to Save. It records that the check was done today and restarts the interval. Add a comment or files in the same step, for example a photo of the cleared escape route.
The verification is always today's date. It cannot be backdated.
Seeing how each period went Seeing how each period went
For a finding with fixed periods, the activity on the right can be shown period by period. Periods is selected when you open the finding; Activity shows the full history.
Each period shows its dates, the finding's last status in the period, and how many comments and files were added in it. A period where nothing happened keeps the status it started with, so a missed month stands out. Open a period to see everything that changed in it.
The finding's files are shown by period too. Next to Files, the current period is selected, so you see the evidence for this period. Pick an earlier period to see the files first attached in it, or All files to see everything.
What happens when a finding expires What happens when a finding expires
21RISK checks for expired findings every hour. When a finding passes its expiration date, 21RISK:
- Moves the finding to the board's expired status, or to the board's default status if none is chosen.
- Keeps everything else on the finding, including notes, files, responsible and the date it was last verified.
- Records the change in the finding's history as an Automation entry marked Verification expired.
- Sends notifications and runs automations as it does for any other status change.
Choosing the expired status Choosing the expired status
Open the board's Settings and find Expired findings. Choose the status expired findings should move to, for example "Re-check due", and save. Leave it empty to use the board's default status.
The status must be an open status that is used on the board. When you replace the status on the board, expired findings move to the replacement instead; when you remove or delete it, they move to the board's default status.
Requiring evidence for each period Requiring evidence for each period
To make sure every period has evidence, add a status rule with the Files attached condition to the closed status in the board's status settings, for example Files attached at least one on Completed. For findings with fixed periods, only files first attached in the current period count, so last month's photo is not enough. Files attached in the same save as the status change count too. See Requiring evidence for how rules combine.
Following up on expiring findings Following up on expiring findings
The findings table has a Verified and an Expires column. Show them with Manage table to sort and filter on them, for example to find everything that expires in the next week. The same columns can be used in a scheduled automation that reminds the responsible person before a finding expires.
For API users For API users
- Set the expiration with
expiryIntervalAmountandexpiryIntervalUnit(day,week,monthoryear) when creating or updating a finding, and in board templates. Sendingnullfor the amount removes it. - Choose fixed periods with
expiryMode: "fixed"and the start date inexpiryAnchor(YYYY-MM-DD, day 1–28).expiryModedefaults torolling. - Verify a finding with rolling expiration with
verify: truewhen updating it. With fixed periods, moving the finding to a closed status verifies it. - Get a finding's fixed periods with
queryItemExpiryPeriods, the changes in one of them withqueryItemChangeHistoryfiltered on the period's dates, and the files first attached in it withqueryItemFilesfiltered onattachedAt.