# Write an incident report: prompt chain Turn your rough notes on something that went wrong into a factual, blame-free incident report, with the timeline kept apart from the likely cause, and with personal and health details flagged for removal. **Made for:** Anyone who has to write up an incident, such as a supervisor, an office manager, a safety lead, a team leader or a person on the front line. ## Before you start Have these ready: - **Your notes on what happened** (required): Paste what you know, in any order, with times where you have them. Include what you saw, what you were told, and what was done. Paste only what your organization lets you put into an AI tool. **How to use this chain** 1. Open a new chat in any AI assistant. 2. Copy the Step 1 prompt, replace every [PASTE HERE: ...] slot with your material, and send it. 3. Keep each answer: later steps ask you to paste it in. Run each step in the same chat or a new one; a new chat keeps steps from blurring together. 4. After a step that has a check, run the check before you move on. ## Step 1: List what happened in order Pick out each event from the notes, quoted word for word, with its time where the notes give one, so the report has a fixed list of facts to build on. Copy this prompt: ````text You are a careful incident reviewer who writes down what happened and nothing more. Your task is to list every event in the notes below, in the order it happened. The notes: [PASTE HERE: Your notes on what happened] Rules: - An event is something that happened or was done, such as a pallet falling or an area being closed off. Do not list opinions, guesses or reasons as events. - Quote each event from the notes word for word, as short as you can. Do not correct it and do not reword it. - In the When column, give the time or day exactly as the notes give it. If the notes give none, write not stated. Do not work out or guess a time. - One row for each separate event. Do not merge two events and do not add one the notes do not have. Return one markdown table and nothing else: | # | When | Event (quote) | ```` **You get back:** A numbered table of events in order, each quoted from your notes. **Check after Step 1: Every event is quoted word for word from your notes** Check by eye: Each quote in the Event (quote) column appears in the your notes on what happened, with shortened fragments in the same order. If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 2: Separate facts from guesses and details to protect Sort every statement in the notes into a fact, a likely cause, an opinion about a person, or a personal or health detail, so each one goes in the right place or is left out. Copy this prompt: ````text You are a fair-minded reviewer who keeps what happened apart from why it happened. Your task is to sort every statement in the notes below that is not a plain event. The notes: [PASTE HERE: Your notes on what happened] The events already listed: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 1 (List what happened in order)] Rules: - Look for statements about why something happened, guesses ("probably", "must have"), opinions about a person, and personal or health details about anyone. - Quote each statement from the notes word for word, as short as you can. One row for each statement. If there are none, write one row with none in the Statement column. - Type must be exactly one of: likely cause, opinion about a person, personal or health detail, impact, none. - Use likely cause for a reason about the conditions or the process. Use opinion about a person for a judgment about someone's effort, care, speed or character. Use personal or health detail for background about someone's body, health history, family or private life that is not part of what happened. An injury the incident caused is impact: record only that an injury was reported and where, and add an Open Question to take the medical detail to your separate protected record. Use impact for what was damaged, closed or lost, and for an injury the incident caused. - In the Use column, write keep as a likely cause, keep as impact (including an injury the incident caused), leave out, or none. An opinion about a person and a personal or health detail are always leave out. - Do not judge the people who wrote the notes. Return one markdown table and nothing else: | # | Statement (quote) | Type | Use | ```` **You get back:** A table of causes, impacts, opinions and private details, each with what to do with it. **Check after Step 2: Every statement is quoted word for word from your notes** Check by eye: Each quote in the Statement (quote) column appears in the your notes on what happened, with shortened fragments in the same order. If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 3: Draft the incident report Write the report from the timeline and the kept statements only, with the facts and the likely cause under separate headings. Copy this prompt: ````text You are an experienced safety and operations writer who produces plain, factual incident reports. Your task is to write an incident report from the notes, the timeline and the sorted statements below. The notes: [PASTE HERE: Your notes on what happened] The timeline: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 1 (List what happened in order)] The sorted statements: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 2 (Separate facts from guesses and details to protect)] Rules: - Use these headings in this order: Summary, Timeline, Who Was Involved, Immediate Response, Impact, Likely Cause, Follow-Up, Open Questions. - Summary is two or three sentences of fact. Timeline lists the events from the timeline table, one line each, with the time where one is given. - Who Was Involved uses roles only, such as "the operator" and "the shift lead". Do not use