How To Write An Incident Report Form
You must file an incident report whenever someone gets hurt or a property breaks down at work. It should be made when the incident happens so you can recount everything while it is fresh in your mind. It helps if you can use an incident report form template to fill it out and avoid missing important details quickly.
Defining Incident Report Form
You must file an incident report to document every detail surrounding an incident that involved illness, injury, or damage to property in the workplace.
Investigators will use the information you provide in the report to investigate and find the cause of the incident. Doing so will help the organization develop the proper measures to stop the incident from happening again.
You must fill out the workplace incident report form as soon as possible or at the end of the shift. It will help you recall the events in great detail for regulatory and insurance purposes.
It would be best if you did the following to create an effective incident report that will change safety measures for the better:
- Take note of the type of incident that happened. Ensure that you include information about the person who got injured or ill and their role in the workplace.
- Take photo proof of the incident, the surroundings, and the person involved and attach it to the report.
- Collect statements from the witnesses and get their digital signatures.
- Sign off the report with your digital signature as the one who filed it.
When to Fill Out an Incident Report
You are required to fill out an incident report form after any of these incidents happen:
- Accidents and injuries
- Equipment and property damage
- Health or safety problems
- Personnel misconduct
- Security breaches
Ways to Write an Incident Report
Narrative and list-type reporting are two ways to complete an accident report form template.
Narrative reporting requires a paragraph-form description of the events that led to the incident and what happened afterward. It includes details of injuries and treatments if any. It also narrates the names of the witnesses and their statements.
In list-type reporting, the crucial details of the incident are written in a bulleted list. These details include the following:
- Type of incident
- Location
- Names of the people involved
- Immediate supervisor
- Statement of the person hurt or who caused property damage
- Witnesses
- What happened before the incident
- What the affected people were doing when the incident occurred
- Injuries, the extent of the injuries, and required treatment
- Photos of the incident
- Hazards or risks found
- Cause of the incident
How to Fill Out an Incident Report Form
Completing an incident report form helps you, the reporter, collect the essential details to make the account of the occurrence factual and accurate. The form will be used as a launching point of an investigation that will help find more effective and proactive ways to minimize risks and accidents in the future.
Here are some pointers on writing an incident report:- Know what details you need to gather.
- Collect facts
- Gather more evidence.
- Don't forget to ask everyone involved for their signatures
Use the details mentioned earlier to fill out an incident report form template. Be on the lookout for these as you talk to the persons affected and the witnesses. It helps if you have a checklist of these vital details to avoid missing out on some. Remember that you have to file the report as soon as it is required by the regulating bodies or insurance providers.
An incident report template free should contain only factual and accurate data. Ensure not to include vague details, biased statements, and opinions in the report. It is the reporter's most crucial responsibility.
Aside from the facts you gathered from the person affected and the witnesses, you should include more illustrations, videos, photos, and other types of proof to back up the statements you gathered for the report.
If you are completing an incident report form template, don't let it stop you from getting signatures. Obtain digital signatures to show that everything you wrote in the report is accurate.
Reasons to Use an Incident Report Form Template
Filing an incident report form on paper has the following downsides:
- Illegible handwriting
- Risk of the paper document getting damaged or lost
- Incomplete information and mistakes
- Time-consuming
- Needs manual scanning
These are also good reasons to switch to using an incident report form template online. Here are more reasons to go online with your reports:
- Gather data quickly
- Access online forms easily
- Organize reports more efficiently
- Share reports fast
These are the same reasons you should consider getting your form templates from Formbot. It gives you access to hundreds of templates that you can customize and embed anywhere. You can find applications, awards, clinics, consent, inspection, interview, and real estate forms. Build your online form today with Formbot!