Incident investigation report template: facts, causes and actions

An incident investigation report should preserve what is known, distinguish facts from assumptions, identify immediate and underlying causes, and assign actions whose effectiveness can be checked. Use this copyable Great Britain form after making people safe and meeting any urgent notification duties. It is suitable for accidents and near misses, with the depth adapted to potential and actual harm. A blank form is not an investigation, and an internal report is not a substitute for a report to HSE when RIDDOR applies.

HSE's HSG245 workbook describes systematic, objective evidence gathering, analysis of immediate, underlying and root causes, action planning and review. It warns against prematurely rejecting possible causes. The HSE RIDDOR guide separately explains who must notify, which incidents are reportable and how to report them. Do not wait for the investigation to finish if an incident needs prompt external notification. The existing Complys RIDDOR guide owns reporting explanation; the corrective-action effectiveness guide owns a deeper closure method. This page supplies a copyable investigation report.

Before completing the form

Arrange emergency care, prevent further exposure and preserve relevant evidence without obstructing rescue or making the scene unsafe. Appoint an investigator whose competence and independence suit the event. More serious or potentially serious events may need specialists, worker representatives, legal or insurer input and a larger investigation team. Protect privacy and record access. Decide whether any statutory, regulator, insurer, safeguarding or contractual notification applies; those routes are not interchangeable. Use the current official source for each rather than a generic “all incidents are RIDDOR-reportable” assumption.

Record what the witness actually saw or heard in their own words. Separate evidence from interpretation. Capture the scene, equipment status, procedures, training, permits, shift and environmental context before it changes, where lawful and safe. Do not change equipment settings merely to recreate an incident without a controlled plan. Consider people who may be affected by the investigation, including injured workers and witnesses, and avoid blame-led questioning.

Copyable incident investigation report

A. Report control and event summary

Do not place unnecessary medical details in a broadly shared operational report. A record can point to a protected occupational-health or personnel file without copying sensitive information. Describe an injury accurately but do not infer a medical diagnosis beyond confirmed information.

B. Immediate safety and notification decisions

The RIDDOR decision should be made using HSE's reportability guidance and reporting instructions. Different categories have different triggers and timing. HSE says reportable incidents must be notified under the applicable procedure, and its record guidance specifies information to retain. This template deliberately does not hard-code one deadline for every event. Keep the HSE reference if a report is submitted, and review a pending decision promptly as injury or diagnosis information changes.

C. Evidence register

Possible sources include photographs, site sketches, witness accounts, CCTV, equipment logs, maintenance/inspection records, permit and RAMS versions, training records, staffing rosters, task design and previous similar events. State where a source is unavailable or time-stamped incorrectly. Do not silently fill a gap with a convenient narrative. If evidence may be needed for a regulator or legal process, follow your organisation's preservation and access arrangements.

D. Timeline and verified facts

A timeline helps distinguish a failed control from an event that happened after a control was removed. If witnesses disagree, record each version and investigate rather than declaring one true without evidence. Avoid using “human error” as a complete explanation: ask why the task, equipment, supervision or pressure allowed the action and whether an ordinary worker could reasonably have succeeded.

E. Cause analysis

HSG245 advises considering immediate, underlying and root causes. Those are analytic categories, not a requirement to force every event into exactly one root cause. One spill may involve a leaking pipe, a delayed repair request, poor inspection ownership and a floor that gives no warning. A report that says only “worker failed to take care” may leave the leak untouched.

F. Actions, owners and effectiveness

Separate immediate risk control from preventing recurrence. A barrier around a machine may be needed now; redesigning a guard interlock or maintenance procedure may be the durable action. Write actions that can be verified in the real workplace. “Remind staff to be careful” is weak if the equipment or job design remains unsafe. The Complys action-effectiveness guide addresses the later check in depth. Do not mark an action closed because a purchase order was raised or training booked; verify the guard works, training changed practice or the recurring fault stopped.

G. Conclusions, communication and sign-off

Do not withhold a safety control because a final report is not yet ready. Equally, do not rush a final conclusion while material evidence is missing. Record interim findings and a date for the next decision. Share learning with those who need it, without unnecessary personal details or prejudging responsibility.

Worked example: a near miss with a loading-bay door

A powered door drops unexpectedly near a worker; nobody is injured. The immediate action is to prevent use and keep people clear. The investigation captures maintenance logs, recent fault reports, door controls, CCTV and accounts from operators. The timeline reveals an intermittent fault that was reported twice but not escalated to maintenance, and a bypassed stop control. Causes include both the physical defect and the reporting/repair system. Actions include competent repair and test, restoration of controls, changes to escalation and a later sample of reported defects to verify timely closure. The event is assessed against current RIDDOR dangerous-occurrence rules rather than assumed reportable solely because it was a near miss.

Common reporting mistakes

• Treating an accident-book entry as the full investigation.
• Waiting for a final cause before considering urgent statutory reporting.
• Copying medical information into a widely shared operational file.
• Starting with “operator error” and then collecting only confirming evidence.
• Losing photos, CCTV or equipment status before collecting them safely.
• Listing actions with no owner, due date or effectiveness check.
• Closing the report while the same hazard persists elsewhere.

Complys and next step

The Complys incident reporting page is the relevant money page for incident records and assigned corrective actions. Public copy describes logging and tracking; current repository implementation and commercial terms must be verified before integration claims are strengthened. A software incident entry does not submit a RIDDOR report by itself, interview witnesses competently or certify causal findings. Use this form to document the human investigation and keep the external notification decision separate.

Start by protecting people and preserving evidence. Then use the form to test what happened, why existing controls failed and whether the chosen actions actually prevent recurrence.

Source, claim, owner, product, links and writer-side QA

Terminal writer-side disposition: READY.