a first name or a last name. - Under Likely Cause, use only statements marked keep as likely cause, and begin with: This is a likely cause, not a confirmed one. - Under Impact, use only statements marked keep as impact. - Leave out every statement marked leave out. Do not mention health, family or private details, and do not describe anyone's effort, care or speed. - Under Follow-Up, write one action for each likely cause, with an owner role. For the date, use only a date in the notes. If the notes give none, write date to be set. Do not invent a date, a number or a time. - If an impact statement describes an injury, write only that an injury was reported and where on the body, with no diagnosis or treatment, and add under Open Questions: Record the medical details in your separate protected record, not in this report. - Under Open Questions, list what the notes do not say and a person should find out, such as a time marked not stated. - End with exactly this line: Check this report with the people who were there and with your own policy before you file it. Return the report in markdown and nothing else. ```` **You get back:** An incident report with a timeline, an impact, a separate likely cause, follow-up actions and open questions. **Check after Step 3: No number appears that your notes do not have** Check by eye: Every number in the answer also appears somewhere in at least one of "your notes on what happened"; this does not check what each number means. If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 4: Find blame and private details in the draft List each phrase in the draft that puts the fault on a person, states a guess as a fact, names someone, or shows a personal or health detail, with a plainer replacement. Copy this prompt: ````text You are a reviewer who reads incident reports for blame, guesses and private details. Your task is to find every phrase in the draft below that could blame a person, state a guess as a fact, name a person, or show a personal or health detail. The draft: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 3 (Draft the incident report)] Rules: - Look for words that judge a person ("careless", "rushed", "failed to"), a cause stated as certain when the notes only guess it, a first or last name, and any health, family or private detail. - Quote each phrase from the draft word for word, as short as you can. One row for each phrase. If you find none, write one row with none in the Phrase column. - Concern must be exactly one of: blame, guess stated as fact, name, personal or health detail, none. - In the Replacement column, give plainer wording that says only what happened or names a role. Do not leave it empty. For a personal or health detail, write remove. - Do not judge the people who wrote the notes. Return one markdown table and nothing else: | # | Phrase (quote) | Concern | Replacement | ```` **You get back:** A table of phrases that blame, guess, name or reveal, each with a replacement. **Check after Step 4: Each concern is one of the five allowed words** Check by eye: Every row of the table has one of "blame", "guess stated as fact", "name", "personal or health detail" or "none" in the Concern column. If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 5: Write the final incident report Apply the replacements to the draft, change nothing else, and add a count of the changes. Copy this prompt: ````text You are a copy editor who swaps listed phrases and changes nothing else. Your task is to write the final incident report from the draft, using the replacements in the table. The draft: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 3 (Draft the incident report)] The flagged phrases and their replacements: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 4 (Find blame and private details in the draft)] Rules: - Replace each flagged phrase with its replacement. For a replacement of remove, delete the phrase and any words that only make sense with it. - Change nothing else. Keep every other word, number and heading as written. Do not add an event, a cause, a number or a date. - Start the answer with one line that begins "Changes:" and says how many phrases were replaced or removed. - Keep the closing line "Check this report with the people who were there and with your own policy before you file it." as the very last line. Return markdown in this form and nothing else: Changes: (the count) (the incident report) Check this report with the people who were there and with your own policy before you file it. ```` **You get back:** The final incident report and a count of the wording changes. **Check after Step 5: The reminder to check it with the people who were there is in the final text** Check by eye: The answer contains the text fragment "Check this report with the people who were there and with your own policy before you file it." (including inside a longer word). If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Final checks Run these on the finished result. **Final check 1: Every statement type is one of the five allowed words** Check by eye: Every row of the table has one of "likely cause", "opinion about a person", "personal or health detail", "impact" or "none" in the Type column. If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. **Final check 2: The likely cause stays out of the timeline** Open a new chat (so the check is not swayed by the work) and paste this check prompt: ````text You are a careful reviewer. You do not fix or rewrite the work; you only decide whether it passes one check. The check: The likely cause stays out of the timeline Read the Timeline and Summary sections of the report. Does either one state a cause, a reason or a guess about why something happened, rather than only what happened? Answer FAIL and quote each place where it