What to include in an incident report

An incident report has two jobs: record what happened while the facts are fresh, and make sure someone fixes the cause. Most reports do the first job and forget the second. Here is what to include so yours do both.

When to write one

Write a report for anything that hurt someone, could have hurt someone, damaged property, put food or customers at risk, or broke a rule you care about. That includes:

• injuries and first-aid cases,
• near misses (a fall that almost happened counts),
• equipment failures,
• food-safety problems, such as a cooler running warm,
• security issues and customer complaints that need follow-up.

Near misses are worth reporting: they show you where the next injury is likely to happen.

The facts to capture

1. When and where. Date, time and the exact location, such as "walk-in cooler, Downtown".
2. What happened. A short, factual description in the reporter's own words.
3. Who was involved. Staff, customers or contractors, and anyone who was hurt.
4. Witnesses. Names and how to reach them.
5. Evidence. Photos of the scene, the equipment or the product.
6. Immediate action. What was done straight away: first aid, area closed off, product moved.
7. Severity. A simple scale such as low, medium, high or critical, so urgent issues stand out.
8. Owner and due date. One named person responsible for the follow-up, and when it's due.
9. Root cause and corrective action. Why it happened and what will stop it happening again.
10. Closure. Who checked the fix and when the report was closed.

Our free incident report form lays these out in order.

How to write it well

• Stick to facts. "The mop bucket was left in the walkway" is useful; "Sam is careless" is not.
• Write it soon. Details fade within hours.
• Use the reporter's words for what they saw, and keep opinions in a separate notes field.
• Be specific about location and time, so patterns show up when you look back.

Close the loop

A report that is filed and forgotten changes nothing. Make every report end with three things: an owner, a due date and a corrective action, such as a new checklist step, a repair or a training session. Then check that the fix happened.

Some incidents, such as serious workplace injuries, may have to be reported to a government agency within a set time. The rules depend on where you operate, so check what applies to your business.

How Cayro helps

In Cayro Ops, anyone can report an incident from their phone with photos. Each incident gets a severity, an owner and a response target based on that severity, and it escalates automatically if it goes overdue: first to location managers, then to administrators. Corrective actions become real tasks, and a failed checklist item can open an incident on its own. Cayro Insights shows incidents by severity and category so you can spot repeat problems.

See how it works on the Cayro Ops page, or start a free trial.