Incident Report Template

Robust incident recording and reporting is essential for protecting both professionals and the individuals they support.

What is the purpose of an incident report?

The purpose of an incident report is to enable key stakeholders to establish what happened, where it happened, how it happened, who was there, and who did what.

This information facilitates meaningful post-incident support, analysis, and learning.

What does an incident report look like?

An effective incident report should:

• Be practical and simple for everyone to use and understand
• Contain a clear, honest, and accurate account of what happened
• Give a comprehensive, detailed account of the incident
• Avoid abbreviations and jargon where possible
• Where technical terms are used, there should be reference to a glossary explaining what they mean

This incident report template exemplifies one way of collecting information after an incident. However, it is incumbent on individual settings to decide the best way to keep these records, in line with their own policies and procedures.