does. The work to check (the answer from Step 3 (Draft the incident report)): [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 3 (Draft the incident report)] Reply with exactly PASS or FAIL on the first line. On the second line, say in one sentence why. If it fails, name the exact item or line that fails. Do not add anything else. ```` If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. **Final check 3: No name, health detail or private detail is in the final text** Open a new chat (so the check is not swayed by the work) and paste this check prompt: ````text You are a careful reviewer. You do not fix or rewrite the work; you only decide whether it passes one check. The check: No name, health detail or private detail is in the final text Look at the table below. For each row marked leave out, or with a concern of name or personal or health detail, does that detail still appear in the final report, in the same words or in other words? Also read the final report for any first name, last name, or detail about someone's body, health or family. Also check that any injury under Impact says only that an injury was reported and where, with no diagnosis or treatment. Answer FAIL and quote each place where one is left. The sorted statements: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 2 (Separate facts from guesses and details to protect)] The work to check (the answer from Step 5 (Write the final incident report)): [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 5 (Write the final incident report)] Reply with exactly PASS or FAIL on the first line. On the second line, say in one sentence why. If it fails, name the exact item or line that fails. Do not add anything else. ```` If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. **Final check 4: No wording left that blames a person** Open a new chat (so the check is not swayed by the work) and paste this check prompt: ````text You are a careful reviewer. You do not fix or rewrite the work; you only decide whether it passes one check. The check: No wording left that blames a person Read the final report. Does any line judge a person's effort, care, speed or character, or say a person caused the incident? Answer FAIL and quote each place where one does. Wording about a process or a condition, such as a wet ramp, is fine. The flagged phrases: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 4 (Find blame and private details in the draft)] The work to check (the answer from Step 5 (Write the final incident report)): [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 5 (Write the final incident report)] Reply with exactly PASS or FAIL on the first line. On the second line, say in one sentence why. If it fails, name the exact item or line that fails. Do not add anything else. ```` If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. **Final check 5: Every event in the timeline table is in the final report** Open a new chat (so the check is not swayed by the work) and paste this check prompt: ````text You are a careful reviewer. You do not fix or rewrite the work; you only decide whether it passes one check. The check: Every event in the timeline table is in the final report Compare the Timeline in the final report with the table below. Is every event in the table in the report, in the same order, with the same time? Answer FAIL and quote each event that is missing, changed or out of order. The timeline: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 1 (List what happened in order)] The work to check (the answer from Step 5 (Write the final incident report)): [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 5 (Write the final incident report)] Reply with exactly PASS or FAIL on the first line. On the second line, say in one sentence why. If it fails, name the exact item or line that fails. Do not add anything else. ```` If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. **Final check 6: A person who was there reads it before it is filed** Ask yourself: Ask someone who was there to read the report and say whether the timeline matches what they remember. Check that nothing blames a person and that no private detail is left. Check the report against your own policy for what must be reported, to whom and by when, and have your safety, HR or legal lead look at it if the incident involved an injury, a complaint or personal data. Only a person can say what your policy and the law require. If it does not pass: Carry on, but write down the problem so whoever uses the result knows about it. ## What you end up with - An incident report with a summary, a timeline, the impact, a likely cause kept apart from the facts, follow-up actions and open questions. - A table that sorts causes, impacts, opinions and private details, and shows what was left out. - A table of wording that blamed, guessed, named or revealed, and what replaced it. ## Changing this chain - This template helps you write a clear, factual first draft. It is a drafting aid and not legal advice. It does not tell you what you must report, to whom, or by when. Your own policy and the rules where you work decide that. - Paste only notes your organization lets you put into an AI tool. The template tells the AI to use roles, not names, and to drop health and private details, but it is safest to leave them out of your notes too. - Anything left out is not lost. It is in the second table, so you can decide with the right person whether a detail belongs in a separate, protected record. - If your organization has its own incident form, run this template on your notes first, then copy the checked text into your form. - For an incident with many events, run the timeline step first, trim the list yourself, then run the rest. --- From Logic Lab (logiclabhq.com). Free to use and adapt, with credit.