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Incident Report Writing
Incident Reporting is an important part of every organisation for awareness, records and actions relating to critical incidents such as near miss incidents, injuries, safety observations, corrective actions and follow-up procedures, to ensure client, worker and organisation safety in the workplace. An Incident Report captures the details of these critical incidents for documentation and possible submission to other contacts for follow-ups. This report should include the identification of risks, intervention provided and recommendations for follow-ups.
In the psychology setting, a critical incident is defined as a powerful and overwhelming event that lies outside the range of usual human experience. It has the potential to exhaust one's usual coping mechanisms, resulting in psychological distress and disruption of normal adaptive functioning. These events are typically related to a breakdown in the overall health system or process, rather than the negligence of one individual (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US), 2014).
Types of Critical Incidents (non-exhaustive):
Client self-harm or suicide;
Serious crimes committed in the premises (arising from psychological distress or related);
Safety when managing aggression;
Home visit incidents;
Safety within office premises;
Other incidents of a serious nature, which by reason of the personalities involved or the surrounding circumstances, are likely to attract public or media interest.
Details that could be included in an incident report:
Nature of incident
Date and time of incident
Location of incident:
Address, identity of the premises (e.g. office building, service centre, part of the property [if indoors] or exact location [if outdoors]).
Details of Incident:
First information report (how it was discovered; who reported).
Briefly summarise the incident:
Chronology of events;
Persons involved - name, age, race etc.;
Staff’s reaction and immediate action taken;
How situation was brought under control;
State number and extent of injuries and death. Identify the victims
Describe damage to property (if any)
Current status of situation:
Situation in the facility at the time of reporting;
What is being done and/or will be done next to contain the situation;
Measures taken to inform family and relatives of victim(s);
Whether a daily situation report is necessary;
Findings of preliminary investigation:
Report progressively on findings into causes of the incident, and the extent and duration of investigation process.
Police report:
Whether the police was called, and if any police report was made;
Name of police station and name of police officer taking the report;
Date of police report.
Any other comments (include other recommendations, requests or comments)
Contact:
Name and 24-hour contact number of the person whom other agencies (if needed) can contact for additional information
