What is an Accident Investigation Report Template?
An accident investigation report template is a tool used by safety officers and investigators to collect information during an accident investigation. In a workplace setting, supervisors or managers perform accident investigations to help determine the cost of damage, support insurance claim investigations, and improve workplace safety by helping prevent accident reoccurrence.
How to Write an Accident Investigation Report
A good accident investigation report should focus on factual details about the accident. The objective of the report is to inform the readers of accurate information about the accident.
Below are tips you can follow in writing a good accident investigation report:
1. Avoid writing opinions.
Clearly detail the incident with facts and evidence. This will help the safety officer be well-informed about what happened and assess what kind of next steps to take.
Some examples of the basic details you must include are the following:
- Full name and age of the employee
- Date, time, and location of the incident
- Reason why the incident happened
- Incurred injuries
- Consequences of the accident
- Full name and statement of the witness
- Recommendations to avoid accident recurrence
2. Attach photo evidence.
Providing such is a must as this serves as visual proof of the accident. This is crucial for those who will check the report to get a better glimpse of the incident.
3. Provide important information.
To better provide context about the accident, answer the following W-questions:
- When did the accident occur?
- Who were the involved parties?
- Where was the location of the accident?
- What are the details of the accident?
- Why did the accident happen?
- What are the consequences of the accident?
4. Validate the report.
Finally, supervisors and witnesses must sign off the accident report. This should include their full name, contact information, statement, recommendations, and signatures.
Here’s an accident investigation report sample in PDF. This sample followed the tips on how to write a good accident investigation report and included photos for additional context on the events surrounding an accident.
What to Include in an Accident Investigation Report
To guide you better in creating and using an accident investigation report template, here are the basic details and sections you must include:
- Title Page – briefly discusses the department, full name, and age of the employee, as well as the date and time that the investigation was conducted
- General Information – includes the employee’s photo of identification, date, time, and location of the incident, and if there are other people involved
- Accident Report – describes the details of the accident itself, the possible or obvious reasons why it happened, and the incurred injuries (if any)
- Witness/es – specifies the witness’s name and statement about the incident
- Completion – section for the supervisor to provide recommendations and sign off the report
In addition to the tips and questions outlined above, an accident investigation checklist must ask the following questions:
- Are there other people involved?
- Did the employee leave work?
- Are there any witnesses?
FAQs about Accident Investigation Reports
To conduct an efficient accident investigation, be guided by the following:
- Report the accident based on your organization’s policies.
- Immediately investigate what happened.
- Study the possible root cause/s of the incident.
- Diligently record your factual account of what happened in a detailed report.
- Include specific corrective and preventive actions and other recommendations.
- Establish a way to monitor the progress of such recommendations.
- Continuously improve your health and safety measures for the organization.
A good accident investigation report describes the facts in full detail and includes the date and time that an accident occurred, the order in which things happened, and what caused it. At the end of the report, the inspector in charge of filing it must list their recommendations for future use.
There is no one right way to structure an accident investigation report, as it would depend on your organization’s practices. Ideally, however, an accident investigation report should be done in a narrative format so those reading it can better understand how said accident came to be from start to finish.
The employer should be the one to file and report the accidents that happen to their employees. However, they will need to be in constant contact with their employee for the whole claiming process. Depending on the country, the employee and employer may need to contact their country’s division of workers or compensation government body.
In addition to documenting the specifics of a recent incident, conducting an accident investigation report serves another crucial purpose: preventing the recurrence of similar incidents. By providing comprehensive information, this report enables workplaces to identify the causes of the accident and implement corrective actions to address them effectively.
