incident report sample essay

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Blog Human Resources

How to Write an Effective Incident Report [Templates]

By Victoria Clarke , Jun 13, 2023

We all do our best to ensure a happy and healthy workforce. That’s why, in a perfect world, you would never have to create an incident report.

But since incidents do happen, it’s never a bad idea to be prepared for any situation–especially the unexpected.  

Small business owners, human resources teams and workplace emergency first responders: this is the article for you! 

In this step-by-step guide, I’ll share our top tips on creating incident reports that will help you carry out effective investigations and make sure similar (or more serious) incidents don’t happen again.  I’ll also include our top incident report templates to get the job done.

Table of Contents:

• What is an incident report?

What to include in a work incident report?

• How to write an incident report?
• Incident report examples, templates and design tips
• Simple incident report template
• COVID-19 employee incident report templates

All of the templates in this post can be customized using our easy online  incident report maker  tool. It’s free to sign up, many of our templates are free to use too.

What is an incident report? 

An incident report is a form to document all workplace illnesses, injuries, near misses and accidents. An incident report should be completed at the time an incident occurs no matter how minor an injury is.

Here’s one example:

Any illness or injury that impacts an employee’s ability to work must be noted. The specifics of what is required by law to be included in an incident report will vary depending on the federal or provincial legislation that affects your workplace.

If you’re unsure, you can take a look at your government’s website for more details. In certain cases, there are exceptions that can exempt small businesses from complying with such legislation. 

A well-structured incident report typically includes the following five key elements:

• Date, time and location: Provide specific details about when and where the incident occurred. This helps establish a timeline and context for understanding the event.
• Description of the incident: Clearly describe what happened, including relevant details such as the sequence of events, the people involved and any contributing factors. Use objective language and avoid assumptions or opinions.
• Witness information: Include names and contact information for any witnesses to the incident. Their accounts can provide valuable perspectives and corroborate details.
• Action taken: Outline any immediate actions taken to address the incident, such as first aid, evacuation procedures or contacting emergency services. Documenting these responses is crucial for understanding the effectiveness of the initial response.
• Recommendations for prevention: Offer suggestions on how similar incidents can be prevented in the future. This proactive approach demonstrates a commitment to improving safety and mitigating risks.

How to write an incident report ?

It’s important to establish a systematic method for investigating incidents.  

It’s also equally important to have a report prepared that enables you to record every relevant aspect of the incident details–this is the essential first step in the incident reporting process.  

After you’ve created your incident report form, you can: 

• Begin your investigation with fact-finding 
• And end your investigation with determining recommendations for preventing both an increase in the severity of the incident and the possibility of a recurrence.  

To write any incident case reports, follow the basic format described below.

1. Take immediate action 

Employees of your organization should notify their manager or another member of the company’s leadership committee as soon as an incident occurs–regardless of the nature of the event (whether it be an accident, illness, injury or near miss).  

That being said, there need to be communication channels clearly defined to promote the practice of employees coming forward in these situations and the importance of such.

Once an incident has been reported, the member of leadership’s first responsibility is to ensure that appropriate treatment, if necessary, is being administered to those affected by the event.  

On this note: if the hazard still exists, the manager that the event has been reported to must eliminate the hazard by controlling it. Each company should have a defined procedure for accomplishing this based on the nature of their work. 

For example, if there was a spill that caused a fall. You would attend to the victim and promptly have the spill wiped up and identify the area as a hazard by using a sign.

2. Collect the facts 

Once the immediate action including the response to the event and eliminating the hazard from the environment has been conducted, it’s time to determine and record the facts related to the incident details. 

9 facts related to the incident include: 

1. the basics.

Identify the specific location, time and date of the incident. This information is fundamental to the investigation and the most obvious information to collect. 

2. The affected

Collect details of those involved and/or affected by the incident. This would entail recording the name(s) of the individual(s) involved, their job title(s), the department(s) they operate in the manager(s) of those affected. 

3. The witnesses

Speak to any witnesses of the event to collect their perspectives of the event. Record their statements as detailed and accurate as possible in the form.  

To ensure accuracy, it’s best practice to review your notes with the witness to ensure they agree with how the event is portrayed in the report. It’s also important to include the name(s) of any witnesses in the report in case any additional questioning is required. 

4. The context

Consider and document the events that occurred leading up to the incident. Ask:

• What was the employee doing? 
• Who asked them to complete the task? How was the employee feeling prior to the incident? …etc. 

It is important to identify which factors were an outcome of the incident and which factors were present prior to the incident and could be a potential contributing factor to the incident occurring.

5. The actions

In the report, you must specify the actions of those involved at the time of the incident. What did the employee do that led to the incident? 

For example, if an employee injured their back when lifting a box at work, it is important to determine how that employee lifted the box to decide if that contributed to the injury. If yes, then inquire if this employee was trained properly for this task and by who or what source.  

6. The environment

Identify and record environmental conditions that contributed to the event. Was there inadequate lighting? Was a piece of equipment not operating properly? Was the employees’ visibility obstructed by a glare or blind spot? Etc. 

7. The injuries

Record detailed descriptions of specific injuries and evaluate the severity of such in the report. This description should include part(s) of the body injured, nature and extent of injuries. 

8. The treatment

It is also important to document in the incident case report the type of treatment administered for the acknowledged injuries. This information is important to document in order to understand how the employee recovers when reviewing the specifics of the event.

9. The damages

Record an account of any damage to equipment, materials, etc that was affected by the incident. This will be helpful to refer back during the analysis of the event in order to consider both a corrective action plan and to determine what items will need to be repaired or replaced. 

3. Analyze and reflect  

Collecting and recording the facts related to the occurrence of the incident will aid in determining how the incident occurred. Analyzing the collected facts related to the incident will aid in determining why the incident occurred. 

Analyzing and determining how and why the incident occurred is essential in order to develop an effective corrective action plan. 

Potential causes for accidents or injuries that occurred in the workplace could include: 

• Primary causes (for example, an unsalted ice patch on a set of stairs that caused a slip and fall). 
• Secondary causes (for example, an employee not wearing appropriate personal protective equipment, such as a hard helmet or eyewear).
• Other contributing causes (for example: a burned-out light bulb in the area causing poor visibility). 

4. Establish a corrective action plan 

A corrective action plan would provide recommendations as a means to reduce the possibility of a continued issue and/or recurrence of the incident details. The recommendations would result from an effective analysis of the facts collected and documented in the incident report. 

Elements of an effective corrective action plan could include: 

• Occupational Health & Safety training for employees 
• Preventative routine maintenance processes that ensure equipment is in proper working condition 
• A review of job practices and procedures with a recommendation for changes to reduce the risk of incidents 
• Conducting a job hazard analysis to determine if other potential hazards are associated with the task and/or environment and then training employees on these hazards based on the findings of the assessment 
• Engineering, equipment or PPE changes/upgrades to ensure the task or the process of completing said task poses less risk

Incident report examples and design tips

Here are some examples of types of incident reports to help you get started. I’ve also included some report design tips to help you present your information effectively. If you want to dig a bit deeper into the topic , here’s a comprehensive guide to general report design that I find handy.

Incorporate your branding into your report design

As with any document you create for your business, it’s good practice to incorporate your branding into your incident reports. (Psst– Venngage’s Brand Kit feature makes it easy to add your branding in just a click!) 

Include your brand colors in your design. You can do this by using them in the report header, footer, sidebar and in any visuals. 

You could use your brand colors in the background of your incident report:

You may also want to include your logo, like in this incident report template : 

Organize your information into sections using boxes

To make your information as readable as possible, organize it into sections. One of the easiest ways to do this is by using boxes.

For example, take a look at how these types of incident report templates use boxes to section off the information:

This type of incident report example also uses rectangles to denote section headers:

Color code the sections of your incident case report

Colors aren’t just great for making your reports , presentations and charts more interesting to look at. You can also use color to organize sections of your report and to draw attention to key information. 

For more tips on using color in your designs, read our guide on how to pick colors to communicate effectively .

Add a visual header to your incident report

As part of your company branding, you may want to add a visual header to your reports. For example, this incident case report template uses a neutral photo with a color filter to create a professional header:

You can do this in Venngage by overlaying a photo on a color background and adjusting the opacity of the photo: 

You can use the same effect for sidebars as well: 

Make a mock form to offer new team members as an example

If you’re transitioning in staff or something happens when the individual who owns incident reports is away, it’s very important that there is a process documented . That will ensure that if someone is put on the spot, they can fill in the incident report properly.

It can also be helpful to add brief descriptions of the information in the type of incident report to include in each field. Take a look at how this incident report example offers some brief text to guide the person filling it out:

Use icons to visualize concepts

Icons are small, compact visuals that can be used to reinforce the information in your reports. You can also use them to draw attention to specific fields and important pieces of information. 

For example, this incident case report template uses icons to indicate the purpose of each field:

• Preventative routine maintenance processes that ensure equipment is in proper working condition 

Incident report examples

Covid-19 employee incident report template.

Blue healthcare employee critical incident report template

Although being prepared for the unexpected is often difficult, preventative measures are the cornerstone of maintaining a happy and healthy working environment for yourself and your workforce.  

Incident reports are not only a defining piece in any company’s incident response protocol, but they provide a means to avoid recurring mishaps and/or inspire change. 

That’s why it is crucial to have a relevant and comprehensive incident report form prepared and on hand for any incident details that may arise. By adhering to your jurisdiction’s legislation and considering the four components prescribed above, you’ll be well-prepared to handle incidents effectively.

The effect of responding to workplace incidents in a timely and detail-oriented manner will not only ensure a safe workplace but also: 

• Reassure your employees that their employer is prepared to take the right steps in any situation 
• Ensure all appropriate parties are fully informed of incidents 
• Establish a record of incidents for future reference 
• Protect both you/your company and your employees from lawsuits and disputes

FAQs about incident reports

What is the purpose of incident reporting.

An incident report is used to describe an event that requires an investigation that needs to be documented.

Types of incident reports

• Accident Reports
• Workplace Incident Report

What are the 4 types of incidents?

Commonly, incidents can be categorized into four main types:

• Accidents: Involving unintended harm, damage or injury.
• Near Misses: Situations where an accident could have occurred but was narrowly avoided.
• Unsafe Conditions: Reports about hazardous or unsafe environments that need attention.
• Unsafe Acts: Documenting incidents involving violations of safety procedures or rules.

Incident reports generally cover a variety of situations and the specific types may vary based on context and industry. It’s important to note that these categories can overlap and the classification may differ depending on the reporting system or industry standards.

More HR guides and templates:

• 12 Powerful Performance Review Examples (+ Expert Tips By an HR Manager)
• 17 Essential Human Resources Poster Templates

Real Examples of Incident Reports at the Workplace with Templates

Accidents can happen, no matter how many preventative measures are in place. And, when accidents do happen, it’s vital to learn from them. To ensure your documentation is spotless, it’s always a good idea to look at some example incident reports at the workplace.

A safety incident report helps ensure nobody is subject to mistreatment because it contains information from the injured employee as well as eyewitnesses. This helps fill in missing pieces of information and figure out how the accident occurred exactly. 

“The safety of the people shall be the highest law.” Marcus Tullius Cicero

So, let’s dive in! 

If you’re looking for an example of an incident report at the workplace, feel free to jump to that section using the links below. Otherwise, we will first discuss what incident reports are and why they are so important.

What is a Workplace Incident Report? 

A workplace incident report is a document that states all the information about any accidents, injuries, near misses, property damage or health and safety issues that happen in the workplace. 

They are very important to identify the root cause of an incident along with any related hazards and to prevent it happening again in the future. As soon as an incident takes place and everybody in the workplace is safe, a work incident report should be written up. 

Typically, a workplace accident report should be completed within 48 hours of the incident taking place . The layout of an accident incident report should be told like a story, in chronological order, with as many facts as the witnesses can possibly remember. 

What should you include in an incident report?

There are many different types of incident reports, depending on your industry, but most will include the underlying details listed below in order to understand what happened: 

• The type of incident that took place
• Where the incident happened
• The date, day and time of the incident
• Names of the people involved
• Injuries that were obtained 
• Medical treatment that may have been required
• Equipment that was involved
• Events leading up to the incident that could have contributed to it taking place
• Eyewitnesses that can tell their side of the story

For example…If a chemical was involved in the incident, it should be noted if the victim was wearing appropriate PPE or not, as well as a photograph of the damage and the chemical’s label stating its components. If a workplace vehicle was involved, all information about the vehicle should be noted, and the possible reasons why it occurred if there is no clear answer. Employers should ensure vehicle safety guidelines are adhered to in order to prevent incidents in the workplace. 

If this is an OSHA recordable incident (accident) and the company is exempt from OSHA recordkeeping , the employer must also fill in OSHA Form 300 . This form enables both the employer and the agency to keep a log of the injuries or illnesses that happen in the workplace. It includes crucial information such as the number of working days missed due to injury, the sort of injury that was obtained and if medical treatment was necessary. 

How to Write an Incident Report

It is important to lay out an incident report clearly and concisely with all the relevant information about what happened. The clearer it is to read, the easier it will be to understand the cause of the workplace accident. 

The language used for incident reporting should not be too emotional and should not purposefully put the blame on someone. Here is an incident report example template:

This workplace incident report template includes the basic guidelines and best practices of what to include to make sure the report includes all the details it should. Once a report is written, it should be kept on record in the workplace. 

