Incident report template

Document unexpected events to maintain safety and accountability.

If something goes wrong at work, you need a straightforward way to document what happened. An incident report template helps teams capture critical information consistently and efficiently. Whether you're dealing with workplace accidents, IT outages, or security issues, having a structured approach to incident documentation ensures nothing important gets missed.

Creating incident reports in Confluence allows teams to collaborate effectively and maintain detailed records of events.

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What is an incident report?

An incident report is a detailed document that records unexpected events, accidents, or issues within a company. It's a crucial tool for maintaining safety and accountability, helping teams understand what went wrong and how to prevent similar problems in the future.

What is an incident report template?

Good incident communication depends on thorough documentation. An incident report template provides a structured format for documenting incidents consistently. It serves as a guide, ensuring teams capture all necessary information during the reporting process.

A sample incident report template maintains uniformity across incidents and makes it easier to analyze patterns over time.

What is the purpose of an incident report template?

A free incident report template streamlines the documentation process by providing a clear framework for gathering and organizing information. It helps businesses meet legal and operational requirements while ensuring that all critical details are captured. With project management software, teams can integrate incident reporting into their broader workflow.

Types of incident reports

Different situations require different approaches to incident reporting. Common types include:

Workplace accidents: Workplace safety incidents involve accidents, injuries, or near-misses that affect employee well-being. These reports focus on safety measures and prevention.
Security breaches: These require detailed documentation of unauthorized access or data compromises. The incident response approach varies depending on the type of breach.
IT system failures: Technical details about outages, their impact, and resolution steps are essential when addressing IT system failures. These reports help with future strategic planning for system improvements.

Key elements of an incident report

An incident report tells you a complete story about what went wrong. You need all the right pieces to help others understand what happened and how to prevent it from happening again. Here are the components every incident report should include:

Incident description and classification: This summary sets the entire context of your report and immediately communicates the severity of the situation to everyone involved.
Date, time, and location: These fundamental details create patterns that reveal when and where incidents are most likely to occur in your company.
Involved parties and witnesses: The perspectives of everyone present combine to create a complete picture of the incident, as different people often notice crucial details others might miss.
Immediate response actions: The initial response reveals how well your emergency procedures work under pressure and highlights where your team excels or needs additional support.
Root cause analysis: Understanding the underlying cause helps your company address the source of problems rather than just treating their symptoms.
Evidence and documentation: Physical evidence and clear documentation provide an objective foundation that eliminates guesswork and supports your findings with concrete facts.
Impact assessment: A thorough evaluation of the incident's effects on your company demonstrates its actual cost and helps justify investments in prevention.
Corrective actions: Your planned improvements bridge the gap between identifying problems and preventing their recurrence through concrete, actionable changes.
Follow-up requirements: Ongoing monitoring ensures that your implemented changes stick and protect your company over time.

Benefits of using an incident report template

Ensures standardization

Standardized templates establish a consistent reporting language across teams and departments. Reports become immediately readable and comparable, regardless of who created them or which department they came from.

This standardization proves particularly valuable during cross-team incident responses, where clear communication is crucial. Consistent reporting helps businesses build a collaborative culture, allowing fast and effective information sharing and coordinated action.

Increases efficiency

Predefined fields and sections eliminate guesswork and reduce documentation time during critical moments. Team members can focus entirely on gathering and recording essential details rather than structuring the report itself.

This efficiency becomes crucial during serious incidents when rapid response is crucial. Teams spend less time formatting and organizing information and more time implementing solutions and preventing escalation.

Improves accuracy

Templates are comprehensive guides during incident documentation, ensuring thoroughness even under pressure. The structured format prompts teams to capture specific data points and critical details that might otherwise be missed.

An incident report template can significantly reduce errors and omissions, providing more reliable documentation for future analysis and prevention efforts.

Promotes documentation

Strong documentation practices form the backbone of organizational knowledge and compliance. Templates transform good documentation from an aspiration into a practical, repeatable process. The resulting records are essential during audits and demonstrate a systematic approach to safety and improvement.

These documented incidents also provide context for training programs and help businesses maintain institutional knowledge as teams change.

Supports better analysis

Consistent documentation enables meaningful pattern recognition across incidents. By comparing standardized reports over time, businesses can effectively identify recurring issues and emerging risks.

Through effective project management, teams use these insights to support better decision-making, develop data-driven risk management strategies, and implement preventive measures that address fundamental problems rather than surface-level symptoms.

How to create an incident report

Step 1. Gather initial details

Start with the basics: record when and where the incident happened and who was involved. Double-check these details with multiple sources to ensure accuracy. Through solid incident management, these initial facts set the stage for everything that follows.

Step 2. Describe the incident clearly

Write down exactly what happened, keeping it factual and to the point. Skip the speculation and emotional language; just focus on the events as they occurred, using clear, straightforward descriptions.

Step 3. Document evidence

Collect all your supporting materials, including photos, videos, witness statements, and anything that helps paint the picture. Keep these organized and easy to find later. Good incident communication depends on having evidence readily available.

Confluence Pages provides a flexible way to document incidents in real-time with 3rd party application support. Add photos, links, and comments in a customizable platform.

Step 4. Identify causes

Look at everything that contributed to the incident, from human error to environmental factors. Make explicit connections between these causes and what happened, showing how each factor played a role.

Use Confluence's root cause analysis template to help pinpoint where the issue began.

Step 5. List actions taken

Document your immediate response: what kind of help was provided, what steps were taken to control the situation, and how you prevented things from worsening. This includes everything from medical assistance to emergency protocols.

Note which team members were involved in the response and their specific roles. Record the timing of each action taken to establish a precise sequence of events.

Step 6. Recommend corrective actions

Based on what you've learned, suggest specific improvements. These might include updating processes, adding training, or upgrading equipment. Include these in your project planning and focus on practical changes that will help prevent similar incidents in the future.

Step 7. Review and revise

Give everything one final review to make sure it's complete. Then, send it up the chain for approval and distribution to the right people.

Keep the final approved report easily accessible for future reference and analysis.

Best practices for incident reporting

Good incident reporting is about finding the right balance between thoroughness and practicality. Here are best practices that will help your reports deliver real value to your company:

Stay objective and fact-focused: Document what happened, not what you think happened. Include specific details and measurements where possible, and avoid speculation about intentions or blame.
Start reporting right away: Speed matters in incident reporting. The sooner you document an incident, the more accurate the details will be. Document the basics immediately, even if you need to add more information later.
Maintain consistent detail levels: Every minor or major incident deserves the same level of thoroughness in documentation. This consistency helps identify patterns in more minor incidents that might prevent larger ones later.

Create an incident report in Confluence

Confluence's collaborative workspace makes incident reporting straightforward and efficient. Using Confluence's rich text editor, tables, and formatting tools, you can create a free incident report template that matches your team's needs. You can also build your own incident reporting structure using page templates and layouts that work best for your business.

Project collaboration is seamless with Confluence's built-in features. Multiple team members can simultaneously update incident details, add comments, and share insights. They can also track changes, mention teammates, and use inline comments to gather additional information or clarify details. Page permissions ensure that sensitive information stays secure while remaining accessible to authorized team members.