Incident summary

The words incident and accident are often used interchangeably, but in workplace safety, they have slightly different meanings. An accident is considered more serious than an incident and is typically defined as a sudden, unexpected event that causes serious injury or even death. However, the term accident report is not generally used in a workplace context. OSHA recommends using incident report for all adverse workplace events to avoid confusion.

Incident reports should be filed as soon as reasonably possible after an incident. Generally, aim to finalize it within a week while the information is fresh and available.

Access and editing rights for incident reports vary depending on the incident type and your organization’s policies. Incident reports should be accessible to the individuals directly involved in the incident, their immediate supervisors, members of the department responsible for managing the incident (such as HR), and senior-level approvers. Additional policies will clarify which of those individuals can edit the report and who can only view it.

Any evidence supporting the details of an incident report should be attached. Here are some types of evidence you might include: photographs of the aftermath of the incident (injuries, broken equipment, damaged property, and so on), transcripts of eyewitness statements, written communications relevant to the incident, access logs for the site where it happened, and video surveillance footage.

Check your state laws and compliance certifications to determine the retention period for incident reports, as each organization has slightly different guidelines. For example, OSHA generally requires incident reports to be kept for five years.

Yes, this template can be used for near-miss events just as it is used for other incidents.