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Using collaborators and assignment rules to manage access to events

A guide to managing visibility, access, and notifications using collaborators and assignment rules

 
What are collaborators?

Collaborators are users who are given full access to an Event record.

 

Being added as a collaborator means a user can:

  • View the full Event record, including the Details tab, Original Submission tab, Related tab, Attachments tab and Activity feed.

  • Make edits and add comments

  • Receive notifications when updates occur

This feature replaces the old team-based permissions and offers more precise control over who can view and act on each event.

 

 

Who can be added as a collaborator?

Only Managers and Account Owners can be collaborators and manage collaborators on an Event Record.

 
How to add collaborators

There are three ways someone can become a collaborator on an Event:

 

1. Manually on the Event record

You can add collaborators directly from the Event record:

  1. Open an event record.

  2. Click the Collaborators icon in the top-right corner of the record.

  3. In the pop-up window, search for the user(s) you want to add.

  4. Select one or more users and click Add.

  5. You’ll see them appear in the list. Click the X next to any name to remove them.

Users who are already collaborators can also add others.

 

2. Automatically by writing a comment, being tagged or being assigned as Owner

Users are automatically added as collaborators when they:

  • Are assigned as the Owner of the event

  • Are tagged in a comment in the Activity Log (e.g. @Sarah)

  • Send a comment in the Activity Log

 

 

These methods also work retroactively and apply to any Events the user engages with.

3. Automatically by assignment rules

You can set up assignment rules in the Object Manager to automatically add users as collaborators based on specific values in a drop-down field, such as Type, Location, or any drop-down field.

 

Example:

 

If Location = "London" and Type = "Accident" → Add Tracey and John as collaborators

 

You can use rules to make sure the right people are notified and have access immediately, without needing to rely on manual assignment.

How assignment rules work

Assignment rules let you define conditions to automatically add relevant users as collaborators based on responses in the form or updates to the event.

 

For example:

  • A certain group of people can be notified when an incident is reported in your Hull location.

  • If someone submits an Event with the Type "Near Miss" but a manager later changes the type to "Accident", a rule for "Accident" will apply and assign collaborators accordingly.

This is useful for the following scenarios:

  • Automatically notify the correct people for certain event types

  • Grant access to regional managers based on site or location

  • Ensure that safeguarding or complaints teams see only the relevant records

  • Reduce admin time and ensure consistent access with rule-based assignment

Assignment rules are created and managed from:


​Object Manager > Events > Assignment Rules

 

Each rule allows you to:

  • Define one or more dropdown-based conditions using one of two operators:

    • is any of

    • is none of

  • Add one or more users to be added as collaborators when those conditions are met

Rules are evaluated:

  • When a form is submitted

  • Every time an event is updated

If a rule’s conditions stop matching, the user will be removed as a collaborator — unless they were added by another method (e.g. manually, by being tagged, or via a different rule).

 

How to set up assignment rules

  1. Go to Object Manager > Events > Assignment Rules.

  2. Click Add Rule.

  3. Add your conditions:

    • Choose a dropdown field (e.g. Location).

    • Set an operator (e.g. "is any of").

    • Choose one or more matching values (e.g. London, Birmingham).

     

  4. Add one or more users to be added as Collaborators when the rule matches.

  5. Save the rule. It will apply immediately to new submissions and future updates.

You can add more than one condition to a rule. For example, if there is a subset of people who only need to be added as a collaborator when the Patient Safety Type = Medication Error AND when Severity = Severe, you can add this as a condition:

 

 

You can add multiple rules.

 

Collaborator notifications

Collaborators receive notifications when:

  • They are added to an event
    → "You’ve been added as a collaborator on this event: [Event Name]"

    • Please note, if the manager has been added as a collaborator via an assignment rule rather than manually, their notification message will be "New event reported: [Event Name]"

  • Someone adds a comment
    → "[Name] commented on event: [Event Name]"

  • The stage changes
    → "Event stage changed to: [Stage Name] – [Event Name]"

Notifications appear in the in-app inbox, and can also be sent by email if enabled in user notification settings.

 

To avoid duplication, if someone is both a collaborator and tagged in a comment, they’ll only receive the tagged notification.

 

Important rules and considerations

  • Continuous rule checking:
    As events are updated, the system checks all assignment rules and keeps the collaborators list updated based on current field values.