Incidents, unfortunately, are a part of life. They can happen at any time, in any organisation, even in corporate settings, healthcare facilities, educational institutions and charities. Whether it is a slip and fall in an office, a data breach, a medication error or a safeguarding concern, documenting these events is crucial.
Managers and HR professionals might understand the procedure that needs to be followed after an incident has occurred, but do they possess the skills needed to write an incident report that is clear, concise and contributes to a safer working environment?
Whether you need to report a workplace accident or a patient safety incident, this article will discuss what an incident report is, why reporting incidents is important and provide you with the information needed to write an effective report.
What is an incident report?
An incident report is an essential part of the incident investigation process. For example, once an accident, near miss, health and safety concern, safeguarding incident, misconduct issue or even a security breach has been reported, an incident report will be written. An incident report is a formal document that records the facts, not opinions, related to an unexpected event that may have caused injury, property damage or workflow interruptions.
It provides a detailed account of what happened, who was involved, when and where it took place, it contains pictures of any physical evidence of injury or property damage, witness statements and maintenance records if needed, it identifies any causes or contributing factors and concludes with recommendations of corrective actions to prevent similar incidents from occurring again.
Depending on the severity of the incident, an investigation may be required. So it’s vital that the initial incident report is written effectively as it serves as the primary data source for any subsequent investigation. If this foundation is weak, the investigation will be flawed.
Essentially, an incident report allows organisations to learn from what happened and to put measures in place to improve workplace safety for all.
Why do we report incidents?
Writing an effective report as part of the incident investigation process is vital for many reasons but the most important one is the opportunity for organisations to learn from mistakes. No matter how small an incident was, writing an incident report offers a chance to understand the root causes of the event and how to prevent similar occurrences in the future. This fosters a culture of continuous safety and performance improvements throughout the business.
Organisations can use incident report outcomes to identify trends and patterns, helping organisations to plan company wide corrective actions, for example enhancing training and education programmes, updating policies and procedures or contributing to better resource allocation.
An accurate incident report also plays a vital role in legal and insurance matters. As the document is a factual account of the event, free from bias and opinions, it provides a factual record that can be used as evidence in case of legal and insurance claims or further investigations.
What is an example of an incident report?
Reporting workplace incidents can vary depending on the sector, the nature of the organisation and the specific type of incident being reported. While the format of the document might look different between sectors, key factual information requested, for example, dates, times, location, personal details and description of the incident, will remain the same.
To illustrate this, let’s look at some examples of incident reports across different sectors:
Healthcare
NHS trusts report incidents through the Learn From Patient Safety Events (LFPSE) service. NHS England has provided a user guide to the system, containing screen shots of the format of the webpages.
Corporate
It’s important for those involved in incident reporting to be familiar with these important legislations, Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 2013. The RIDDOR website can be used by reporting incidents directly to the Government’s Health and Safety Executive.
Here is an example of a workplace incident report form:
Education
Educational establishments might use the local authorities template for reporting incidents or schools and Trusts might develop their own procedures. Just like in corporate settings, RIDDOR and HSE are involved where the threshold criteria is met.
An example of a Local Authority incident report is below:
Charity
Incidents can be reported through the Charity Commission for England and Wales as well as through the charity itself. Incident reporting forms for charity vary by organisation but will follow a similar pattern to the above examples.
How to write an incident report
An incident report should be written as soon as possible after the incident has occurred. While managers and HR representatives might manage the investigation process, it is usually the individual most directly involved in the incident that completes the report. This could be a worker, student or even a member of the public. If they are unable to complete the form then someone else should do it on their behalf.
The elements of an incident report
While specific requirements may vary, an incident report should be factual and contain these five key elements:
- Basic information: The “where” and “when”, date, time and location of the incident. Be specific when providing this information, for example give details of the precise location where the incident occurred.
- Parties involved: Names (highlighting those that were injured), job titles, if appropriate, and contact information of individuals involved, including witnesses.
- Description of the incident: A detailed, factual account of what happened, including events that lead up to the incident and subsequent events.
- Injuries/damages: Description, and photographic evidence if appropriate, of any injuries sustained or damage to property.
- Recommendations: Suggestions for preventing similar incidents in the future.
Important rules of incident reporting
There are some important rules that should always be followed when reporting an incident, which contribute to a safer and more informed workplace environment.
- Be prompt: It is important to write the report and gather evidence as soon as possible after the incident so the details are still fresh in everyone’s memory. Some industries have very clear deadlines as to when an incident report should be submitted, for example, within 24 hours after the incident took place.
- Be clear and concise: Stick to the facts and avoid using emotional language. Make statements as descriptive and precise as possible to ensure facts can’t be misinterpreted.
- Provide specific details: The “who, what, where, when and how” are essential components of any incident report. Even the smallest detail is important, for example, describing the weather conditions as a contributing factor to the incident.
- Maintain confidentiality: Incident reports often contain sensitive information about individuals and organisations. Therefore, it is essential to follow the investigation procedure as well as your company’s own policies and procedures regarding data protection and privacy.
- Follow your organisation’s incident procedures: Every organisation has its own incident reporting procedure. Following this procedure, including submitting the report within the deadline. Remember these are legal documents and can be used as evidence for both insurance and legal claims.
Conclusion
Writing an effective incident report isn’t just about filling in a form; it’s a crucial tool for improving safety, preventing future incidents and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. An incident report may serve as the primary data source for an incident investigation, so writing it effectively is paramount.
At Verita, we have extensive experience in incident reporting and safety management, and have supported organisations of all sizes and sectors develop, implement and refine their incident reporting processes, as well as carry out incident investigations to ultimately help improve the services being provided.
We also provide a range of incident investigation training courses which helps those carrying out investigations learn how to use a systematic investigative process to understand how and why an incident occurred and identify solutions to prevent similar incidents happening again.
If you’d like to find out more about how we support organisations to improve their incident reporting systems, with incident investigation training, or with an incident investigation, please book a free consultation or contact Ed Marsden on 020 7494 5670 or [email protected].
