An approval workflow should answer who prepared the report, which level must review it, how the correct person is resolved and what happens when that person is unavailable. It should not turn every low-risk observation into a slow executive process.
The right chain follows responsibility and severity while leaving a durable record of every signature and delegation.
Begin with the preparer's role
A guard-prepared report and a supervisor-prepared report do not always need the same first review. Starting from the preparer's operational level avoids asking someone to approve their own work twice or inserting a redundant step.
Use role and designation as separate concepts. A system permission such as “supervisor” may cover several hierarchy levels, while the approval policy may require a specific level or minimum rank.
Resolve signers inside the incident's coverage
The approver must cover the incident's actual branch, contract or site. A permanent guard-to-supervisor assignment becomes stale when rosters change and does not represent how many security operations teams allocate coverage.
Define a fallback—for example, from a site-level supervisor to a mobile supervisor—when no eligible person covers the narrower scope. Make the fallback visible in the audit record.
Scale the chain by severity
Low-severity reports may finish after supervisor review, while higher ranks require a manager. Store the threshold in configuration rather than checking the display label “Low” or “High.” Labels change; the policy meaning should remain stable.
Treat delegation as reassignment, not approval
A signer may delegate an active step to another eligible person. The required hierarchy level should remain attached to the step, and the delegate should meet that requirement and cover the incident's scope.
Block loops such as A to B to A, preserve the entire delegation chain and do not advance the incident simply because the step changed hands.
Freeze the signature evidence
- Signer identity and account ID
- Designation at the time of signing
- Timestamp and step sequence
- Version of the report that was signed
- Delegation history, if any
- Final distribution event
Handle routing change explicitly
If an approver leaves or coverage was configured incorrectly, an authorised administrator may need to restart routing. Refuse a restart after a higher-level signature unless policy explicitly permits it, and write a timeline event explaining why the route changed.