Incident Report Examples

Depending on the type of workplace incident, the writer will need to include various pieces of information. If you are not sure how to write an incident statement, here are example incident reports for the workplace covering various scenarios. 

Injury Incident Report Example

“At 11.20am on Tuesday 7 th July 2020, a worker, Timothy Johnson, tripped over an electrical wire on the Blue & Green construction site, located on Main Street, Riverside. He was carrying a hammer at the time. 

It is believed the wire should not have been stretched across the ground without safety tape securing it to the ground and drawing attention to it. Timothy fell to the ground and dropped the hammer but did not injure himself with it. He twisted his ankle, which immediately began to swell and scrapped the side of his leg in a minor way. A co-worker came to assist Timothy to his feet and helped him walk to a nearby bench. Timothy could not put his weight on his left foot, so he was taken to a nearby hospital. Once at the hospital, doctors confirmed that Timothy had sprained his ankle and would have to keep the foot elevated and use crutches for the next two weeks. He would not be able to work during this time. 

The foreman for the construction site has assessed the wires on the ground and concluded that brightly colored tape should secure the wires to the ground to draw attention to them and to ensure there are no bumps in the wire that are easy to trip over so that this does not happen again”.

Forklift Accident Report Sample

“On Friday 5 th July 2020, at 3.35pm, a forklift driver, Max White, was driving the forklift he usually drives in the Sunny Side Warehouse, ABC Street, when the front right tire got caught on a piece of wood on the ground, causing the forklift to overturn with Max inside it. 

Luckily a co-worker was nearby to help Max climb out of the right side of the forklift. Max was shaken up and reported that his left shoulder and left side of his neck were hurting him from the impact. Max decided he did not need to go to the hospital as he felt like he would only obtain bruises from his injuries and that they were not severe enough to need medical attention. His manager sent him home for the rest of the day to ensure he did not strain himself further. 

The wood that caused the forklift to overturn had not been stacked properly and has now been moved to a secure location in the warehouse to make sure it does not cause any more issues for forklift drivers”.

Fall Incident Report Sample

“In Fairview Boutique on Friday March 6 th , 2020, Samantha Wright was stacking shelves while standing on a ladder in order to reach the top shelf of handbags at 4.10pm. As she was stretching to place a bag on the shelf, the ladder collapsed from under her and she fell to the ground. Her co-worker heard the loud noise and immediately helped her. Samantha was in a lot of pain and could not get to her feet as she felt lightheaded. An ambulance was phoned, and she was brought to hospital. Samantha obtained a broken right arm, bruised thigh and hip, and a bump to the head that left no major head injury. She was recommended three weeks off work at the minimum by doctors.  The fall was concluded to be of nobody else’s fault but was put down to Samantha accidently overreaching instead of moving the ladder to where she needed to see”. 

Hand Injury Incident Report Sample

“On April 21 st , 2020, at Willow Maintenance, Yellow Abbey Grove, Kyle Jenkins was about to use a miter saw to cut some timber, but when he started to use the saw, it jolted, causing the saw to come down suddenly on his hand. 

Kyle’s left thumb was cut deeply by the saw and he lost a lot of blood. Co-workers came to his aid, turned the saw off and helped him stop the bleeding with tissues. He was then brought to the hospital where he received eight stitches and was told to not use the hand for rigorous work for 4 weeks. The head of Willow Maintenance inspected the saw to check for any issues and see why it came down and cut Kyle’s hand. It appeared that whoever was the last person to use the machine did not put the safety latch back on the saw once they had finished using it. 

If this safety latch was on the saw when Kyle used it, it would not have cut his hand, but rather, automatically shut off once it jolted. The manager decided to take a day to retrain his staff to ensure they adhere to the health and safety guidelines of the company”. 

Exposure Incident Report Sample

“In Woodbell factory, Springville, on Tuesday May 26 th , 2020, Annie Bedley was packaging household cleaning products when a bottle tipped over onto her wrist. 

She got up from her seat to wash off the chemical in the washroom. She then went to her supervisor to show her what had happened. Annie’s wrist was red and itchy but was not burning as she had washed off the remnants of the chemical immediately. Annie’s supervisor brought her to the office to sit with a cold compress on her hand and applied a layer of ointment to treat the burn. Annie did not feel like she would need further medical assistance and agreed with her supervisor that she would need two to three days off work to ensure the burn did not get irritated. 

Annie was wearing appropriate PPE at the time of the incident and no faults were found on the conveyor belt at the packing bay. The incident has been noted as an accident with nobody to blame. Photographic evidence of the burn has been included in this file”.

First Aid Incident Report Sample

“On Friday November 15 h 2019, Arthur Stokes was walking along the corridor between building four and five of Graygrock Inc. when he noticed that there was something sharp sticking through the bottom of his right shoe. 

He stopped to see what it was and found a nail stuck in his shoe. He took his shoe off and lucking was able to pull the nail out as it hadn’t pierced through to his foot and only minorly scraped it. He saw the stairwell was getting new handrails fitted and presumed the nail came from that. He saw two other nails further along the corridor and decided to pick them up to make sure nobody else stood on them. He reported to his manager’s office where he presented the nails and explained the situation. His foot had a small cut, so Arthur’s manager gave him an anti-septic wipe and a band-aid to help him. 

Arthur returned to work while his manager talked to the construction workers about keeping their workspace neat and to prevent any further accidents like this from happening”. 

Incident Report Form Templates

The layout of an incident report forms can vary depending on where the incident took place and the type of injuries. Here are some examples of incident reports at the workplace that you can use. 

Incident Report Form for General Staff (Word/PDF)

This general staff accident report form template can be used in a variety of workplaces. It includes all the necessities to describe a workplace incident to ensure it is recorded correctly. This general form is ideal for any business type. 

Incident Report Form for a Construction Site

This example incident report for the workplace is unique to others as it includes a field for the construction project name and the project manager’s details. This makes it easy to understand where in the construction site the accident occurred and how severe it was.

Incident Report for a Hospital/ Medical Clinic (Word/PDF)

The hospital incident report template is much more detailed than others as it must include accurate information about the staff member or patient’s injuries, where in the hospital it happened and what medical treatment they required.

As you write your workplace incident reports, remember it is not to place blame on one person, but rather record a series of events that have taken place. Sometimes these are pure accidents due to bad luck and, sometimes, there is human error or a technical fault involved. By the way, this is the basis of the Just Culture Algorithm™ which is definitely worth exploring if you’re looking to improve the safety culture at your workplace .

These examples of incident reports at the workplace are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the variety of workplace accidents that can occur. In any case, it’s crucial to record any incidents that arise because this helps create a safer work environment.

References & Further Reading

• OSHA’s Guide for Employers carrying out Incident Investigation
• OSHA’s Injury & Illness prevention Program
• Workplace Injury Information
• Eyewitness Statement Form : Should be included for any eyewitnesses to the incident to aid the investigation.
• Injury Investigation Questions : Should be asked when an employee has been injured at the workplace to understand exactly what happened.
• Incident Investigation Flowchart Procedure: A step by step example of the procedures involved in carrying out a workplace incident investigation.  

Related Posts

The 18 near miss reporting examples you need to know.

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Incident Report Samples to Help You Describe Accidents

Your company’s incident report form should make it easy to record the details of a workplace accident. Even fill-in-the-blank forms require a long-form description of the incident. This portion of the report can be the most difficult part to write.

In this article, we provide completed incident report samples to help you hone your documentation skills.

What Does an Incident Report Need to Include?

An incident report is a formal recording of the facts related to a workplace accident, injury, or near miss . Its primary purpose is to uncover the circumstances and conditions that led to the event in order to prevent future incidents. 

Every incident report you file should contain a minimum of the following:

• Type of incident (injury, near miss, property damage, or theft)
• Date of incident
• Time of incident
• Name of affected individual
• A narrative description of the incident, including the sequence of events and results of the incident
• Injuries, if any
• Treatments required, if any
• Witness name(s)
• Witness statements
• Other workers involved
• Video and/or 360-degree photographs of the scene

Include quantifiable measurements where possible. For example, the ladder capacity is 250 lbs and the victim was hoisting 300 lbs. 

Finally, where more than one person is injured in an incident, create a unique report for each affected employee . While it’s fine to duplicate general details between reports of this nature, you’ll need to include details specific to that person, such as the event from their point of view or medical records.

When Does an Incident Report Need to Be Completed?

Create an incident report as soon as your employees are safe , which includes seeking medical attention and implementing an immediate corrective action to prevent further danger or damage.

By recording details immediately, you improve the accuracy of your report and the effects of your corrective actions. While it may take a few days to complete your report, it should take you only hours (or less) to start it. 

Depending on your company policies and oversight from relevant regulatory bodies, you may be legally bound to complete an incident report within a given amount of time. If the incident resulted in a recordable injury, you must complete OSHA Form 301 within seven days. In addition, you may need to send your report to the organization providing oversight, US Federal or State OSHA , for example, within a given period of time. 

Review federal OSHA incident reporting and recordkeeping requirements or visit your state OSHA website for details. Remember that you must also report a fatality, hospitalization, or amputation directly to OSHA.

Safety Management Tip : Safesite Premium users enjoy streamlined OSHA incident recording with Safesite’s OSHA300 log integration feature .

Incident Reporting Mistakes to Avoid

Incident reports are more than a mandatory form to complete: they’re a vital part of your recordkeeping practices both for compliance and safety in general. Their importance means you want to get as much relevant information as you can as quickly as possible. But sometimes, safety teams can get in their own way and miss out on important details by making common mistakes.

Blame-casting and just getting it done are two common incident reporting mistakes you should avoid.  

It is easy to go on a witch hunt when accidents happen. However, incident reports aren’t created for the purpose of finding out who’s to blame. While staff should be held responsible (as stipulated by company policy) when they knowingly endanger themselves others, an incident report should focus on improving workplace safety.

If you make it clear you’ll abide by company policy but are not out to cast blame, you increase the likelihood that employees will participate in your incident investigation and provide honest witness statements. These factors create a stronger incident report.

In addition, if you rush through the report to “just get it done,” you may miss out on important details or lack clarity in wording. Irresponsible reporting can lead your team into even more danger, while detailed, clear reporting can lead to improved work conditions and better training. 

Three Incident Report Samples

Below are some sample incident report formats for three common types of workplace accidents. Use them as guides to effectively describe events.

Injury and Lost Time Incident Report Sample

If an injury requiring medical treatment, lost time/altered responsibilities happens in your workplace, it’s important to document it ASAP while the details are still fresh in memory. 

Here are some of the vital elements to include in your description of the incident:

• Location (Address)
• Date/time of incident
• Name of supervisor
• Description of the incident, including specific job site location, the sequence of events, and the results of the event
• Whether or not proper PPE was being used
• The root cause(s) of the incident
• Associated hazards raised and resolved following the event
• The affected individual’s version of the events
• Actions taken by concerned individuals after the incident
• Description of injuries
• How the decision was made to call (or not to call) emergency services
• Treatment required
• Photographs of the scene 

Though the details above seem excessive, mentioning them in the incident report paints a more accurate picture. It’s important to include the above information in as detailed and concise a manner as possible. Holes in your report could lead to inferences and missed opportunities to create a safer workplace.

To write an incident report, use a narrative format. In other words, simply tell the story. Here’s an incident report sample description of a slip or fall resulting in a fracture, written in narrative form:

“On Friday afternoon, February 3, 2019, at 2 p.m. in ABC Shipping Co. located in 13th Avenue, Applewood, one of the warehouse workers (John Keegan) slipped and fell while carrying heavy (85 lbs) inventory. The root cause is believed to be the unavailability of a hand truck or pallet jack. Instead of waiting, John attempted carrying the load himself. A second possible cause is the condition of John’s PPE, specifically his boots, which are very worn in certain places.

When John fell, his colleagues rushed to his assistance. Suspecting a fracture, the supervisor on the floor (Kathy Pickens) decided to call 911. John said he felt a bit dizzy when he lost his balance and that he just ‘tripped over his feet.’ He tried to minimize damage to the load itself while falling, which may have led to a more awkward fall.

Two of his co-workers said that they noticed he was struggling a bit before the fall, but were busy with their own tasks and felt it would be rude to ‘call him out.’ See the attached witness statements for more info.

John was taken to a nearby hospital and a fracture to his wrist was confirmed. John will be out of work for a number of weeks.

The supervisor is currently working with the safety officer (Chris Darnell) to assess the condition of the floor, the number and condition of hand trucks and pallet jacks on the floor, as well as the condition of company-provided boots over two years old.”

As you can see, including the full story, complete with small details and witness statements will help you investigate and recall the incident with greater clarity.

After documenting the incident, you may have legal reporting requirements. Report and store the files according to recordkeeping requirements from regulatory bodies. It’s generally best practice to preserve the files for the duration of employment.

Exposure Incident Report Example

When exposure to dangerous chemicals or pathogens occurs, it’s important to document the event carefully in an incident report.

Including the following details will make your exposure incident report more effective:

• Name of affected individual
• Name of Supervisor
• Description of the incident, including specific job site location, sequence of events, and results of the event
• Name of the chemical/pathogen/carcinogen, amount, concentration, and description of hazard labels/safety data sheets (SDS)
• Exposure monitoring data, if available
• Whether or not a contaminated sharp was involved
• Description of injuries, including body part(s) exposed, length of exposure, and size of area exposed
• Signs and symptoms displayed
• Photographs of the scene and hazard labels involved

Here’s an incident report sample description for overexposure via inhalation:

“Josh Lee, a freight handler in XYZ Shipping Lines, was exposed to carbon monoxide fumes on December 2, 2017, Tuesday, from (estimated) 7:30 AM to 11:30 AM. He was at the unloading bay B, helping unload some freight from various containers with the help of two forklift operators: Kit Stevens and Donald Summers, neither of which complained of symptoms.

