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You should use an incident management checklist. Managing an incident makes even the most seasoned manager face extraordinary situations. Facing the unusual, it’s not a stretch to imagine how easy missing a simple step in a vital process may become. With the possibility of missing critical information, a hazard can blossom into a full-blown catastrophe, so utilizing an Incident Management Checklist becomes an obvious necessity.
An Incident Management Checklist is a step-by-step list created to assist management through a stressful workplace occurrence mitigation process. These incidents often involve injury to a person or persons, property damage, or other negatively affecting operational occurrences.
The Incident Management Checklist we are providing you with today will assist with almost any incident, from an IT incident to a team member injury incident. We’ve got you covered. Let’s look at the template and how you can best use it within your operational framework. Similarly, we’ve got some great tips to assist you with incident management that you may not have considered. So, ensure you read through the article for the best results in improving your incident management process. Let’s dive in.
Included In The Incident Management Checklist
The Incident Management Checklist includes five primary sections. These sections include:
Administrative – The administrative section includes some basic preliminary information about the incident. This section is a snapshot of the incident, allowing the manager to begin compartmentalizing aspects of the incident for maximum objective management.
Initial Analysis – The initial analysis of the incident allows the manager to attack the issue appropriately by determining incident severity and the appropriate emergency processes. This protocol may include further use of documents. You might need a Procedural Injury Reporting Checklist, a Property Damage Report, or even something like a Fleet Repair Request form.
Mitigation – Mitigation of risk is the name of the game when dealing with incidents at the workplace. Due to the nature of incidents, several critical actionable items are required in said situation. Our checklist helps steer the process along so the manager in charge does not need to worry about the trivialities of procedure, no matter how essential they may be. Furthermore, incidents may inspire stress, anxiety, or even fear for a manager, depending on the circumstances. Given the unknown nature of incidents, it’s always wise to utilize tools like procedural checklists or, even better, a reporting app like 1st Reporting to aid you in managing such stressful times.
Follow Up – It’s one thing to document and manage an incident. It’s something else to follow up and contact the injured parties, complete in-house training or preventive measures, or any number of other actions needed. Again to aid your management in this regard, we’ve got some key actionable items in the follow-up section of the Incident Management Checklist.
Notes & Sign-Off – Not always required due to other needed documents. Still, sometimes a necessity is to include a note section at the end of the management checklist. You may wish to use this area to include other tasks not mentioned on the checklist that are valid to the circumstance.
At the bottom of the report, a formal sign-off location lets the creator verify that the steps have met completion.
12 Tips For Managing Incidents At Work
Tip 1 – Read the guide, The Incident Report, And The Disclosure Process.
This comprehensive guide was created with you in mind. We wanted to deliver a concise guide for management to understand the fundamentals and nuances of incident reporting and the disclosure process.
Click here to read the incident reporting guide.
You may also be interested in reading Understanding The Best Practices For Your Safety Management System (SMS)
Tip 2 – Consider The Use of a Mobile Form Automation
In our opinion, one of the best ways to manage incidents at work is by using a mobile form automation technology, like the 1st Reporting application. With 1st Reporting, you’ll have all the incident management tools you need in one place. That includes the ability to create customized incident report forms, track incident records, receive real-time incident alerts, and more.
Further to understanding the automation process regarding reporting, let’s look at an example. Let’s assume that a utility company has field service technicians who work on various power transfer equipment.
Suppose the technician is performing an inspection of a vital sub-station. In that case, there may be levels of queries that lead to different results. In this example, a technician might note a parameter of a power station’s performance output that, if inadequate, might lead to a series of inquiries about the operational effectiveness of the equipment. However, if the query result were optimal, perhaps a different set of queries would be appropriate for the technician.
A paper checklist would require that both sets of queries, regardless of prerequisite outcomes, be on the document. This sort of situation causes inordinate amounts of waste and inefficiency. However, with a mobile form automation technology, a cascading dynamic list is relatively easy to provide. That is to say, a document that dynamically changes based on the user’s results input.
Click here to learn more about 1st Reporting’s mobile form application solutions.
Tip 3 – When In Doubt, Utilize Documentation & Checklists
The goal of incident management is to maintain safety and protect your organization’s interests—not to mention your own! So, when in doubt, always document everything and utilize checklists. Doing so will help you track what needs to be done and ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.
Checklists may be more beneficial than you think. Take a procedural checklist like the Incident Management Checklist we have provided as an example. Utilizing checklists for processes allows a better result to present itself through a checkpoint to eliminate potential errors in process delivery.
Checklists are great tools for inspections and safety audits as well. You can utilize a checklist for Fire Exit Inspections, Employee Evaluations, Forklift Inspections, or any other scenario where you can predetermine results and allow a person to check the appropriate responses.
We’ve got plenty of checklists and templates for you to choose from using 1st Reporting. However, suppose you’re still keen on paying for ink, paper, and using clipboards. In that case, we also have a complete template library where you can review, learn about, and download various templates.
Click here to see our template library.
Tip 4 – Make Sure to Follow Up
Once an incident has been managed and documented, it’s essential to follow up. It may include contacting the injured parties, conducting in-house training or preventive measures, or taking any number of other actions. Following up helps ensure that incidents are correctly resolved and that similar incidents don’t occur in the future.
