What should you include in an incident report? Forgetting to add pertinent details that later prove required can put a damper on your health and safety incident reporting process. In today’s fast-paced society, we don’t have time to memorize every little detail. With this handy guide, there’s one less thing to remember.
Incident Reports are an essential element of the health and safety protocol. Including all relevant details is critical to completing an incident report that provides value to your company, facility, or organization.
This quick reference guide discusses all the essential elements the incident report must include. Each component is explained in relatively sharp detail to help you get a fast glance of the features to include and why they are relevant. We’ll also end things with a few tips to increase your reporting program’s value.
The 5 Sections of an IR and The 12 Things to Include in an Incident Report
Most free, paid, or even custom incident reports, like the example above, include data organized into several distinct sections. Digital incident reporting templates may have a slightly different data flow, but the printed output would consist of the same information. Here are the five sections of a general incident report and the 12 things you need to have in the incident report:
SECTION ONE – The Administrative Details Of The Incident Report
In nearly every incident report template, the top section serves as the repository for administrative details. These details are consistent across incident report types. Some incident reports for specific purposes may include additional data, but the information should remain relatively consistent. The idea is to identify the report, the writer, the incident location, and the date and time.
- The report writer’s name and title.
You need the name of the person generating the incident report. You should also include the title in most situations. For example, if working in health care, one might also have to specify which unit or ward the incident occurred in. The writer’s contact information should also be on the page.
- The time and date of the incident.
Time and date are critical pieces of information that must appear in the report. In vehicular accident cases, determining night driving conditions may be vital to further investigation, so you can understand the importance of recording this detail.
- The location where the incident occurred.
The location is relevant to the incident. In some instances, an incident might span across multiple areas, such as a patient going from one ward to another. Recording the location or locations of the incident is critical for further investigation and thus must be included in the incident report.
SECTION TWO – The Incident Information
- Details of events leading up to the incident.
In many cases, hindsight reveals that people could have prevented them if they had taken different actions. Recording any pertinent details of events leading up to the incident may be required at a later date. Take short, concise notes on anything related to the cause, so a root cause analysis can be conducted using a safety leading indicators form or a similar form.
- Description of the incident as it occurred.
It may seem obvious, but there is more to the details of an incident than one might assume. Describing an incident might seem trivial, but the words, language, and descriptions you choose to put down on paper or screen will later potentially play a vital role in further action. Consider what and how information transcribed on the report might be revealed later (like in the courts, for example).
- Record of injuries and damages.
If the incident involved any personal injury or damage to any property, you must record the information. If an injury has occurred, record the name and address of any facility where a person sought treatment. Ensuring that all information is documented is vital to understanding the incident and preventing it from recurring. If you’re looking for an employee injury form, try this template out.
“Safety work is today recognized as an economic necessity. It is the study of the right way to do things.” – Robert W. Campbell, first president of the NSA (National Safety Council)
SECTION THREE – Witness Accounts And Observations
- Current incident area observations.
When you arrive on-scene to record and document an incident, it is essential to note the conditions of your surroundings. If it were a slip-and-fall event, was the ground icy, or was the floor wet and slippery? If it were a vehicle hitting a parking garage door, was the garage ramp slippery, for example? Several environmental factors, whether inside or out, could play a role in the events leading up to or even causing the incident.
- Witness names and contact information.
Sometimes other people witness an event, and you should note their statements. However, remember that their perspectives may sway people, so make sure you read the five tips later in this article to help with that.
- Witness statements.
Witness names and contact info are great, but it helps to include what they witnessed. Keep this section brief; the earlier details should have covered the facts.
“They were willing to work all the time; and when people did their best, ought they not to be able to keep alive?” – Upton Sinclair, The Jungle.
SECTION FOUR – Actions And Recommendations
The fourth and last data-driven portion of the incident report includes actions taken and recommendations.
- Actions you or others took to aid affected individuals and prevent further hazards.
Detail any immediate actions to help resolve the injury, such as administering first aid, calling emergency personnel, or similar actions. Also include any hazard-mitigation actions, such as installing barrier tape and placing pylons around a hazard, or similar preventive measures.
