Asset Incidents: Overview - FreeMaint Docs

An asset incident is an unplanned event on a piece of equipment — a breakdown, leak, jam, collision or fire. The Asset Incidents module lets you capture the event the moment it happens, link the repair work, and drive it to closure through a structured CAPA (Corrective And Preventive Action) cycle aligned with ISO 9001 and the ISO 14224 reliability standard.

Enabling the module

Asset Incidents is an optional module available on the Starter tier and above. An administrator turns it on under Company Settings, then Modules. Once enabled, an Incidents entry appears in the main navigation and anyone with the right permission can report an incident.

When to use an asset incident

Use an asset incident for an unplanned equipment event you want to investigate, not just fix. If you only need a repair, a work order on its own is enough. Reach for an incident when you also need to record what happened, analyse why, and prevent it from recurring.

A motor overheats and trips during a production run
A hydraulic line bursts and floods a work area
A conveyor jams and damages product
A pump motor catches fire

Asset incident vs HSE incident

The two modules answer different questions and can coexist for the same event. Report both when an event has a safety dimension: a fire, for example, is recorded as an HSE incident for the people-safety angle and as an asset incident for the equipment-reliability angle.

Asset incident

The equipment-reliability angle: what broke, the damage, the root cause, and the corrective and preventive actions on the asset.

HSE incident

The safety angle: injuries, near-misses, witnesses, and the corrective actions required for people and environment (ISO 45001 / OSHA).

The incident lifecycle

Each incident moves through a defined set of statuses so everyone can see where it stands.

Reported

The event is captured with its description, photos and severity.

Contained

Immediate action has stopped the situation getting worse.

Root cause analysis

The cause is being investigated with 5-Why or Ishikawa.

Corrective

Short-term fixes are being applied.

Preventive

Long-term actions to stop recurrence are assigned.

Monitoring

The effectiveness of the actions is being watched.

Verified

The actions are confirmed effective.

Closed

The loop is complete and the incident is archived.

Closing the loop with CAPA

From the incident page you record a root-cause analysis and a ledger of actions — containment, corrective and preventive — each with an owner, a due date and an effectiveness check. This is the discipline that turns a one-off repair into a lasting improvement.

Severity

Severity drives the priority of any work order created from the incident and signals how urgently it needs attention.

Low

Minor, no production impact

Medium

Manageable impact

High

Significant impact, limited redundancy

Critical

Halts production, or a safety or environmental risk

Tip

Every asset incident is tied to a specific asset. That link is what builds the equipment’s failure history and feeds reliability metrics such as MTBF and MTTR.

Tip

Verifying and closing an incident requires a different permission from reporting it, so a four-eyes check is built in: the person who reports is not necessarily the one who confirms the fix worked.

Asset Incidents Overview