During unloading, Lee suddenly experienced lightheadedness and nausea. He informed his supervisor (Donna Martin) that he thought he was ill. 

Martin noticed his symptoms were consistent with CO exposure, so she walked over to the area and felt the air quality seemed off. She ran a sensor (Portable Direct Reading Monitor) and discovered that CO levels were on the high end but within the acceptable limit: 30 PPM.

Stevens and Summers were ordered to turn off powered vehicles and sit in fresh air for an hour while the ventilation system could be examined (see attached report). 

Lee was driven to the hospital by Martin to receive treatment. On the way, he complained of blurred vision briefly but said that it had cleared up upon walking into the ER. A full report will be attached once received.

Lee’s colleagues, Stevens and Summers, didn’t notice anything out of the norm with the air quality, but Summers acknowledged that at 11:00 AM, his vehicle had been left running near the open end of a container for thirty minutes while Lee was adjusting two improperly arranged pallets just inside. There is no air quality data from that time.”

Be sure to attach medical reports and lost-time from work, if any, to your initial report. Keep the report on hand for the duration of the employee’s tenure with the company, at a minimum. 

First Aid Incident Report Sample

Some workplace mishaps result in an injury that requires on-site or walk-in medical first aid treatment. Often, workers can return and finish their shift. Recording an incident report is still vitally important, even where it’s not expressly required by regulatory bodies.

Here is an incident report sample description for incidents resulting in the need for first aid. 

“ On May 12, 2019, at around 9:34 AM. at King Street job site, Michael Williams was hit by an air nail gun that had been dropped by Carl Simone near the top of a staircase and gained momentum as it tumbled down. 

Williams, who was nailing drywall at the bottom of the staircase and wearing noise protective headphones, eye protection, and a short-sleeved shirt, was hit in the arm, causing a bruise and abrasion. He was treated with antiseptic, antibiotic ointment, a bandage, and an ice pack on site. Williams returned to work within a half hour. 

Simone had shouted a warning after he dropped the gun, but Williams said he did not hear it. Simone said that he simply lost his grip, but Williams said he felt that the tool may have been ‘swung’ before dropping. There were no other witnesses to report on the circumstances of the accident. 

Simone was wearing gloves when he dropped the nail gun. There are no outstanding hazards related to this incident and all workers will be reminded about glove selection and tool handling at the next safety meeting.”

While you should always document injuries requiring first aid internally, you typically don’t need to add them to your Form 300A or other regulatory reporting. In fact, doing so can needlessly elevate your incident rate.

An Incident Report Template to Improve Your System

Your incident reporting system should allow your employees to easily document all of the information listed in the incident report samples above. If your incident forms are easy to fill out in the field, you’re more likely to capture accurate, timely information. 

With Safesite, you can complete an incident report in six easy steps:

• Tap Log Incident
• Select your inicent report type (injury, near miss, property damage, theft, or equipment failure) and location, date, and time
• Input your incident description and an incident photo
• Tag the person involved and witnesses from your team
• Complete root cause analysis
• Log your incident

Safesite’s incident report form can be filled out on-site via iOS or Android app. It includes places to record the details of the event, images of the scene, and witness statements. It also allows you to raise associated hazards and identify a root cause. 

An incident report can also be completed using paper, but many companies now look to secure software to not only document and store incidents but also to trend problem areas and reveal safety gaps. 

Not ready to go mobile yet? Here’s a paper template you can edit and use in the meantime:

Raising and Resolving Hazards

Many incidents and near misses will involve hazards that could cause immediate or future harm to your employees if not resolved. From tagging and removing damaged equipment from service to safely dismantling corrupted structures, your incident reporting process is not truly complete until you resolve the danger. 

To keep things straightforward, include hazard descriptions and actions on your incident reports. With Safesite, you can create hazards from within an incident report by tapping Add Root Cause Hazard. Then, you’ll be able to alert your team of the hazard in real-time and assign it to someone for resolution. And you can do it without deviating from your incident report.

Tip: Want to streamline hazard management without missing a beat? Check out our guide to faster hazard recognition and resolution .

Go Forth and Report

When writing incident reports, be objective about the details. Your main goal is improving workplace safety, not pointing fingers at who is responsible. The incident report samples provided show that by staying true to the facts, you encourage employee participation in your investigations.

Digital reporting automates part of the process, saving you time and reducing human error. Improve your incident reporting process by using a digital reporting tool, like Safesite , that integrates alerts and hazard resolution in a single place.

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We're a group of safety and tech professionals united in our desire to make every workplace safer. We keep a pulse on the latest regulations, standards, and industry trends in safety and write about them here on our blog.

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Related blog posts, why employee engagement is the key to unlocking safety program performance, everything you need to know before changing your safety software, safesite’s step-by-step guide to safety program digitization.

Incident Report Writing

An  incident report  serves as a reference whenever there is a need to review the specifications of a particular incident that happened within a specific location. It provides the precise documentation of the incident that occurred and the supporting information that is necessary for purposes of investigation or incident recording.

An incident report can be deemed effective and highly usable if it contains firsthand information and if all the important details about the incident are presented in a clear manner. You may also like sample activity reports .

Creating an incident report is usually the task of security guards or duty managers who are on duty when the incident happened within the workplace. However, different circumstances and locations can make use of incident reports created by other entities as long as credibility, honesty, and trustworthiness are established with the help of incident report evaluation and counter-checking. You may also see status report examples.

Incident Report Template

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Incident Report Form Template

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Workplace Incident Report Template

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School Incident Report Template

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General Incident Report Template

IT Incident Report Template

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Critical Incident Reporting Guide Example

Incident Investigation Report Example

Writing and Distributing Incident Report Example

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What Should Be Written in an Incident Report?

Incident reports can come in a variety of forms and sizes. There are extensive incident report forms that are used by corporate establishments while there are also basic and short ones that are developed by organizations for the purpose of simple reporting and documentation. You may also see business report examples .

One of the most important characteristics that an incident report must have is the completion of all the information about the incident. Hence, listing all the facts that can support the incident’s occurrences is necessary to be included in the document. You may also like investigation report samples and examples .

Here are some of the details that are important to be seen in a basic incident report:

• The exact location where incident happened
• The date and time when the incident occurred
• The events that transpired leading to the incident that must be reported
• The name and job designation of the employees who are involved in the incident
• The department or division of the business where the employees involved in the incident are stationed
• The particular actions or the exact thing that the involved employee/s are doing when the incident happened
• The name of the immediate supervisor/s of the involved employees and the name of other people who should be notified about the employee’s involved to the incident
• The names of the witnesses
• The statements of the witnesses of the incident
• The circumstances that affected the overall result of the incident
• The particular environmental conditions that may have added to the potential or resulted to the occurrence of the incident
• The injuries acquired by particular entities and the extent or condition of the injuries listed, if applicable
• The specific damages to the properties of the business which may include the items, materials, and equipment used for operations

Depending on the kind of incident report that you are making, there may be information that can be added or deducted from this list.

Incident Report Writing Example

Hazard and Incident Report Writing Example

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Incident Report Format Example

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How to Come Up with a Detailed Written Incident Report

Even if an incident is still not occurring, it will be best to your advantage if you will be knowledgeable on how to develop an incident report or at least know how to be keen with details when incidents happen so you can be more effective when presenting all the details that are needed when a basic incident report is already requested to be done. You may also see service report examples .

Here are some of the ways that can help you come up with a comprehensive and highly usable incident report:

• Always follow a protocol whenever you are immersed in situations where an incident happened. This will help you to be more observant. More so, this will allow you to provide the facts that are essential to be known by the people who will review the incident report. You may also like project report examples & samples .
• The first thing that you need to do when incidents happen is to get the incident report forms that are used by your organization or business. This way, you can already have the list of details that you need to include in the report. This will help you specify all the necessary information about the incident since there are already predetermined questions in the document. This will depend on the availability of the incident report forms .
• There are some cases where you will be tasked to develop your own incident report format. With this, you have to be knowledgeable on how to come up with an incident report document. Referring to downloadable  incident report letter examples  can help you a lot with regards this matter.
• It is very important for you to make sure that you will create the incident report the soonest time possible. This can help you identify the incident occurrences more clearly. Also, this will allow the falsification of general reports to be lessened or even be eliminated as long as you will put all the actual instances that happened during the incident.
• Review the list of details that are commonly included in an incident report. Being familiar with particular information can give you more advantage whenever you are already immersed in incident report creation activities.

Effective Incident Report Writing Guidelines Example

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Incident Report Sheet Example

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Guidelines for Writing and Developing Incident Reports

Creating an incident report is a big responsibility as it will be used as one of the documents or references when investigating what really transpired during an incident. Hence, you have to be aware of the fact that the content of the incident report will be scrutinized to ensure the validity and precision of its content. You may also see management report examples .

Listed below are some of the guidelines that can help you develop an incident report in the best way possible:

• There are a number of  ultimate guides to report writing  that you can refer to if you want to develop your skills and techniques when writing incident reports. Again, it is not all the time that you will be given a pre-formatted incident report. Hence, it will be best if you can identify the essential information that are commonly seen in the document.
• Always be honest when creating an incident report. It is very important for you to be trustworthy as your job can be in the line or in jeopardy if it will be proven that you falsified particular information to protect one or more entity involved in the incident. You may also like marketing report examples .
• Before handing the simple report to the management, the security team or any entity who requested it, review the entire document first. Double-check all the information that you have disclosed as any errors or inaccurate information can be taken against you.
• Do not be vague. It is essential for you to always be specific, accurate, and thorough when writing an incident report. Lack of clarity can actually cause confusion due to misleading information or misunderstanding. You can veer away from promoting these situations if you can properly outline the specific details of the incident. You may also check out ways of writing an observation report examples .
• Be organized when presenting facts. Arrange the discussion in the incident report in a way that the people who will review the document can understand how the incident occurred. It will be best if you will provide details from the beginning of the incident up to how the incident ended. You might be interested in quality report examples .

Accident or Incident Report Form Example

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Incident Report Example

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Usage of Incident Report Writing Examples

An incident report may be a  short report  but it can actually provide a lot of benefits in particular circumstances where its usage is deemed to be necessary and beneficial. With this, it is recommended for you to use references when creating your own incident report to ensure the effectiveness of the document’s content and format. We suggest you to use incident report writing examples as your references as long as you will be specific and observant with the following:

• Ensure that the incident report example that you will use as a reference is aligned with the nature of the actual incident report that you need to draft.
• As much as possible, you should be comfortable with the format of the incident report so that you can easily place information without causing misunderstandings due to layout problems and detail misplacement. You may also see recruitment report examples .
• Do not copy everything that you can see in an incident report writing example. Stick with the specifications of the incident that you need to report.

The layout of an incident report can actually affect the flow of the document’s discussion. With this, you have to consider not only the content of the document but also on how all the details are collated or put together. Feel free to browse through our list of downloadable examples for document guides. You may also like financial report examples .

Incident Report Generator

Text prompt

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Craft an incident report on a classroom equipment damage involving students during a group activity

Develop an incident report about a lost personal item of a student reported in the school library.

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How to Write an Incident Report - With Examples

According to research on safety management among nurses (in hospital settings), "Despite 94.8% of registered nurses being aware of incident reporting systems, only 32% reported an incident in a month, indicating a critical gap between awareness and practical reporting practices in healthcare institutions."

It can drive severe consequences for overall safety in a workspace and shows that mastering the art of incident reporting is fundamentally integral to the effectiveness of your workplace safety and risk mitigation.

In this guide, you’ll learn the keys to:

• Optimizing the incident reporting process
• Crafting a detailed incident report
• Understanding the core elements of effective reporting
• Writing a compelling and structured narrative
• Adapting examples of incident reports for clarity
• How to find incident report forms tailored to your sector
• How the newest incident reporting software can change your approach

Equip yourself with the knowledge and the tools to transform your incident reporting from tedious form completion to a smart working environment. From basic principles to safety incident management software , your incident reporting toolkit is right here.

Incident Report And Its Purpose

An incident report is a formal written document that serves as a reference when an unexpected event or accident occurs. This event could result in injury, damage to property, or work interruptions. 

The main purposes of an incident report are to:

• Capture key details of what happened while events are still fresh in witnesses’ minds. It is the document of who, what, when, where, injuries/damage sustained, equipment/property affected, actions taken, and more.
• Allow a thorough investigation of the root causes and contributing factors that culminated in the incident. The more thorough your report, the more insight it provides on how and why the incident transpired.
• Identify any safety or operational policies violated that were part of the incident. It reveals if any protocols were not followed or were overlooked altogether.
• Inform subsequent action to prevent any similar incidents from occurring in the future. It will help management to see where they need to make improvements in processes, training equipment, policies, facilities, etc.

[ YOU CAN ALSO DOWNLOAD THIS FREE GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE WORKPLACE INCIDENT REPORTING ]

Core Components of an Effective Incident Report

Fundamental information.