- Further actions are required, and additional responses are recommended.
Further to the immediate actions taken, most incident reports also include recommendations to prevent recurring negative-impact events. It might include adding handrails, installing additional traffic-directing light controls, or other physical or procedural changes to help prevent further incidents.
End Of Document (Footer) Section
- The finalization of the document with sign-off.
The final section of most incident reports is typically more of a formality than anything else. It is the final testament to the truth that the report has been completed, and as truthfully as the writer was able. And thus, the writer signs off on the document’s completion and authenticity.
For more information on the incident report and the disclosure process, click here.
5 Tips To Include In Your Incident Report Writing And Process
Writing a basic incident report is one thing, but adding value while protecting yourself and those involved from further harm is something else. Prevention is the name of the game here, and no one wants to have to fill out an incident report – it’s something we have to do when an adverse event takes place. But what if you could cause positive change by writing an excellent, proactively helpful, data-driven incident report? Here are a few tips to help get you started.
- Write Factually
When writing an incident report, only write the facts. Never write assumptions. It’s easy to ‘put two and two together,’ but much more challenging to keep them apart and let the numbers speak for themselves. We all fall into a tendency to want to be useful and proclaim we have a solution, but inferring results can be as damaging as missing the facts altogether. Please keep it clean and factual, and avoid all assumptions when writing an incident report.
- Avoid Judgement
Assumptions aren’t the only dangers that threaten a well-written incident report. Judgment falls into many incident reports, much to the chagrin of the person who inadvertently included it. Always include an impartial view of events and never place judgment.
- Include Pictures And Media
You must have heard the expression ‘A picture speaks a thousand words.’ Well, that is likely true. And if that’s the case, how many words would a short video speak?
Including pictures, audio, video, or similar media in your report is an excellent way to provide further information and data with blinding efficiency. It is vital to your procedure (or at least, it should be). Using printed paper reports? Keep reading for a media solution for your situation.
- Appoint Senior Report Governance
Let’s jump to a more procedural management tip: it’s one thing to have a reporting system in place; it’s another to make it work for you. The key is to task senior personnel and management with reviewing incident reports and recommendations. Senior management and personnel have the experience to solve your industry’s problems because they’ve been there. Respect the knowledge of those who have experience and use it to your facility’s advantage.
- Use A Digital Solution
Having a robust health and safety program is not only proactive; it’s just plain smart. Using incident reports to track incidents and further strategize for incident prevention is also smart. But a printed incident report template, although thorough in its purpose, may be inadequate in today’s society. After all, who doesn’t walk around with a smartphone ready to record video at a moment’s notice?
If it’s the media you are thinking of, including your reports, you hit the nail on the head. Modern technology allows us to easily record pictures, audio, and video in mere seconds. This new technology has proved so helpful in the incident reporting world that paper incident reports are slowly becoming a thing of the past.
The solution? A digital incident reporting platform like 1ST Reporting. You can write incident reports of various types and set instant notifications to send whenever a report is generated (or on other triggers). Of course, you can upload media like photos and videos to the reports.
The Bottom Line On What To Include In Your Report
Reporting incidents requires a non-judgmental, impartial perspective, with a focus on factual data and avoiding creative interpretation. The report’s factual nature is critical to an effective and proactive health and safety reporting regimen.
Including the correct data, information, and observations is vital to your incident report’s success, as noted in this article. Knowing how to present the data to avoid liability or further harm to individuals or property is also key to communicating the incident’s events.
As you’ve no doubt gleaned, there is much more to writing an incident report than most people might think. But now, armed with this quick reference guide and the knowledge it provides, you can charge head-on into your reporting duties and make a positive change in your organization with an accurate, concise incident report.
References
- Fetherston, Tim. 2015. “The Importance of Critical Incident Reporting – and How to Do It.” Community Eye Health 28 (90): 26. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4675258/.
- “Reporting an Injury.” 2025. Wcb.pe.ca. 2025. https://www.wcb.pe.ca/employers/ReportingAnInjury.
- “Safety Quotes – National Safety Council.” 2025. Nsc.org. 2025. https://www.nsc.org/company/safety-quotes.
