Safety Investigation Authority
Finnish accident investigation authority
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Safety Investigation Authority of Finland (SIAF[1] or SIA,[2] Finnish: Onnettomuustutkintakeskus, lit. Accident Investigation Center, shortened to OTKES; Swedish: Olycksutredningscentralen) is the accident investigation authority of Finland. It investigates all major accidents, and all aviation, maritime, and rail accidents and incidents.[3] SIAF is located within the Ministry of Justice,[3] and is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland.[4]
The SIAF was previously known in English as the Accident Investigation Board of Finland.[5]
Organization
The SIAF consists of five investigation branches: aviation, maritime, rail, social and healthcare, and other accidents. In addition, the government can ask SIAF to investigate any other exceptional events. The SIA has appointed a chief investigator to each branch.[6]
| Investigation branch | Description | Chief investigator |
|---|---|---|
| Aviation | The investigation of incidents and accidents regarding aviation in Finland.[7] | Ismo Aaltonen |
| Maritime | The investigation of accidents and dangerous situations that take place on Finnish territorial waters or in which a Finland-based vessel is involved.[8] |
Risto Haimila |
| Rail | The investigation of especially hazardous accidents that happen either in rail, metro, or tram traffic, such as level crossing accidents, rolling stock fires, and train collisions.[9] |
Esko Värttiö |
| Social and Healthcare | The purpose of the investigation branch is to investigate social and healthcare accidents in Finland.[10] | Hanna Tiirinki |
| Other accidents | The Other accidents-branch investigates serious accidents that pose a risk to life or that cause significant economic or environmental harm.[11] | Kai Valonen |
| Exceptional events | Exceptional events are not accidents but posed a severe risk to life and society. The SIAF has investigated six of such events (as of 2025): the Jokela school shooting (2007), Kauhajoki school shooting (2008), murder of 8-year-old Eerika (2012), Turku stabbing (2017), COVID-19 pandemic in Finland (2020), and City of Helsinki data breach (2024).[12] |