The fundamental information outlined in an incident report includes:

• Type: Categorizing the incident provides a point of reference. Common types include injuries, property damage, security incidents, workplace violence, environmental problems, privacy breaches, and more.
• Location, date and time: The “where and when” of any incident is a must. Be as specific as you can with location, and with date and time.
• Names of individuals involved: List all people involved in the incident. Give the full name and any title or role, i.e., Robert Patterson, Security Guard. If there were injuries, list the person who was injured and list witnesses with their titles or roles, i.e. Alice Lansing, Accountant.
• Injuries sustained: Include a list of injuries, first aid that might have been administered, and any medical treatment. No injuries? State, "No injuries were sustained."

Specific Details

The specifics of an incident report provide important context:

• Equipment involved: Make a note of any tools, machinery, materials, chemicals or other equipment involved in the incident. Include the manufacturer, model number if it applies, and precise details of how the equipment was being used.
• Events leading up to the incident: The reconstruction of events can offer a number of insights into causes. Provide a concise chronological sequence of events leading up to the incident.
• Account of the incident: A detailed, chronological narrative of the incident itself will bring the incident to life. Use precise, objective language, quoting any witness statements where relevant.
• Subsequent events: Make a note of any actions that were taken after the incident, such as first aid, medical treatment, notification of the appropriate authorities, or checks for any damage or maintenance required on the equipment involved.

This leads to a basic account combined with vivid detail, making a full and useful incident report. The combination allows for the causes to be properly investigated and for the incident to be the basis for preventing similar eventualities.

Crafting an Effective Incident Report

A narrative structure is essential while writing an incident report. Organize the report into three basic sections:

Introduction

Who, what, where, and when should be answered in the introduction. As an example:

“Jane Doe, an ABC Company cashier, was involved in an incident around 10:15 am on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. The incident occurred in the company's headquarters breakroom at 123 Main St, Anytown, USA."

From here, we know that Jane Doe was involved, an event occurred, on Tuesday, March 1st, 2022, at 10:15 am, and in the breakroom at 123 Main St. It shows how this introduction sets the background for the report.

The body details the incident from beginning to end. It includes all relevant occurrences before, during, and after the incident.

As an example:

“Jane Doe walked into the breakroom and made her coffee at the coffee maker. As she reached for the coffee pot, she slipped on a puddle liquid and fell to the ground. The coffee pot struck her right calf and shattered. Jane Doe screamed out in pain with the fall.”

The body reaffirms who, what, where, and when, as well as the chronology.

The conclusion describes the resolution of the incident as well as key findings. As an example:

“Emergency services were called at 10:18 am. Jane Doe was removed by ambulance to Riverdale Hospital for a laceration of her right leg. She received 12 stitches. The broken coffee pot was cleaned and thrown away. Facilities were made aware and requested to keep a supply of Wet Floor signs positioned near breakroom spills.”

In the conclusion, the resolution and incident investigation recommendations are briefly stated to bring the matter to a close.

This introduction-body-conclusion structure makes incident reports logical and complete and makes them easy to understand. A story that winds its way to a conclusion makes a whole lot more sense.

Incident Report Example – How To Write It?

Here’s how an incident report will be written for “Main Office Security Incident - Unauthorized Entry Attempt”:

(This Incident report is vital, because it captures the security event and can be reviewed to make future security improvements.)

Other Examples Of Incident Reports [Manufacturing And Mining Industry]

Manufacturing Industry Incident Report Example:

Mining Industry Incident Report Example:

Incident Report Forms (For Different Organizations)

Reporting incident forms are the usual medium used to document incidents. They are tailored to the sector and the organization, so incident report forms differ. Here are a few examples:

General Staff Incident Report

These generic staff or personnel incident reports are employed by many businesses to log employee, customer, and visitor incidents. A general staff incident report generally includes:

• Person’s name and contact details
• Incident Time, date, and site
• Pertinent details about what happened
• Kind of injury or damage
• Name of witnesses
• Safety measures taken Suggestions for prevention

Here’s what a normal general staff incident report looks like:

Incident Report Construction Site

Construction job site safety guarantees in-depth incident reporting. Construction incident reports include particulars, for example:

• Name and role of person injured or involved
• Date, time, exact location, and description of incident
• Type of injury or illness sustained
• Equipment, materials, or chemicals involved
• Actions taken following the incident
• Suggestions to improve safety and prevent recurrences

A normally used construction site incident form looks like this:

Hospital/clinic Incident Report

Healthcare utilizes unique incident report forms to describe patient care, medical therapy, pharmaceutical errors, laboratory mishaps, confidentiality breaches, and a whole lot more. A healthcare facility or hospital might have an incident report that includes:

• Patient safety incidents, falls, infections, or privacy breaches
• Medication errors or equipment malfunctions
• Workplace injuries to staff
• Security issues, theft, property damage, or vandalism

Here’s a sample of patient incident report form usually used in clinical settings:

Incident Reporting Software For Smarter Workplace Management - SafetyIQ

SafetyIQ is an advanced incident reporting software that transforms incident reporting by providing a sleek, user-friendly platform that sets new industry standards for workplace safety.

Emerging as the leading incident reporting solution, SafetyIQ is redefining workplace safety with a variety of next-generation features and comprehensive free guides.

Take a closer look at the key features of this tool:

• Effortless Incident Reporting: The platform simplifies and centralizes the incident reporting process, allowing users to submit full-featured incident reports – complete with multimedia documentation – with minimal effort.
• Customization for Unique Needs: SafetyIQ tailors incident report forms to meet the unique requirements of each organization, expediting incident data capture and analysis in the process.
• Proactive Safety Measures: This platform is a host of specialized solutions for managing high-risk scenarios – Journey Management , Lone Worker Management , Fatigue Management , and beyond. It helps steer organizations beyond compliance and toward a proactive culture of safety.
• Real-time Insights and Analysis: Organizations enjoy a comprehensive suite of reporting dashboards that reveal the hidden safety performance insights within their data in real-time, featuring color-coded charts and infographics that allow for rapid identification of movements.
• User-Centric Design: The entire solution is designed with an emphasis on the end user, prioritizing a clean, user-friendly interface for both field workers submitting incidents and the managers analyzing the safety trends within their organization.

This software turns incident reporting into the beginning of a proactive safety culture by equipping organizations with the resources they need to put in place world-class safety practices continually. With its ability to assign corrective actions based on a data-driven approach, SafetyIQ is the best solution for workplace management and safety.

FAQs - Get More Answers Here!

Incident reporting software is a tool designed to streamline the documentation of untoward events or accidents in a business or workplace, which is crucial for reference, investigation, and informing corrective actions. It ensures a systematic approach to safety incident management.

SafetyIQ allows live incident reporting through its user-friendly platform, enabling real-time submission of multimedia-rich incident reports for immediate documentation and analysis of safety incidents.

SafetyIQ offers incident report templates that capture the critical information followed through a structured format, enabling consistency and completeness in incident documentation.

SafetyIQ has a user-centric design from the bottom up for an intuitive user experience that makes it easy for field workers to submit live incident reports and managers to analyze safety trends and overall enhance the incident reporting and management process.

Live incident reporting is simple and easy with the online platform. It enables the convenient and immediate submission of data-rich incident reports in real-time. Companies can customize the tool features to support unique requirements and enable proactive safety measures.

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From planning the journey, completing a risk assessment to gaining approval, the entire process is automated and seamless with SafetyIQ.

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Writing Incident Reports

Stacey Corbitt

Chapter Overview

Without exception and across the globe, every workplace in your professional career is likely to apply considerable value to safety, health, and security of the business and all of its assets. In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) is the regulating and enforcement entity whose mission is “to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance” ( https://www.osha.gov/aboutosha , n.d.). The importance of record keeping in the areas of safety and health cannot be overstated; and all employees are responsible for some level of preparing safety documentation. This chapter aims to provide you with tools for success in writing a workplace-specific genre: the incident report .

Think about your own experiences, at work or in another capacity. What training have you completed related to safety, security, or health? Why do you think the organization provided the training? How did you benefit from being trained? How did the organization benefit? Be prepared to discuss your experience in class.

Preparing to write an incident report

Employers often include training on their company safety program as part of new employee orientation: as a result, as you begin or continue your professional career, you will become familiar with your company’s requirements and your responsibilities for documentation of accidents and other reportable incidents. This section provides information about typical company procedures you may encounter.

Before anything happens

Information collection procedures should be provided in the workplace safety and health plan handbook or other document, and may be accompanied by one or more forms designed to capture all initial information about the incident. Always be familiar with the incident reporting procedures required by your employer so you are prepared to address your responsibility in clear, complete, concise, and correct documentation.

After something happens

First, in the event you are involved in or witness an accident or other event that is outside the normal and expected course of business while in the workplace, be prepared to collect and recall detailed information according to a plan specified by your employer. It may be critical to make observations, ask questions, write information down, make sketches, and take photographs as soon as safely possible following any emergency procedures. Familiarity with the employer’s safety protocols ensures you can minimize further risk to individuals and to the company.

Collecting important data

Perhaps your career will provide opportunities for you to conduct in-depth investigations for your employer, and you may prepare lengthy, detailed investigation reports addressing things like root causes and policy changes. Regardless of his or her position within the company, however, each employee has a responsibility to work safely and to report incidents or unsafe conditions. As noted above, many times the latter level of reporting amounts to completing one or more specialized forms similar to the one provided in Figure 1 below. Review the example form and be prepared to discuss it with your peers in class.

Figure 1. Partial initial incident report information collection form (Sandvick, 2020)

The facts about an incident are collected in the form shown in Figure 1 using reporters’ questions: that is, those questions that elicit what , where , when , who , how , and why information. Additionally, certain incident types require visual media representation of details. Working with a classmate, discuss a parking lot collision or other incident involving at least one driver and vehicle. Besides answering the questions provided in Figure 1, what other kinds of visual information could you collect and provide to help readers understand the incident?

In the event your organization does not have a readily-available data collection form to use, the reporters’ questions may provide sufficient guidance for you to collect incident details. In any case, the two important goals to meet in preparing to write an incident report are as follows:

• Collect the facts about and observations of the incident as soon as is safely possible, distinguishing between your own observations and those relayed to you by other witnesses; and
• Create any photographs, diagrams, and other visual data as soon as it is safe to do so.

Organizing and drafting an internal incident report

Your organization’s policies and procedures, together with your position, will determine the next steps you should take in the incident reporting process. As an intern or junior-level professional, your responsibility may end with completion and submission of the reporting form(s). If you have management or executive authority, you are more likely to be tasked with writing a complete narrative incident report. Finally, if you have primary responsibility for health, safety, and/or security within your workplace – perhaps you are a safety coordinator – you may need to collect the initial witness report forms; conduct complete investigations; prepare one or more formal narrative reports; make training or disciplinary decisions; recommend policy changes; and prepare official reports for state and federal authorities.

Understand that the specific requirements of your employer may be unique to your business and to the type of workplace incident being reported. Table 1 below contains questions you must answer in the drafting process: discuss the scope of and reasons for those questions.

Table 1. Considerations for organizing and drafting your report

A word about preparing external incident reports

As noted in the introduction, OSHA may have regulatory authority over your employer. In that event, you may be required to report the details of a workplace accident or other incident according to the specifications of OSHA and in a format they prescribe. As you review Figure 2, notice the information required by the report form. How does it compare to the information provided in a typical internal incident report as represented in the previous section of this chapter? What can you tell about OSHA’s priorities from its reporting form?

Figure 2. Online incident report form required by OSHA for some incidents (2004)

Finalizing internal incident reports

Organizing your effort, taking stock of your progress through the reporting process and reorganizing your information is a constant in incident reporting. At this point, you should be able to check off the following steps:

• Ensure you have collected all relevant answers to the reporters’ questions from both your own point of view and that of others involved in or witnessing the incident.
• Confirm you have taken photos and created or obtained drawings as needed to fully and clearly explain the sequence of events and extent of damage.
• Obtain copies of any other documentation (police reports, for example) or artifacts from the scene of the incident that will accompany your internal report.

Draft your report using the format prescribed by your employer or, if no specifics are given, use a standard business memorandum format. Keep in mind both the intended audience and the potential readers as you write; and remember that your purpose is to objectively report the facts and details of the incident in a clear, concise, complete, correct, and usable document.

Chapter conclusion

Incident reports are a workplace-specific genre of writing that generally appear in report memo format. Like all forms of technical writing, incident reports succeed when they are clear, complete, concise, and correct. This genre is frequently written for one audience who then may disseminate it to a much broader audience. The challenges of incident reporting include careful organizing, integrating graphics, and especially reporting facts and observations objectively and completely without addressing the author’s opinions or judgments. Just (all) the facts, please.

Activity: A case study

Read and discuss the following scenario with your classmates as directed by your instructor.

Safety First

Carolyn has 3 semesters left to complete her bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering. Last summer, she was hired as a field sampling technician for a growing environmental engineering firm. Her employer specializes in groundwater remediation.

Carolyn’s training in the first week of her internship included the following topics:

• Safe operation of company and worksite vehicles, both at the office and in the field
• Use and care of personal protective equipment
• Handling, marking, and disposal of samples, equipment, and supplies
• Completing daily work logs and weekly progress reports

Protocols for reporting accidents and near misses

Carolyn also learned from the junior-level project engineers who trained her that interns and new hires typically are expected to do most of the paperwork.

On Wednesday of the second week of her internship, Carolyn had an opportunity to test her skills at collecting and reporting information about an accident involving damage to company property. Joey, a project engineer who oversaw Carolyn’s training on the sampling process, was driving a company pickup from the office to the field worksite.

