How to write an incident report

An incident report records the facts of what happened, in time order: the date, time and place, who was involved, what happened step by step, any injury and the treatment given, who saw it and what was done straight away. It is written the same day by the person who saw it, signed, and kept free of opinions and blame. Serious incidents also go to the regulator, often within hours.

Before you write: is it notifiable?

Check this first, because the regulator’s clock starts before yours. Under Australia’s model Work Health and Safety Act 2011, section 38 requires the person running the business to notify the regulator immediately after becoming aware of a notifiable incident, which covers a death, a serious injury or illness, or a dangerous incident, and to keep a record of it for at least five years. The site where it happened generally has to be left undisturbed until an inspector arrives or directs otherwise.

In the UK, the RIDDOR regulations require reporting of specified injuries, deaths, dangerous occurrences and some diseases, and regulation 4(2) gives up to 15 days to report a worker kept off routine work for more than seven consecutive days. In the US, OSHA requires a work related fatality to be reported within 8 hours and an in-patient hospitalisation, amputation or loss of an eye within 24 hours.

These are general summaries. Check which incidents count where you work.

The sections of a good report

1. What and when. Date, time and exact location, down to the aisle or bay. Type of incident: injury, near miss, property damage, vehicle, hazardous substance.

2. What happened. The events in the order they happened, in short sentences. “At 10.40 the forklift reversed out of aisle 4. The rear counterweight struck the racking upright. Two cartons fell from the second level.” Facts someone else could check.

3. People. Who reported it and their role, who was injured or involved, and witnesses with a way to reach them. Each witness gives their own account.

4. Injury and treatment. Whether anyone was hurt, the part of the body and nature of the injury, and the treatment: first aid on site, a doctor, an ambulance.

5. Evidence. Photos of the scene before anything is moved, if it is safe to take them.

6. Immediate actions. What was done straight away: area isolated, first aid given, supervisor told, equipment tagged out.

7. Sign off. The reporter’s signature and the date.

The incident report form on this site, written for a fictional Australian warehouse, follows exactly this order in five sections and asks whether the incident was notifiable, with a “Not sure” option so the question gets escalated rather than guessed.

Writing it well

• Facts, not conclusions. “The floor was wet near the cooler door” is a fact. “Cleaning was negligent” is a conclusion for the investigation.
• Time order. Readers reconstruct the incident from the sequence.
• Same day. Details fade within hours.
• Plain words. Write as you would explain it to someone who was not there.
• No blame. People report more honestly when the report is not a trial.

After the report

The incident report starts the record; the investigation finds the cause. The incident investigation report example shows that second document, with causes and corrective actions. A pattern of near misses is worth more than any single report, which is why a hazard report form for hazards spotted before anyone is hurt sits alongside it. The safe work method statement page covers the planning document for high risk work, and how to make a sign in sheet covers the visitor record that tells you who was on site.

A worked example

At 10.40 on a Tuesday, a forklift at a fictional Brisbane warehouse reverses out of aisle 4 and its counterweight strikes a racking upright. Two cartons fall from the second level. Nobody is hurt. The driver reports it to the supervisor at 10.45.

The report records the date, time and exact place, aisle 4 at the forklift lane. The type is property damage and a near miss. What happened is written in four sentences in time order: the reverse, the strike, the cartons falling, and the area being cleared. The reporter is the driver; a picker in aisle 5 is listed as a witness with her mobile number and gives her own account. Nobody was injured, so the injury question reads no. The notifiable question reads not sure, because a dislodged upright might count as a dangerous incident, so the supervisor escalates it to the safety officer the same morning. Photos show the upright and the cartons before anything is moved. The immediate actions are area isolated, supervisor told and the forklift tagged out. The report is signed at 11.20, and the investigation that follows looks at why the reversing alarm was not heard.

Note how little of the report is opinion: even the escalation is recorded as a fact, not as a judgement about whether the upright was safe. That judgement belongs to the investigation, which can now start from a clear record.

In the product

An incident report is a classic form with date and time fields, dropdowns, long text, a table for witnesses, a photo upload and a signature. A table field shows a fixed number of rows set by the builder, so give it enough rows for the witnesses you expect; the respondent cannot add more. The single photo field prints inline in the response PDF, while extra photos in a file upload field are added as their own pages after the form. The form with photo upload page shows the photo field, and the guide to the form builder components lists the rest.