You’ve been a part of an incident where a product is being recalled due to contamination with harmful bacteria. The recall notice stated that hundreds have become ill from eating the contaminated food products. Your company’s leaders are visibly upset about this situation. They order you to write up an incident report of what happened. You know that if your boss asks you which revisions you made to the final version of the report after reading it over, be prepared for them to ask!
Here are 12 tips on how to write reports to best prepare yourself:
12 Tips on Drafting an Effective Incident Report
1) Follow Instructions.
Review your written instructions carefully before beginning writing. It is important that you do as instructed as the boss will likely read the report and check for compliance.
2) Use Plain Language.
People from different departments or your company’s headquarters may read your incident reporting. So, use easy to understand language. This is especially important if you must explain complex procedures performed by employees, for example, which test was performed using an unapproved substance and why it was approved.
3) Start at the Beginning.
The very first thing that people want to know when reading an incident report is “what happened?” One trick that helps ensure that your audience understands what happened is to write a brief story that begins with the who, what, where, when, and how of the incident. Next, explain how this event unfolded. Finally, be sure to include the details about why this event occurred.
4) Use Emotional Words.
Do not use language that is too technical, negative or “stuffy”. Remember who you are writing for when you report accidents. While it may be appropriate to use words such as transferred, acquired , disposed and contaminated in a report written for people from your company’s headquarters, these same words might confuse and frustrate workers at locations where the incident occurred. You could end up with questions like: what does “transferred” mean? Or the reader might miss the meaning of other important messages when they read through your report. To avoid confusion and ensure your audience understands what happened in review, define incidents using employee friendly language (see #5).
5) Use Employee Friendly Language.
Using employee-friendly language helps ensure that everyone has the same understanding of what happened. If possible, you should look for ways to use positive or neutral words in an incident report template. For example, rather than “employee failed,” you could instead say “employee did not complete.” To avoid being too negative or critical in your report, find a way to emphasize what employees are doing right. Are they showing good judgment? Are they following proper guidelines/procedures? Did they seek help when needed? Putting employees on a pedestal can make your report less upsetting and more accessible for them to read through.
6) Be Specific.
Use lots of specific examples about who was involved, where the incident occurred, what happened, when it happened, and how it affected areas of your business. Having a checklist where you can provide examples is one way to help you explain who was involved in the incident. It is also an easy way to explain complicated or challenging concepts that are important for people to know about. For instance, if you write about a procedure performed by employees following sick protocols, someone else will fill in for them. At the same time, they recover from the illness, say so! Also include timelines – write a detailed account of all events leading up to and during the incident. Finally, make sure you cover why the incident occurred – even if the answer is “we don’t know.”
7) Use Tables
As with any accident report, using tables can help break up large amounts of information. This is especially important for many people involved, locations affected, and other factors. For example: include a chart that lists all the tests performed during a quality assurance process by one individual followed by a second column with detailed explanations of each test performed. Another example would be to use tables to compare what you usually do versus how things changed or were different since an incident occurred.
8) Be Objective.
While your report will most likely be dealing with emotions (think about how disappointed everyone was when this happened), you must remain objective so as not to seem cold or uncaring about what happened. When possible, refer to resources or experts who could help management understand the situation better before speaking with them about the incident.
9) Rewrite.
As with any report, you will need to rewrite it to collect more information. If reading your report is confusing or unclear, find a way to improve it as soon as possible. For example: if you could not get all of the details from someone before their shift ended and they moved on to other duties, talk with them first thing in the morning and ask them what happened again. Hopefully, they can provide additional details that will help complete your understanding of the situation and allow you to share those new insights with others too!
10) Edit.
You may also want to use an editor who can review your work for mistakes such as spelling errors, sentence structure problems, and correct grammar. While it is important to be nice when working with an editor, they should also remember that how a report is written can have a significant impact on how people feel about it. Their job is to help you draft an effective incident report by highlighting problems or areas that could be better.
11) Share.
Ask if other departments would like to share your report with their employees. This is especially important if there were groups of employees who weren’t directly involved in the situation but whose work has been impacted by what happened. In addition, consider sharing your report with unions or external organizations, such as regulators or accreditation boards, if applicable. Finally, people outside of your organization will most likely appreciate being included in this process as it helps them better understand your organization’s changes.
12) Talk.
Being open with those who’ve been affected by an incident, as well as those directly involved with resolving the problem, will help you create a sense of trust and improve relationships with all parties. It will also facilitate any additional conversations that others may have regarding what happened and how everyone can work together to avoid similar incidents in the future.
Drafting an effective incident report can be time-consuming, let alone producing one that is easily understood by the mass majority. A pre-made incident report template drastically reduces the time spent crafting a report. Free basic templates are available with Venngage; it’s just a matter of filling in the details.