• The truck assigned that day to Joey and Carolyn had been parked front-end first in the fleet yard, which violated the safe operation and parking rules of the company.
• Joey noticed there were no chocks at the wheels of the truck. Since he didn’t need to remove any chocks, he did not complete a walk-around of the vehicle.
• Carolyn climbed into the passenger side of the truck and fastened her seat belt.
• Since the parking spot was positioned against the building, preventing him from pulling through, Joey backed out.

Joey backed the truck out of the parking spot and collided with a cement barrier. The collision broke the taillight cover on the truck’s passenger side and dented the bumper. There was also damage to the paint on the truck’s tailgate.

Answer the questions and be prepared to discuss your answers in class.

• Consider the audience, which may include safety officers; business owners; direct supervisors; medical personnel; and insurance and legal agents. What needs do all members of this audience have in common?
• Carolyn is an intern and is just starting her work at the company. She doesn’t want to become known as “a troublemaker” among her peers. What should she include in her witness account of the incident report? What should she avoid in the report? Why?
• Would you advise Carolyn to include any photographs in her incident report? If so, what should she photograph? If not, why not?

Refer to Figure 3 below as you complete the homework.

Figure 3. Example of an employer’s instructions

Instructions for Employees:  Making an Initial Property Damage Incident Report

Report as soon as possible within 4 hours of the incident via email addressed to [email protected].

• Subject line of email: “MM/DD/YYYY Property Damage Notification.”
• Include the following information in the body of the email:
• Names of employees present, whether involved or possible witnesses
• Organization unit, office phone and cell phone numbers of employee making report
• Time, weather, and site address and description of incident location
• Describe the work being performed and the equipment and/or other property damage
• Attach pictures of the location and damaged area(s) of equipment.
• CC the unit supervisor and all other employees present at the time of the incident.

Developmental writing assignment

Work together with a partner to agree on the details of the incident to be reported. You will need to make decisions about any details not provided in the scenario but required by the reporting instructions: for example, you will need to decide on a date and time of day for the incident. What other assumptions do you make?

Why do you think the instructions require a report within 4 hours and submitted via email ?

Technical writing document creation assignment

Write and submit the employer-required incident report email for the accident identified in the Activity section above.

“How to write an incident report” by Clinton M. Sandvick (2020). Provided by: wikiHow. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 .   https://www.wikihow.com/Write-an-Incident-Report .

Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (2004). OSHA forms for recording work-related injuries and illnesses. Retrieved from OSHA.gov website: https://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/RKforms.html

Mindful Technical Writing Copyright © 2020 by Stacey Corbitt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How to Write an Incident Report: 11 Easy Steps (2024 Guide)

Posted 18.01.21 by: Bond Seidel

How to Write an Incident Report: 11 Easy Steps (2024 Guide) was updated for 2024 to bring you the most relevant information.

If you’re wondering how to write an incident report, you’ve come to the right place. Writing incident reports is an essential stage of any company’s health and safety program, so correctly writing the report is essential. In this guide, we’ll walk you through all the vital steps to writing your incident report efficiently and effectively on the first try.

Writing a valuable and comprehensive incident report is easily accomplished in 11 steps. With some critical points included, writing an incident report will soon be second nature to you (but we hope you don’t have to write too many).

We’ll start by examining the three primary considerations we have to make before writing an incident report. These include choosing the correct category and type of incident report, what relevant information to include in the report, and legal concerns with incident report contents. Then we’ll write the IR (incident Report) step by step. So, keep reading for everything you need to know about writing an incident report.

Table of Contents

Before You Begin: 3 Things To Consider About How To Write An Incident Report

• Incident Report Definition And Type Selection
• Relevant Information To Include In Your Incident Report
• Legal Concerns With Incident Report Contents

Explore the following three sections to determine what you need to consider before we dive into how to write your report. Keep in mind that these three considerations are not to be confused with the three requirements for writing an incident report:

• The report must be factual and without assumption.
• An incident report must be accurate and without bias.
• The incident report must be complete.

If you’re looking for more information about precisely what needs to be included in an incident report , you should read our article specializing in the subject: 12 Things To Include In An Incident Report (With 5 Tips)

Now that we’ve clarified needs versus considerations for our incident report let’s move on to those considerations.

1) Incident Report Definition And Type Selection

With so many industries in our modern society, it stands to reason that there would also be several incident report types. However, depending on the industry, some may have different definitions for what classifies as an incident.

Some of the more common categories of incident reports, with a few examples of each, are as follows.

• Employee Injury Report
• Near Miss Report
• Vehicle Accident Report
• Chemical Spill Incident Report
• Asbestos Exposure Incident Report (also classified as a human resources report)

As you may have gleaned from the above categories, your definition of an incident may have a different meaning depending on whether you’re referring to a vehicle, person, property, or something else. However, we can assume that an incident constitutes any situation where injury or damage could occur to a person, thing, or property.

Depending on the incident report type, you may find that you must file some reports with the authorities within a specific time. Take a vehicular accident report in New York, for example. If there is injury (or death) or damage over $1000, all drivers involved must file an accident report within ten days from the incident’s date. ( source )

For more information about definitions of the incident and the differences between an incident and an accident, look at our article Incident Report Vs. Accident Report – Differences For Business.

2) Relevant Information To Include In Your Incident Report

You must include several things in each incident report, no matter the type of incident. However, we can make some general assumptions about what information is required. Here’s a quick run-down of what you need to include:

• Affected people, property, or business units
• Description of injuries, damage, or hazard
• Date, time, and location of the incident or hazard
• Events leading up to the incident or hazard (if applicable)
• Local conditions that may have affected the incident
• Resolutions to the incident or hazard and further recommendations.
• Witness and report writer information, including contact information

The above inclusions to the incident report are similar to the nine contents of a police report, according to Nolo’s information on the contents of a police report. ( source )

Including the items listed above will ensure that your incident report includes the information needed to be effective. Just remember to pay attention to each section of the unique report type you are completing if there is further information called for on the report that is not listed above, as will be the case in any situation where customized or unique events transpire that require incident reporting.

For a more in-depth look at the Incident Reporting process, read about The Incident Report And The Disclosure Process here.

Are you looking for a solution for your incident and inspection reporting?

Let’s move on to the process of completing the report. Using a method and adopting uniform procedures ensures all staff receive equal training and understand their roles and steps required for your health and safety incident reporting practices.

Before you start writing, consider the legalities for a moment.

3) Legal Concerns With Incident Report Contents

There is no shortage of lawsuits resulting from workplace incidents in the United States and other countries. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2019 in the United States, private industry nonfatal injuries in the workplace were reported to be 2.8 million . That’s an awful lot of injuries and an awful lot of potential litigation.

So, how do companies protect themselves? The first step is to ensure that incident reports are filled out honestly and to the best of the reporter’s ability. But there’s more to it, especially if an injury or incident at work lands your company (or you) in court.

According to Immix Law, simply stamping confidential on an incident report won’t protect your company from having to divulge said document in court. The document must qualify as a “work product” under the Work Product Doctrine in many US states. ( source )

The incident report must meet three criteria to qualify as a work product. The incident report has to be:

• Documents or tangible things
• Prepared by a party or its representative
• In anticipation of litigation

As you can see, most incident reports fall short of being classified as documents created in anticipation of litigation. The kicker makes it challenging to keep these documents suppressed should a situation end up in court. After all, these documents are typically a part of everyday business, not prepared in anticipation of legal action.

The bottom line is that you must know what is written in the report. It exemplifies that an intelligent health and safety program includes Near Miss , Safety Leading Indicators , and Dangerous Situation reports at the minimum to aid in incident preventive actions. After all, if you can prevent incidents in the first place, you don’t have to worry about writing too many incident reports in the first place.

Remember to check with your lawyer for all the requirements in your state for reporting incidents, as this article does not constitute legal advice.

Tip: It’s a smart idea to include screening documentation in your incident reporting program to help maintain a safe and healthy work environment in these trying times we live in.

Writing An Incident Report In 11 Steps

Now that you’re prepared and armed with the knowledge of incident report types, data to include, and legalities to keep in mind. So, what is the first step in writing an incident report? The first step to writing an incident report is to determine the appropriate type of report based on the incident type.

Learn more about incident management and streamlining your management here.

1) Obtain The Appropriate Incident Report Type.

Our incident report writing journey begins with the selection of the appropriate document. Your company should have procedures in place for incidents and also have the proper documentation. If you aren’t sure, ask your manager which forms or reports you need for your situation.

You’ll find multiple Incident Report Templates here if you require a downloadable template to get you started.

2) Complete The Administrative Section Of The Report.

The administrative section of your incident report will detail your name, location, time, date, and other information required on your incident report. Notice the cutaway of a near-miss report shown above. The first section of the IR is where the administrative report information is.

3) Completely Fill In Any Victim Information (If Applicable).

You must record the victim’s information if the incident report type is an injury. Take a look at the following cutaway from a generic Employee Injury Report. As you can see, the injured team member’s information, in this case, is included below the administrative area of the report.

4) Completely Fill In Any Witness Information (If Applicable).

Any witness or witnesses present for the incident should have their names and contact information recorded if someone needs to contact them at a later date.

5) Complete Any Section Of The Incident Report About Emergency Services Contacted.

A significant, if not essential, part of the incident report includes emergency service information when these services are involved. If someone calls the police, you should report the names, badge numbers, and division numbers of officers attending. If an injury results in emergency health care, the clinic, hospital, or other emergency service location where a person is taken or sent needs recording.

6) Detail The Events That Led Up To The Incident Occurring.

In many cases where an event occurs that deems an incident report warranted, the incident is often preventable. Investigating the root causes (root cause analysis) can reveal how someone could prevent the incident. Using Safety Leading Indicators to aid in this process is recommended.

For the details leading up to the incident, try to explain all the events that led up to the incident in as great detail as possible. Remember that there are a few trivial points, and some details may seem more relevant in hindsight, so ensure to include everything you can.

7) Detail The Environment And Conditions Present At The Time Of The Incident.

Sometimes incidents are no-fault and caused by environmental conditions. Even the first person on the scene might fall on the way to get sand or salt to clear the ice when it’s icy on the ground. When these uncontrollable incidents occur, or any incident for that matter, it is essential to note any environmental conditions that may have contributed to or even caused the incident. It could be poor visibility, icy or slippery ground, or other atmospheric and environmental conditions that may have contributed.

8) Detail The Incident Itself, Noting Who Or What Was Affected.

The meat and potatoes of the incident report include the detail of the incident itself. In this section, one must pay close attention to detail and avoid including emotion. It can be easy to incorrectly assess a situation during tense incidents and place blame before finding the truth.

When recording the details of the incident, you should attempt to write in an impartial encyclopedic fashion. Detail notes from the third person, adding descriptiveness to the narrative without including personal thoughts, feelings, or suspicions. An unbiased report does not blame individuals; it merely records the events as truthfully as possible.

If a drawing, pictures, video, or other media is available, it is always prudent to include more details. However, a digital reporting solution like the 1 ST Incident Reporting App can include digital media files to improve your incident reporting.

9) Detail The Actions Taken To Mitigate Hazards And Contain The Situation.

A vital component of the incident reporting process includes the steps taken to mitigate a hazard, help an injured person, or other actions to control and aid in preventing further injury or damage from the incident.

Remember the part about the legal ramifications of what we write in the report? If a person is injured and you don’t write down how you provided the aid, you have no record of helping them.

10) Detail Any Recommendations Or Preventive Actions Required.

Like the section on immediate actions taken, we must transcribe any recommended further measures to mitigate hazards. These actions are those that cannot be quickly or easily implemented by the person writing the report. It might include fabricating new machine guards or obtaining traffic lights and sensors for a parking garage entrance. There are many possibilities here; the point is to attempt to do what we can to help prevent further incidents from occurring.

11) Finalize The Incident Report And Sign-off On Its Completion.

The incident report should now be complete. Any incident report’s finalization process should include a quick verification that all necessary information is on the IR. Also, the three considerations before writing ought to find their way into your mind while you read over your report.

A Final Thought On Writing Incident Reports

A concise and encompassing health and safety reporting process is a necessity in today’s world of business. Liability mitigation is imperative for business today, with so many possible incidents. And what better way to aid in incident prevention than by using an efficient reporting system?

If your business isn’t using a digital solution for incident reporting, you’re missing out on a much more efficient way of preventing and documenting incidents. Click here to learn more about creating incident reports and incident management in the workplace .

Take the 1 ST Reporting App , for example. We’ve created a system to aid your business in making the reporting process simple for your staff. With features like near-instant custom notifications, easy document retrieval, and simple supplemental media uploading, a digital reporting solution’s effectiveness over a paper-based process is evident.

• Featured photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels .
• https://dmv.ny.gov/dmv-records/how-file-motorist-accident-report
• https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/car-accidents-police-reports.html
• https://immixlaw.com/preparing-your-incident-reports/
• https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/osh.pdf

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• Incident Report: Examples, Form Templates & Writing Guide

The saying, “accidents are bound to happen” is true for every individual and organization. In fact, it is normal to encounter incidents that have a far-reaching effect on productivity and when this happens, such an event should be accurately documented in an incident report.

An incident report, therefore, is the first step any individual or organization should take upon the occurrence of any unforeseen event that affects its output while putting other persons at risk. In this article, we will highlight the different features of an incident report and show you how to create an incident report form on Formplus . 

What is an Incident Report?

