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Hint Management

In one sentence: A safe whistleblowing channel where staff report serious wrongdoing, if they wish anonymously and to an external office. Menu: Reporting module → tab Hint Management · Status: Live

What it is

Some problems are too sensitive for the normal channels: suspected fraud, harassment, data protection breaches, or a colleague breaking the rules. Hint Management is the organisation's whistleblowing channel for such "hints".

A hint goes to the Hint Officer of the organisation. The person reporting can stay anonymous. They can also choose to send the hint to an external reporting office, an outside contact the organisation has named (for example a lawyer or ombudsperson).

Unlike the other report types, Hint Management always works for the whole organisation: there is one Hint Officer team for all units.

This page adds the hint details to the general Incident Reports page.

Key terms

Term Meaning
Hint A report of suspected wrongdoing or a serious problem.
Type of hint The subject, e.g. Working Conditions, Occupational Safety, Suspected Fraud, Compliance Violation, Data Protection Violation, Discrimination or Harassment, IT Security, Patient Safety, Quality Deficiency.
External reporting office An outside contact set up for the organisation. It receives hints by email and opens them through a link, seeing only the hints sent to it.
I wish to report The part of the form where the reporter chooses whether the hint also goes to the external reporting office.

Who uses it

Role What they typically do here
All staff Report hints.
Administrator Appoints the Hint Officer, sets up the external reporting office, reads all hints of the organisation and downloads the overview.
Power User Reads all hints of the organisation and downloads the overview.
Group Administrator Appoints the Hint Officer and sets up the external reporting office.
Hint Officer The only role that processes hints. Can also set up the external reporting office.
External reporting office Receives and reads hints sent to it (outside RIQS, through a link).

How it works

New Hint → In Process → Implemented

Column What it means What moves it on
New Hint Received, not yet handled. The officer takes it up and drags it to In Process.
In Process Being investigated; measures planned. Done: drag to Implemented.
Implemented Closed, with the officer's Decision. Can be dragged back to In Process.

The form asks for: - Send anonymously (optional) and I wish to report (whether to include the external reporting office). - Hint Title and Description (both required). - Type of hint, Urgency, Incident date, Location, People involved, Measures taken, keywords and attachments.

In the details the officer records the Decision, next steps and planned measures, and whether the hint was Followed up message or Do not follow up message.

How to …

How to report a hint

Who can do this: Everyone except the RiQS Administrator. 1. Open Reporting module and click Hint Management. 2. Click the create button. 3. Switch on Send anonymously if you do not want your name shown. 4. Under I wish to report, choose whether the hint should also go to the external reporting office. 5. Fill in Hint Title and Description, and the other fields you can. 6. Click Report.

Result: The hint appears in New Hint. The Hint Officers get an email. You get a confirmation email. If you chose the external office, it gets an email with a link.

How to send a hint to the external office later

Who can do this: The Hint Officer. 1. Open the hint. 2. Switch on to the external reporting office. Save.

Result: The external reporting office gets an email with a link to the hint. This happens only once per hint.

How to appoint the Hint Officer

Who can do this: RiQS Administrator, Group Administrator, Administrator. 1. Open Reporting module → Hint Management. 2. Click the officer button, pick Administrators, Power Users or Management users in Select user, and click Appoint.

Result: The chosen people are Hint Officers for the whole organisation.

Rules to know

  • Hint Management can only be set to Organizational.
  • Only the Hint Officer can process, move or deactivate hints. Administrators cannot.
  • Management and Professionals see only the hints they wrote themselves (and hints they got a To-Do on).
  • The external reporting office is set up for the organisation, together with the report types it receives. The RiQS Administrator, Group Administrator, Administrator and Hint Officer can set it up and change it.
  • Only the RiQS Administrator can delete a hint.

Who can do what

Legend: ✅ allowed · ❌ not allowed · text = condition.

Action RiQS Administrator Group Administrator Administrator Power User Management Professional Hint Officer
Appoint / change the Hint Officer ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Set up / change the external reporting office ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ✅
Create a hint ❌ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
Send it anonymously / to the external office ❌ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
See hints (the Hint report visible right) ❌ ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ✅
See all active and inactive hints ❌ ❌ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ✅
Process: edit, move, To-Do, guide ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ✅
Deactivate / reactivate ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ✅
Download the overview ❌ ❌ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ✅
Delete a hint ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌

Connected modules

Open questions

  • Who sees all hints? The rights sheet has two rows that disagree: "Hint report – visible" allows the RiQS Administrator, Group Administrator, Administrator, officer and Power User; "Sees all active / inactive hint reports" allows only the Administrator, officer and Power User. The feature list was changed to let the RiQS Administrator and Group Administrator see all hints too. This page follows the "Sees all …" rows. Which is right?
  • Rights sheet vs feature list: appointing. The rights sheet lets the Administrator appoint and change the Hint Officer; the feature list allows only the RiQS Administrator and Group Administrator.

Last reviewed: 2026-10-27