# Write an incident report: checklist 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. ## Before you start - [ ] Have ready: Your notes on what happened 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. ## 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. - [ ] You have: A numbered table of events in order, each quoted from your notes. - [ ] Check: Each quote in the Event (quote) column appears in the your notes on what happened, with shortened fragments in the same order. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: 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. - [ ] You have: A table of causes, impacts, opinions and private details, each with what to do with it. - [ ] Check: Each quote in the Statement (quote) column appears in the your notes on what happened, with shortened fragments in the same order. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: 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. - [ ] You have: An incident report with a timeline, an impact, a separate likely cause, follow-up actions and open questions. - [ ] Check: 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. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: 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. - [ ] You have: A table of phrases that blame, guess, name or reveal, each with a replacement. - [ ] Check: Every row of the table has one of "blame", "guess stated as fact", "name", "personal or health detail" or "none" in the Concern column. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: 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. - [ ] You have: The final incident report and a count of the wording changes. - [ ] Check: 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). A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: 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 - [ ] Check: 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. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: 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. - [ ] Check: 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. Checked by a second AI prompt. If not: 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. - [ ] Check: 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. Checked by a second AI prompt. If not: 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. - [ ] Check: 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. Checked by a second AI prompt. If not: 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. - [ ] Check: 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. Checked by a second AI prompt. If not: 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. - [ ] Check: 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. Checked by you. If not: Carry on, but write down the problem so whoever uses the result knows about it. ## 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. --- From Logic Lab (logiclabhq.com). Free to use and adapt, with credit.