An incident report is a document that accurately provides the details of an incident; especially one that causes damages, injury, or death. It helps an organization to accurately profile the different events leading to such an incident and the aftermath(s) of this occurrence. 

It is also referred to as an accident report because it typically outlines information relating to an accident or injury. However, an incident report can also contain information about near misses or other unusual or hazardous happenings in different contexts. 

Features of an Incident Report  

An incident report is defined by the following features:

• Detailed Description : It narrates all the events surrounding the incident in question in their exact manner of occurrence. An incident report may include the following information: 
• The circumstances surrounding the incident.
• Date, time, and location of the incident.
• The details on witnesses and victims, if any.
• Reactionary measures put in place.
• The aftermath of the incident.
• Corrective actions are taken to reduce the likelihood of another incident. 

The more specific the incident report is, the more useful it will be in informing corrective decisions. 

• Facts : In an incident report, only the facts are stated. In this document, the reporter is not expected to communicate his or her feelings or opinions about the incident as this can distort the accuracy of the report and distract the organization from the details of the event. 
• Objectivity : An incident report must be written in an objective manner that is devoid of any emotions; regardless of the nature of the incident. The reporter must take extra care to avoid sentiments that can get in the way of an objective presentation of the details of the incident. 
• Sequence: An incident report presents events chronologically, that is, in their sequence of occurrence. The details must be organized in a logical manner that is easy to read, navigate and understand, and you are free to use subheadings and bullet points where applicable. 
• Witness Statements : When necessary, include first-hand information provided by witnesses about the incident. This can be in the form of direct statements made by the witnesses and they should be placed within quotation marks while you also provide information that explains the witnesses’ positions.
• Authorization: An incident report must be formally authorized by the reporter and other supervisor officers in the organization. This validates the information provided and it is important for the supervisory officer to proofread the information provided before appending his or her signature on the document. 

Types of Incident Reports

1. workplace incident report  .

A workplace incident report is a form that is used to profile physical occurrences that impact an employee’s productivity in the workplace. It includes workplace injuries, near misses, and accidents that have a negative impact on the employee (s) and the organization, in general. 

Usually, labor laws specify the kind of information that should be spelled out in a workplace incident report. This type of incident report may also highlight an employee’s concerns with an organization’s safety practices, security breaches, and workplace conduct. 

Examples of workplace incident reports include:

• A report about sexual harassment or assault in the workplace.
• A report about a fire incident that occurred within the office premises. 

2. Accident Report  

An accident report is a type of incident report that contains information about an accident or emergency that may be fatal, ghastly, or minor. An accident report is not restricted to the workplace as it can also be filed by law enforcement agents and safety officers. 

It is also referred to as an accident investigation report because it highlights all the probable causative factors that are responsible for the accident. It also helps the concerned parties to determine the extent of the damage and to support or refute insurance claims. 

Examples of accident reports include:

• A report on a fatal plane crash.
• A report of an explosion on an organization’s premises.

3. Security/Police Incident Report . 

A police incident report is a type of incident report that is used to keep track of the thefts/losses and any other types of security events that take place within specific premises. This report is important because it helps an organization keep track of security breaches and safety measures.

A security or police incident report is usually filed by the security personnel in charge of the premises where the security breach took place. It can also be filed in cases of computer system breaches, unauthorized access to an organization’s database, and compromised user accounts. 

Examples of safety and security incident report include:

• A report of property theft in an organization.
• A report on a burglary attempt in a neighborhood. 

Here are 7 Incident Report Form Template

1. incident report form.

Use this incident report form template to swiftly collect information about accidents and injuries as they occur. The Formplus incident report form will help your organization to easily track and record any unfortunate incidents and this information can prove useful in forestalling such an occurrence in the future. 

This form allows you to collect useful information about the victim, the location of the incident, and the nature of the incident. You can edit it in the form builder by adding more form fields to enable you to collect more information such as the signature of the reporter and the time of the report. 

2. Sexual Harassment Complaint Form

Allow your employees and clients to easily report any cases of sexual harassment for immediate investigation and redress using this sexual harassment complaint form . This form template enables victims of sexual harassment to inform the appropriate authorities about sexual abuse and sexual assault in the workplace.

With multiple form sharing options, Formplus allows you to easily share this sexual harassment form with your employees and the general public. You can embed the form on your organization’s website and you can also share it with your official social media pages through the direct sharing buttons.

3. Workplace Harassment Form

The Formplus workplace harassment form allows your employees to file a formal complaint about workplace harassment. This workplace harassment form template will help you to effectively track and address any cases of bullying, sexual harassment or assault in your organization. 

With this form, you can collect a range of important information with regard to the nature of the harassment and the employee details of the complainant and the accused. You can use this form template or edit it to suit your organization’s needs in the form builder. 

4. Online Petition Form

Do you want to advocate for a change or register your displeasure about a particular policy or action? Use this online petition form template to easily create a petition for the government, an individual or an organization. 

In the Formplus online petition form, you can directly collect digital signatures from petition signatories using the e-signature field. Formplus also allows your form respondents to fill and submit your online petition when they have limited or no internet access.

5. Proxy Form

With this proxy form template, you can formally empower a third party to make decisions on your behalf for a specific period of time. This form serves as a legal tender and it helps you to avoid the inconsistencies that are associated with a verbal authorization.  

The Formplus proxy form template contains signature fields that collect the digital signatures of all parties involved in this agreement. You can also edit the form in the builder to include more form fields when you sign up on Formplus

6. Bug Report Form

This bug report form will help you to stay on top of every situation by collecting real-time reports about different issues that may arise with your online services.

This form allows your customers to swiftly register their dissatisfaction with your organization’s online services so that you can resolve them in time. 

7. Daily Report Form

Track your worker’s daily productivity using this daily report form template. The Formplus daily report form allows you to assess your worker’s performance at the end of the day, and you can edit it to suit your organization’s needs in the form builder. 

Can’t find your preferred incident report form? learn how to create one below.

How to Create an Incident Report Form on Formplus

1. sign in to formplus.

In the Formplus builder, you can easily create your organization’s incident report form by dragging and dropping preferred fields into your form. To access the Formplus builder, you will need to create an account on Formplus. 

Once you do this, sign in to your account and click on “Create Form ” to begin. 

2. Edit Form Title

Click on the field provided to input your form title, for example, “Incident Report Form”.

3. Edit Form

Click on the edit button to edit the form.

• Edit fields: You can modify your form field to be hidden or read-only based on your organization’s needs. 
• Click on “Save”
• Preview form. 

4. Form Customization

With the form customization options, you can easily change the outlook of your form and make it more unique and personalized. Formplus allows you to change your form theme, add background images and even change the font according to your needs. 

5. Multiple Sharing Options

How to write an incident report letter.

An incident report letter is a formal document that contains all the information with regard to the particular occurrence that is being reported. A good incident report letter effectively outlines the different events surrounding the incident and suggests measures that can be taken to avoid a recurrence in the future.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to write an incident report letter:

Follow the Protocol

Find out if your organization already has a procedure for writing an incident report letter. In many cases, organizations have a template for this type of letter and it is best to follow the provided outline to avoid any inconsistencies. 

Write your Letter as Soon as Possible

Typically, an incident report letter should be sent in, at most, 48 hours after the incident. Writing your letter immediately after the incident would help you to provide vivid and accurate descriptions of the events surrounding the incident. 

Outline the Facts

Usually, an incident report letter follows the 5Ws and 1H format, that is, what, when, where, who, why and how. Typically, it should explicitly state the following:  

• The time and date of the incident
• The location of the incident
• Your name and other bio-data details.
• The name(s) of any other individual(s) involved in the incident.
• Provide a general overview of the occurrence.
• Provide a detailed description of the incident: Write about the incident in the sequence of occurrence, from the first-person point of view. 
• Suggest proactive measures that can be taken to avoid a recurrence of the incident. 

Incident Report Letter Sample

Uses of incident report  .

• An incident report allows you to accurately document the details of any occurrence in your organization. This information may be useful in the future when dealing with liability issues stemming from the incident. 
• It evaluates the incident and provides recommendations on precautionary and reactionary measures to be taken. 
• An incident report serves as an effective feedback mechanism and it raises the overall awareness of your employees and clients. 
• It improves the safety culture of your organization. 
• A near-miss incident report provides invaluable information that enables companies to proactively resolve hazards. 
• Incident reports can also be used as safety documents that highlight potential risks and uncontrolled hazards found in the workplace.

Conclusion  

When drafting an incident report, it is important for you to accurately reflect the different events in the order in which their order of occurrences. You should also take extra care to document facts and not opinions or hearsays because these will affect the validity and usefulness of the report in the end. 

Finally, it is easier to document an incident report using an online form. Online forms are more convenient and you can easily embed them on your organization’s website or share them with your social media pages so that all concerned parties can access them easily. 

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• Essay Database >
• Essays Samples >
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• Report Example

Incident Reports Samples For Students

61 samples of this type

Do you feel the need to check out some previously written Reports on Incident before you get down to writing an own piece? In this open-access catalog of Incident Report examples, you are provided with an exciting opportunity to discover meaningful topics, content structuring techniques, text flow, formatting styles, and other academically acclaimed writing practices. Applying them while crafting your own Incident Report will definitely allow you to complete the piece faster.

Presenting high-quality samples isn't the only way our free essays service can aid students in their writing efforts – our authors can also compose from point zero a fully customized Report on Incident that would make a strong foundation for your own academic work.

Purpose: Exemplar Report To Follow

The standard operating procedure for security department has been prepared to provide a response framework to different emergencies at the Phillips 66 Company. The purpose of reporting Crisis Management (CM) Notifications is to ensure that the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) is aware of crisis incidents and potential impacts to the company. It delivers complete information about standard operating procedure of security department of the company. It identifies the strengths of ELT and shows the team’s approaches and capabilities to control the security system effectively.

Principles Of Incident Response And Disaster Recovery Report Examples

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Example Of Report On The Three Mile Island Nuclear Explosion

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The first part of the paper carries the introduction. Reflective techniques are discussed followed by the problem statement. This section contains the rules and a description of the simulation game. The approach and analysis section follow. Self reflection is defined, and the associated theories are discussed. The next section is on critical incidents. Three incidents are discussed, and they are related to reflection theories. Mini concussions follow each of these incidents. After this, the overall conclusion is last.

Approach and analysis techniques.4

Critical incidents analysis6

Works Cited9

Experiment 2 report sample.

Introduction The purpose of the experiment was to show how prism separates white light into its component colors and to show how different colors are refracted at different angles through a prism. It was hypothesized that violet color would be the most refracted because it had the lowest wavelength.

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Example Of Assessment 3 Report

Business ethics and sustainability.

Report on Sustainability Issues Affecting Institutional Investors, Within the Australian and global Markets

Executive Summary 3

Introduction 4 Stakeholder’s Approach Theory 4-5 Major Stakeholders 5 Impact of the Incident to the Organization 6-7 Further Discussion 7-9 Ethical Theories behind the Incident 9 SBS Strengths: Ethics in Leadership and Organizational Culture 10-12 Recommendation/Conclusion 12 -14

References 15

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Roles and Responsibilities

• Work Place Manager - Notify the appropriate emergency service such as police, ambulances, and electricity supplier of an emergency, and also call for an evacuation procedure.
• Emergency Service Commander - Assume control during an emergency, and send services to the site
• Employees - switch all power operated equipment on the site; move calmly to a safe area; wait for roll call and further instructions from supervisors; and return to work only if instructed.

Apple Vs. The FBI: Exemplar Report To Follow

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Paper Due Date

Good procedure for solving the case report example, final project: cold case arrest warrant report.

Final Project: Cold Case Arrest Warrant Report This report represents an outline of a homicide investigation. The first section presents the action plan for solving the case. The report also provides a summary of the homicide, armed robbery, and witness statements, and a briefing of evidence and forensic reports. Additionally, it describes the criteria for decision-making and determination of facts regarding the homicide. The report indicates what the investigating officer concludes about the case, in an attempt to obtain an arrest warrant for the suspect.

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• Resource Center

Investigation Report Example: How to Write an Investigative Report

• What is the Importance of an Investigative Report?
• How to Write an Investigative Report: "Musts"
• How CaseIQ Can Help

Preliminary Case Information

Here’s how to write an investigation report that is clear, complete, and compliant.

Do you dread the end of an investigation because you hate writing investigative reports? You’re not alone.

However, because it’s an important showcase of the investigation, you can’t cut corners on this critical investigation step. Your investigation report reflects on you and your investigation, so make sure it’s as clear, comprehensive, accurate, and polished.

How do you write an investigation report? What are the parts of an investigation report? What's an investigation report example? In this guide, you’ll learn how to make your workplace incident reports effective and efficient.

How mature are your workplace investigations?

An investigations maturity model can reveal your investigations program's strong points and areas for improvement. Learn how to evaluate your program in our upcoming fireside chat with investigations expert Meric Bloch.

An investigation report can:

• Spark some sort of action based on the findings it presents
• Record of the steps of the investigation
• Provide information for legal actions
• Provide valuable data to inform control and preventive measures

In short, your report documents what happened during the investigation and suggests what to do next.

In addition, the process of writing an investigation report can help you approach the investigation in a new way. You might think of more questions to ask the parties involved or understand an aspect of the incident that was unclear.

How to Write an Investigative Report: “Musts”

Before you begin, it’s important to understand the three critical tasks of a workplace investigative report.

