Those of you who are familiar with with B of I or SI know that there are a number of objectives in the Terms of Reference. The two most obvious ones are:
1. Determine the cause.
2. Prevent a re-occurrence.
Information surrounding an accident is perishable, and people forget or subconsciously change the mental narrative over time, so prompt documentation and collection of evidence is a critical factor in an effective investigation. Any photographs or video of the accident are particularly useful in establishing configurations and modes of operation, that is a fact. Concurrently, it is inevitable that the circumstances will be discussed by those directly related and those indirectly related to the accident. Those discussions can be counter productive when highly speculative, but can reinforce a culture of safety when highlighting risk mitigations around hazardous operations. These discussions will occur in all circumstances.
The objectivity of the B of I or SI should not be influenced by any social or emotional ties to those unfortunate enough to be the subject of such inquiries, whether the accident results in fatalities or not. Consequently the pursuit of the inquiry's objectives are not served by elapsed time or by any form of emotive distancing, other than the observance of the normal protocol and respect when appropriate. Serving as a member of an inquiry when the victim(s) were close colleagues and personal friends normally drives a desire to be absolutely professional and objective in determining the cause and preventing a re-occurrence.
That is the Service aspect of the inquiry, which is fortunately removed from the media coverage and public opinion (with obvious exceptions). If media coverage offends you personally, take it up with the guilty party, complaints can be effective. If you were emotionally involved with the victims, try to direct that energy into providing solace and comfort to the colleagues and families but also try and avoid having your emotions triggered by the media coverage and social media in particular. People will legitimately try to understand what happened through argument and speculation on such boards as this. That is a natural reaction to any accident. Admonishments based on your social proximity to the victims can be counter productive in an environment where discussion participants are anonymous or may deliberately misrepresent themselves.
I suspect many of us on here have been in the position of scrutinizing the last moments of friends and colleagues, and we repaid their contribution to the services by performing that task objectively and professionally, while not being distracted by the public and media clamour.