Safety
Incident Report
A formal document that records the details of an accident, injury, near miss, or other safety-related event on a construction site.
What is an Incident Report?
An incident report is a formal document that records all details of an accident, injury, near miss, property damage, or other safety-related event on a construction site. It is the foundation of incident investigation and corrective action.
What to Include
- Date, time, and location
- Names and roles of involved parties
- Description of what happened
- Injuries sustained (if any)
- Property damage
- Witnesses
- Photos and evidence
- Root cause analysis
- Corrective actions
Reporting Timeline
- **Immediate** — first aid incidents
- **Within 24 hours** — recordable incidents
- **Within 8 hours** — fatalities (OSHA requirement)
- **Within 30 days** — hospitalizations, amputations, eye loss (OSHA)
Digital Incident Reporting
Mobile apps enable immediate capture of incident details, photos, and signatures at the scene, eliminating the delay and lost information of paper-based reporting.
Related Terms
- Near Miss Report
A documentation of an event that could have resulted in injury or damage but did not, used to prevent future incidents.
- Job Safety Analysis (JSA)
A systematic process of identifying potential hazards associated with each step of a job task and developing safe work procedures.
- OSHA
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The US federal agency that sets and enforces workplace safety standards.
- Site Safety Inspection
A documented walk-through of a job site to identify safety hazards and verify OSHA compliance.
Looking for software that helps your team capture these inspections in the field? See our field inspection software or construction inspection software.