• It must be organized in a such way that anybody internally or externally can understand it without having to reference other materials. That means it should have little to no jargon or specialized language and be a stand-alone summary of your investigation from start to finish.
• It must document the investigative findings objectively and accurately and provide decision makers with enough information to determine whether they should take further action.  With just one read-through, stakeholders should be able to understand what happened and how to handle it.
• It must indicate whether the allegations were substantiated, unsubstantiated, or whether there’s something missing that is needed to reach a conclusion. Use the evidence you’ve gathered to back up your analysis.

You might be wondering, “What are the contents of an investigation report?” Now that you know what your report should accomplish, we’ll move on to the sections it should include.

Want to streamline the report-writing process?

Download our free investigation report template to ensure you have consistent, compliant, and complete reports for every case.

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Investigation Report Format: What to Include in Your Workplace Incident Report

Executive summary, incident summary, allegation subject, investigation details & notes, investigation interviews, conclusion & recommendations, final edits, how case iq can help.

The executive summary should be a concise overview of the investigation from beginning to end. It should not contain any information that is not already in the investigation report.

This may be the most important component of the investigation report because many readers won’t need to go beyond this section. High-level stakeholders get an overall picture of the allegations, investigation, and outcome without having to pore over the details.

To make this section easy to read, write in an active voice. For example: “I interviewed Carrie Smith,” not “Carrie Smith was interviewed.”

Example:   On February 23 rd , 2023, the Human Resources Manager received a written complaint of sexual harassment submitted by Carrie Smith, the stockroom manager. Smith claimed that on February 22 nd , 2023, her supervisor, Mark Robinson, pushed her against the wall in the boardroom and groped her breasts. Smith also alleged that Robinson on another occasion told her she was “too pretty” to be working in the stockroom and that he could arrange for a promotion for her. 

On February 24th, the Human Resources Manager assigned the case to me.

On February 25th, I interviewed Carrie Smith and two witnesses to the alleged February 22 nd  incident, John Jones and Pamela Miller. Jones and Miller did not corroborate the groping allegation but said they saw Smith running out of the boardroom in tears. Miller also reported hearing Robinson tell another employee, Sara Brown, that she had “a great rack”. 

On February 26 th , I interviewed Mark Robinson. He denied the groping incident and said he was “just joking around” with her in the boardroom but did not actually touch her and that Smith was too sensitive. He admitted to telling Smith she was too pretty to work in the stockroom, but contends that it was meant as a compliment.

Based on the interviews with the complainant and the alleged offender, I find that the complainant’s allegation of sexual harassment is substantiated.

It is my recommendation that the company provide the respondent with a written account of the findings of the investigation and a reminder of the company’s expectations for employee behavior. I also recommend that the respondent receive sexual harassment training and be advised that repeated harassing behavior may result in further discipline up to and including termination.

This section outlines the preliminary case information in a concise format, with only the most important details. It can go either before or after the executive summary.

• Your name and investigator identification number, if you have one
• Case number
• Date the case was assigned to you
• The date the report was reviewed
• How the report was received (e.g. hotline, email to HR manager, verbal report to supervisor)
• Name of the reporter/complainant

If the reporter is an employee, record their:

• Email address
• Work telephone number
• Employment level/position
• Employee identification number
• Department identification number

If the source  is not an employee, only record their:

• Personal telephone number

In either case, note the date that the report was submitted, as well as the date(s) of the alleged incident(s).

The purpose of this section is to answer the who, what, where, and when about the incident.

• What type of case is it? For example, is the case alleging harassment, discrimination, fraud, or other workplace misconduct?
• Specify the case type further.  For example, is it  sexual  harassment,  gender  discrimination,  accounts payable  fraud, etc.
• Who is the alleged victim?  For example, is it the reporter, another employee, a customer, or the whole company?
• If the alleged victim is an employee, identify the person’s supervisor.
• Were any other people involved besides the subject and the alleged victim?
• Where did the incident(s) take place?
• When did the incident(s) occur?
• Capture details of the allegation.  Example : Stacey Smith alleges that John Jones, an accounts payables clerk, has been funneling payments to a dummy supplier that he has set up in the company’s procurement system. Stacey says that she noticed a discrepancy when one of the suppliers she deals with questioned a payment and she had to ask an accounts payable clerk, Tom Tierney, to pull the file for her. When Tom accidentally brought Stacey the wrong file, she saw that monthly payments were being made to a supplier she had never heard of, and that the address of the supplier was John Jones’s address. Stacey knows John’s address because her sister is John’s next-door neighbor.

Describe the allegation or complaint in simple, clear language. Avoid using jargon, acronyms, or technical terms that the average reader outside the company may not understand.

In this section, note details about the alleged bad actor. Some of this information might be included in the initial report/complaint, but others you might have to dig for, especially if the subject isn’t an employee of the organization.

For every subject, include their:

• Email (work contact if they’re an employee, personal if not)
• Telephone number (see above)

If the subject of the allegation is an employee, also include their:

• Employment status (e.g. full-time, part-time, intern, contractor, etc.)
• Business location

Begin outlining the investigation details by defining the scope. It’s important to keep the scope of the investigation focused narrowly on the allegation and avoid drawing separate but related investigations into the report.

Example:   The investigation will focus on the anonymous tip received through the whistleblower hotline. The objective of the investigation is to determine whether the allegation reported via the hotline is true or false.

Next, record a description of each action taken during the investigation. This becomes a diary of your investigation, showing everything that was done during the investigation, who did it, and when.

For each action, outline:

• Type of action (e.g. initial review, meeting, contacting parties, conducting an interview, following up)
• Person responsible for the action
• Date when the action was completed
• Brief description of the action (i.e. who you met with, where, and for how long)

Be thorough and detailed, because this section of your report can be an invaluable resource if you are ever challenged on any details of your investigation.

Write a summary of each interview. These should be brief outlines listed separately for each interview.

Include the following information:

• Who conducted the interview
• Who was interviewed
• Where the interview took place
• Date of the interview

Include a list of people who refused to be interviewed or could not be interviewed and why.

Write a Report for Each Interview

This is an expanded version of the summaries documented above. Even though some of the information is repeated, be sure to include it so that you can use the summaries and reports separately as standalone documentation of the interviews conducted.

For each interview, document:

• Location of the interview
• Summary of the substance of the interview, based on your interview notes or recording.

Example:   I asked Jane Jameson to describe the events of July 13 th , 2016. She said: “After work, Peter approached me as I was leaving the building and asked me if I would like to work on his team. When I said that I was happy working with my current team, he told me that my team had too many women on it and that ‘all those hormones are causing problems’ so I should think about moving to a ‘sane’ team.”

I asked her how she reacted to that. She said: I told him that I found that offensive and he said that I needed to stop being so sensitive. I just walked away.”

I asked Jane to describe the events of the next day. She said: “The next day he came to my desk and asked me if I had given any thought to moving to his team. I repeated that I was happy where I was. At that point he started massaging my shoulders and said that moving to his team would have its ‘perks’. I asked him to stop twice and he wouldn’t. Sally walked over and told him to get lost and ‘leave Jane alone’ and he left.”

I thanked Jane for her cooperation and concluded the interview.

Assess Credibility

Aside from collecting the evidence, it is also an investigator’s job to analyze the evidence and reach a conclusion. Include a credibility assessment for each interview subject in the interview report. Describe your reasons for determining that the interviewee is or isn’t a credible source of information.

This involves assessing the credibility of the witness. The EEOC has published guidelines that recommend examining the following factors:

• Plausibility – Is the testimony believable and does it make sense?
• Demeanor – Did the person seem to be telling the truth?
• Motive to falsify – Does the person have a reason to lie?
• Corroboration – Is there testimony or evidence that corroborates the witness’s account?
• Past record – Does the subject have a history of similar behavior?

Example:   I consider Jane to be a credible interviewee based on the corroboration of her story with Sally and also because she has nothing to gain by reporting these incidents. She has no prior relationship with Peter and seemed genuinely upset by his behavior.

A well-written report is the only way to prove that an investigation was carried out thoroughly.

Download this free cheat sheet to learn best practices of writing investigation reports.

Get the Cheat Sheet

In this section, describe all the evidence obtained. This could include:

• Video or audio footage
• Email or messaging (e.g. Slack, Teams, etc.) records
• Employee security access records
• Computer or other device login records
• Documents or papers
• Physical objects (e.g. photos, posters, broken objects, etc.)

Number each piece of evidence for easy reference in your chain of evidence document.

As you gather and analyze evidence , it’s critically important to include and fully consider everything you find. Ignoring evidence that doesn’t support your conclusion will undermine your investigation and your credibility as an investigator. If you aren’t weighing some pieces as heavily as others, make sure you have a good explanation as to why.

In the final section of your report, detail your findings and conclusion. In other words, answer the questions that your investigation set out to answer.

This is where your analysis comes into play. However, be sure to only address the issue(s) being examined only, and don’t include any information that is not supported by fact. Otherwise, you could be accused of bias or speculation if the subject challenges your findings.

Investigation Findings Example:   My findings indicate that, based on the evidence, Bill’s allegation that Jim blocked him from the promotion is true. Jim’s behavior towards Bill is consistent with the definition of racial discrimination. The company’s code of conduct forbids discrimination; therefore, Jim’s behavior constitutes employee misconduct.

It’s important for your conclusion to be defensible, based on the evidence you have presented in your investigation report. Reference reliable evidence that is relevant to the case. Finally, explain that you’ve considered all the evidence, not just pieces that support your conclusion.

In some cases, you might have been asked to provide recommendations, too. Depending on your conclusion, you may recommend that the company:

• Does nothing
• Provides counseling or training
• Disciplines the employee(s)
• Transfers the employee(s)
• Terminates or demotes the employee(s)

Example: It is my recommendation that the company provide the respondent (Jim) with a written account of the findings of the investigation and a reminder of the company’s expectations for employee behavior. I also recommend that the respondent (Jim) receive anti-discrimination training and be advised that repeated discriminatory behavior may result in further discipline up to and including termination.

Grammatical errors or missed words can take even the best investigation report from professional to sloppy. That’s why checking your work before submitting the report is perhaps the most important step of them all.

Keep in mind that your investigative report may be seen by your supervisors, directors, and even C-level executives in your company, as well as attorneys and judges if the case goes to court.

If spelling, grammar, and punctuation aren’t your strong suit, enlist the services of a writer-friend or colleague to proofread your report. Or, if you’re a lone wolf kind of worker, upgrade your skills with a writing course or a read-through of books like  The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. At the very least, remember to run a spell check before you pass on any document to others.

Finally, do a quick scan to make sure you’ve included all the necessary sections and that case details are consistent.

Want more report-writing tips?

Watch our free webinar to get advice on what to include (and not include), proper language and tone, formatting tips, and more on how to effectively make an investigation report.

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RELATED: 3 Investigation Report Writing Mistakes You’re Still Making

Frequently Asked Questions

How do i write an investigation report.

To write an investigation report, you should ensure it's clear, comprehensive, accurate, and organized, documenting findings objectively and providing decision-makers with enough information to determine further action.

What are the basic parts of an investigation report?

The basic parts of an investigation report include an executive summary, preliminary case information, incident summary, allegation subject details, investigation details and notes, investigation interviews, evidence documentation, conclusion and recommendations, and final edits.

What is the purpose of an investigation report?

The purpose of an investigation report is to document the steps and findings of an investigation, providing a clear record of what occurred, suggesting actions to be taken, and potentially serving as valuable data for legal actions or informing control and preventive measures.

If you’re still managing cases with spreadsheets or outdated systems, you’re putting your organization at risk.

With all your investigation information stored in one place, you can create comprehensive, compliant investigation reports with a single click. Case IQ’s powerful case management software pulls all the information from the case file automatically, so you can close cases faster.

Learn more about how Case IQ can reduce resolution time and improve your organization’s investigations here.

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• English 101

Sample Essay on Incident report: Break-in the Company

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I am reporting a break-in incident in the company’s main office, which I noticed as I arrived for work, March 22, 2015, at 7.30 a.m. The break-in was perpetrated from the company’s office main door. The door’s lock had been wrecked which indicated a forced entry as it had been significantly damaged. Upon entry into the office, I noticed the staff’s locker cabin had also been shattered and files lay scattered all over the floor. I headed straight to my desk where I noticed too that it had been crushed and most of my files were missing. I noticed it since it was an unusual occurrence from the time I joined the company. I wondered what to do next as nothing was in order in the office main door. From the company policy, I realized that I first needed to contact police staff to come immediately to investigate the incident.

I contacted the manager and the police department where I informed about the incident to the police in charge who promised to send a crew to the company. The police crew arrived latter and had their forensic search of any clue about the perpetrators of the incidence could have left. I was requested by the officer in-charge to write a police statement on the details of the incidence. It was hard for me to write a police statement because I knew nothing about the incidence. The officer insisted that I need to write the statement first for the investigation to start immediately. I did as required of me; I wrote the police statement of what I found since I was the first person to enter through office main door.

The other staffs arrived and were summoned to identify the files that could be missing. The manager noted that his safe had been destroyed and cash stolen. Employees’ files were also destroyed and missing. Computers and printers at the reception were all stolen. The unknown persons that could be having the evidence of the incident destroyed CCTV cameras. Accounting documents and files including accounting payment systems were destroyed. The amount of money that was in the company account was withdrawn.  The account was zero at the time senior accountants confirmed with their systems. After the assessment of the scattered files was done, it was realized that important business proposals were missing too. The amount of money that was in the account was five thousands US dollars. The total loss that had been incurred by the robbery was approximated to be more than five million US dollars. This was a huge loss to the company since no past records of such heavy loss had been experienced before.

A claim proposal was hence to be drafted for the insurance company to cater for the loss. We have also contacted CCTV installers who came and installed again the CCTV cameras. The reception computers were bought to replace the stolen computers. All the expenses were funded from the operating budgets . In the future, for such an incidence not to happen there was the need to employ the services of a security firm. We need to develop a plan regarding similar future incidence and how to handle it if they occur again. The company is going to track all the paid accounts using our banking institutions systems and our systems.

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Free Incident Report Templates

By Andy Marker | January 3, 2017

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In this article, we’ve gathered the best incident report templates to provide you with the most comprehensive listing, so you can record and preserve key details of an accident, injury, workplace incident, security breach, or any other type of unforeseen event.

Included on this page, you’ll find a downloadable incident report template , accident incident report template , employee incident report template , and more.

Incident Report Template

Download Incident Report Template

WORD  | Smartsheet

This is a flexible template that can be used to report various types of events including accidents, injuries, workplace incidents, property loss or damage, and close calls. It allows you to record information about all parties involved, details of the incident itself, any law enforcement interaction, witness information, and whether medical treatment was administered. Keep this generic template on hand so you’re ready to capture information about any type of incident that may occur.

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Accident Incident Report Template

Download Accident Incident Report Template

This incident form template can typically be used to document an auto accident, but it can also be used for other types of injury accidents. There is space for recording information about the vehicles and drivers involved for auto accidents. For injury incidents, it has dedicated areas for detailed information about the type of injury, the area of the body affected, hospitalization and medical treatment, and the severity and progression of the injury. You can also enter details about police and/or witness involvement. This form is important for reporting auto insurance, health insurance, and/or workers’ compensation claims. 

Employee Incident Report Template

Download Employee Incident Report Template

Use this template for incidents that do not involve physical violence, such as accidents or disciplinary issues. This form is more basic than the workplace violence form - it documents the nature of the incident, any disciplinary actions being taken against the employee, their position, and their supervisor’s information. In case of an accident, this form may be used to capture information about injuries and medical treatment, workplace equipment involved, and witness information. This form may also be used in workers’ compensation claims.

Offense Incident Report Template

Download Offense Incident Report Template - WORD

These templates are used to report criminal incidents and can be used in criminal cases and/or insurance claims. They are generally used by law enforcement or security officers to record information about crimes that were called in or witnessed by a police, ambulance, or security officer, as well as any witnesses. Vehicle or property loss or theft can also be reported using this type of form.

Security Incident Report Template

Download Security Incident Report Template - WORD

Businesses or public organizations use this template to report security or privacy violations. These incidents might include physical altercations, or any other situation in which an individual threatens the safety or violates the privacy of other workers. This type of form provides space for recording details of the incident itself, as well as information about the suspect(s) involved.

Tenant Incident Report Template

Download Tenant Incident Report Template - WORD

Use this template if you are a property owner or manager and need to report an incident or accident involving a tenant. The form allows you to document information about the tenants involved, any property damage or loss, injuries sustained and medical treatment required, witnesses, and police or fire department officials called to the scene. It also allows you to record information about contractors who may have been involved, including their insurance information and details about the job they were performing. This form is helpful when filing property insurance claims, and may be used in workers’ compensation claims, if applicable.

Student Incident Report Template

Download Student Incident Report Template - WORD

Educational institutions can use this template to report incidents involving students, including accidents, health and safety events, injuries, and near misses. It helps document actual or potential injuries, unsafe conditions on campus that may have contributed to the incident, whether bullying or harassment was involved, and any disciplinary actions to be taken. This form may be included as part of a student’s permanent record.

Workplace Violence Incident Report Template

Download Workplace Violence Incident Report Template - WORD

This template is used to document workplace violence—when either an employee or outside individual harms, or attempts to harm, other workers. It details the individuals involved, the cause of the incident (for example, conflict with a coworker or manager) and the nature of the incident (such as stalking, harassment, or assault). It also documents whether injuries were sustained, and what corrective action will be taken (if the assailant is an employee). This form may be helpful in workers’ compensation claims, insurance claims, and/or court cases.

Information Security Incident Report Template

Download Information Security Incident Report Template - WORD

Businesses can use this IT incident report template to report incidents such as data breaches, privacy violations, viruses, and denial-of-service attacks. The form includes a summary of the incident, personal information for any individuals whose privacy has been compromised, the impact of data loss, and any physical and technical security measures already in place. This data breach incident response plan template can help your IT department assess the severity of security violations, and create a plan to prevent them in the future. This template may also be used in criminal investigations, where applicable.

Incident Reporting in Healthcare Organizations

Workplace injuries, mismanagement of healthcare information, and mistakes in medical care provided can occur at any point under the roof of a healthcare organization, and what ensues is the need to file an incident report. To handle this process effectively, organizations must have a system or process in place for submitting, reviewing, and addressing incident reports that occur within their business, such as medication or clinical trial errors, patient falls, administrative incidents, and more.

To streamline the incident reporting process and ensure that every detail surrounding the incident is reported on, evaluated, and managed by the appropriate resources in a timely manner, while also maintaining patient and provider confidentiality, you need a tool that provides real-time visibility into each report, automates the process, and mitigates any risk of the incident reoccuring.

Smartsheet is a work execution platform that enables healthcare companies to improve work efficiency and scale and manage incident reporting processes, while securely storing and sharing protected health information. Streamline reporting, manage incidents as they occur, and organize all necessary information to handle the issue, and prevent it from happening again. Securely share, store, and access PHI while meeting or exceeding all of HIPAA’s regulatory requirements.

Interested in learning more about how Smartsheet can help you maximize your efforts? Discover Smartsheet for Healthcare .  

Improve Incident Reporting & Management Efforts with Smartsheet

Empower your people to go above and beyond with a flexible platform designed to match the needs of your team — and adapt as those needs change. 

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed. 

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time.  Try Smartsheet for free, today.

Additional Resources

Strategic planning

Free Risk Management Plan Templates

Identify, assess, and mitigate risks using free, customizable risk management templates.

Oct 27, 2022

Discover why over 90% of Fortune 100 companies trust Smartsheet to get work done.

Incident Report Policies Essays

Leveraging incident report policies and drp/bcp for business continuity, popular essay topics.

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How to Write a Motor Vehicle Accident Report

Last Updated: December 12, 2023 Approved

Gathering Information

Describing the incident, diagramming the scene, sample accident report, expert q&a.

This article was co-authored by Lahaina Araneta, JD and by wikiHow staff writer, Jennifer Mueller, JD . Lahaina Araneta, Esq. is an Immigration Attorney for Orange County, California with over 6 years of experience. She received her JD from Loyola Law School in 2012. In law school, she participated in the immigrant justice practicum and served as a volunteer with several nonprofit agencies. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, several readers have written to tell us that this article was helpful to them, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 500,876 times.

Typically when you're in an accident on the road, the police will complete a police report describing the accident. However, in some cases you may need to submit your own report, either to your insurance company or your state's DMV. If you need to write a motor vehicle report, take time to gather accurate information so you can describe the incident with as much detail as possible. [1] X Research source

Things You Should Know

• Copy down the driver's license, vehicle, and insurance information from the other driver. Get contact information for any witnesses, as well.
• Explain what happened and who was involved, including the location and nature of the accident as well as any injuries or property damage.
• Take photos and/or create a diagram of the scene that shows what happened.

• Check to make sure that there are no injuries. If someone is hurt, call for help first before trying to get their information.
• Get the other driver's license. Write down their name, home address, birth date, and gender. You'll also want the name of the state that issued their license, their license number, and the date it expires. Give them this information for yourself as well.
• If the other driver does not have insurance or identification, call the police. Tell the police that you cannot get the required legal documents of the other driver. They will come out and handle the situation.

• Write down specifics about where there is damage. For example, you might say "Sedan has broken bumper and dent in the rear quarter panel."
• Take down the license tag number for all the vehicles, along with the name of the state. You also might want to make note of the vehicle's VINs (vehicle identification numbers) for insurance purposes.

• If you get their phone number, make a note of when is the best time to reach them at that number.

• Take your photos as soon as possible after the accident occurs, so the light and weather conditions are similar. Photograph the scene from multiple angles if it is possible for you to do this safely.
• You also might want to take pictures of all the people involved in the accident. These can be helpful later if someone claims an injury later when they seemed fine at the scene.
• If you were injured, take pictures of your injuries as soon as possible – ideally, before they are treated by a medical professional.

• It's best to get a statement from a witness at the scene, and then get their phone number in case you need to follow up with them later. Many witnesses won't come forward after the accident. If possible, take a video or audio recording on your phone of their statement.
• Write down exactly where they were when the accident occurred. If possible, take pictures of the scene from where they were standing, so you have an image of their vantage point. If there are any signs, posts, trees, or other objects obscuring their line of sight, make a note of those as well.

• You'll also need the same information for any other drivers who were involved in the accident. If there were passengers or pedestrians also involved in the accident, provide their names, ages, and genders.
• Get numbers of first-responder vehicles and the names and badge numbers of first responders, if possible.

• Your city or state may have a specific form for you to fill out that includes spaces for specific details, such as the weather, light, and road conditions.
• If you don't remember the conditions and weren't able to take any photos, leave these details blank – don't just guess or look up an old weather report. You need to be able to vouch for every detail included in your report.
• Provide any photos or videos you have showing the conditions at the time of the accident to support your case.

• For example, if the accident occurred on the interstate, you would need to note the name and direction of the interstate as well as the mile markers or any exits before and after the accident. Include the estimated distance from the nearest marker.
• On city streets, you also might want to include any landmarks. Describe the street, including whether there is a sidewalk or bike lane.
• If any other property was involved, describe it as well as where it is relative to the street.

• For example, suppose the other driver rolled through an intersection and hit the side of your car while you had the right of way. You can say that you had the right of way – that's a fact. However, a statement such as "the other driver wasn't paying attention" would be an opinion.
• If there are gaps in your memory or specific details you don't remember, state in your report that you don't remember. That way you can fill in the detail later if your memory returns.
• If there were pedestrians involved, describe what they were doing. For example, the pedestrian may have been crossing the street in the sidewalk, or may have run out in traffic to retrieve something.

• You also might want to describe where they were located relative to the scene of the accident and what they saw. For example, the person may have been standing on the corner waiting to cross the street when the accident happened, or they may have come over afterward.
• If you managed to get a video or recording of the witness, include it in your report. If the witness doesn't come forward, this recording can act as evidence instead.

• If you or anyone else called 911, give an approximate time that call took place and describe who showed up at the scene.
• If paramedics arrived, discuss whether anyone was treated at the scene or transported to a hospital for further treatment.

• Provide a rough estimate of property damage or damage to vehicles involved in the crash. You should state specifically if you believe a vehicle to be totaled.
• If there were any fatalities as a result of the accident, list them separately. Include the name, age, and gender of anyone injured, and classify the severity of their injuries as best you can. Describe where on the body the injury was located and the person's role in the accident. If they were immediately transported to a hospital, provide the name of the hospital where they were taken.

• Just stick to the specific road or other area where the accident took place. There's no need to include adjoining blocks or side streets if they weren't directly involved in the accident.
• Make sure you have the correct number of lanes and that any traffic lights or signs are marked correctly.

• For example, suppose the accident occurred at an intersection. You were heading north, while the other car was headed west. Draw an arrow for the cars to indicate the direction in which they're traveling, and write out each of the directions along the four sides of your drawing.

• If there were other cars nearby that weren't involved in the accident, you can still draw boxes for them if you want, but don't worry about getting too detailed. Other cars are only really important to the extent that they affected the ability of you or the other driver to avoid the accident.

• If the speed the cars were traveling is in dispute, make a note of this on your report, but keep your reported facts objective. If you thought the driver of the other car was going faster than they claimed they were going, simply say it appeared they were going one speed, but they claim they were going another speed.

• If they were in another vehicle but were not involved in the accident, draw a box to represent their vehicle and put their "X" inside. Note if they were a passenger or driver of the vehicle, and where they were seated.
• If a witness's view was partially obstructed, include whatever obstructed their view in your diagram.

• After you sign and date your accident report, make a copy of it for your records before you submit it to the relevant authorities.
• Generally you want to submit your accident report as soon as possible after the accident occurred. Check with the company or department where you need to send your report and find out if there's a deadline you must meet.

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• ↑ https://www.dmv.org/insurance/when-to-report-an-auto-accident-to-the-dmv.php
• ↑ https://www.dmv.ca.gov/web/eng_pdf/sr1.pdf
• ↑ https://www.findlaw.com/injury/car-accidents/after-a-car-accident-first-steps.html
• ↑ https://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/Forms/DMV/32fill.pdf
• ↑ https://dmv.ny.gov/forms/mv104.pdf
• ↑ https://thelawdictionary.org/article/how-to-write-an-accident-report/
• ↑ https://dmv.ny.gov/forms/mv104.pdf/

About This Article

To write a motor vehicle accident report, start by getting the other driver’s name and insurance information. You should also write down information about their vehicle, including the year, make, model, color, and license plate number, as well as a description of the damage. For example, you might say "Sedan has broken bumper and dent in the rear quarter panel." If you have a camera or smart phone, take pictures of the vehicle damage, the surrounding area, and any injuries so you can describe the incident in your report in as much detail as possible. For more tips from our legal co-author, like how to make a diagram of the accident, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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