There are several things to consider regarding the post-incident process:
- How did the incident happen?
- What could have been done to prevent it?
- What needs to be done to ensure that it doesn’t happen again?
- Who will be responsible for taking these actions?
- When do these actions need to be completed?
The answers to these questions will help you develop an effective follow-up plan. But don’t forget—you should also document the follow-up process itself! It will help you track progress and ensure that everything is taken care of on time.
Tip 5 – Communicate, Communicate, Communicate!
Effective communication is critical for incident management. After all, you can’t manage an incident if you don’t know about it! Ensure to establish clear communication channels between employees, supervisors, and managers. It will help ensure that incidents get reported promptly and that everyone is kept up-to-date on developments.
It’s also essential to communicate incident information to the appropriate parties outside of your organization, such as insurance providers, OSHA, or other regulatory agencies. Depending on the incident, you may be required to provide certain information or follow specific procedures.
Ensure that all team members are aware of the incident reporting procedure and whom they should contact in the event of an incident. You might even want to create an incident reporting form that can be efficiently completed and submitted.
Click here to learn more about 1st Reporting’s online incident reporting solution.
Tip 6 – Keep An Open Mind
When dealing with incidents, it’s essential to keep an open mind. Please don’t make assumptions about what happened or why it happened. Instead, focus on gathering facts and information from those involved. This methodology will help you get a clear picture of the incident and develop an effective resolution.
It’s also essential to be open to positive and negative feedback. Use feedback to improve your incident management process and make it more effective. And don’t forget to allow employees to provide input—they may have some great ideas!
Tip 7 – Investigate Thoroughly
Once an incident gets reported, it’s essential to launch a thorough investigation. It will help you determine the cause of the incident and identify any factors contributing to it.
You can think of the investigation process as divided into three steps:
1. Collecting data and information
2. Analyzing the data and information
3. Drawing conclusions based on the analysis
When investigating an incident, ensure the collection of as much data and information as possible. It may include witness statements, photographs, video footage, incident reports, and other relevant documents. Once you have this information, it’s time to start analyzing it.
Look for patterns or trends that may help identify the incident’s root cause. Once you’ve identified the root cause, you can develop a plan to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
Click here to learn more about the Incident Reporting Process.
Tip 8 – Take Corrective Action
Once you’ve investigated an incident and identified its root cause, it’s time to take corrective action. It may involve changing your procedures or processes, providing additional training for employees, or taking other measures to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
Make sure to document all corrective actions taken in response to an incident. This method will help you track your progress and ensure that the measures are handled promptly.
Remember that a big part of incident management is ensuring that incidents are prevented. Good corrective action is more than following up with injured parties or having equipment or facilities repaired. Good corrective action should include preventive measures to ensure no repeat incidents occur.
A robust near-miss reporting process is an excellent method of ensuring further corrective action in terms of incident prevention prevails over a lack of preparedness.
Click here to read our guide, 11 Tips To Near-Miss Reporting At Remote Job Sites. It applies to all facilities, not just remote sites.
Tip 9 – Implement a Safety Management System
A safety management system (SMS) is a comprehensive approach to managing safety. It includes elements like policies, procedures, and responsibilities. SMS can help you identify hazards, manage risks, and incidents prevention.
Utilizing a robust SMS is the best way to reduce incidents and create a safe work environment.
When an incident does occur, your SMS must include a procedure for investigating and responding to incidents. It will help you identify the root cause of an incident and take corrective action to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
It’s also essential to ensure that your SMS is regularly reviewed and updated. It will ensure that it remains practical and relevant.
Click here to learn more about safety management systems.
Tip 10 – Invest in Training & Education
One of the best ways to prevent incidents is investing in training and education. It may include online courses, in-person training, or simply ensuring that your employees are up-to-date on the latest safety information.
Tip 11 – Use Incident Data to improve Your Safety Program
Incident data can be a valuable tool for enhancing your safety program. By analyzing incident data, you can identify trends and take steps to prevent future incidents.
The incident data can help you improve your safety program in several ways, including:
· Identifying hazards
· Determining incident root causes
· Developing corrective actions
· Evaluating the effectiveness of your safety program
Click here for a free demo of how 1st Reporting can help you manage incident data.
Tip 12 – Utilize a Mobile Reporting Solution like 1st Reporting
1st Reporting is a mobile reporting solution that can help you manage incidents more effectively. With 1st, you can create customized incident report forms, track incident records, receive real-time incident alerts, create dynamically flowing forms and checklists, and much more.
As you know, incident data can identify trends and take steps to prevent future incidents. However, the culmination of data over time can result in several issues, from filing systems to paperwork loss. 1st solves all of this by using cloud-based servers to store your data securely.
With the data stored on an intelligent cloud server, running reports to identify trends within the data is easy. Forget hours of combing through and reading paper reports; with 1st, you get compelling results.
1st Reporting’s incident management features can help you:
- Investigate incidents more quickly
- Take corrective action to prevent future incidents
- Improve your safety program
- Create flowing, dynamically controlled forms
- Create branded, customized form experiences for your business
- Ensure the right managers know what’s going on with customizable notifications
Request a free demo of 1st Reporting today to see how our incident management software can help you improve your safety program.
Click here to learn more about 1st Reporting solutions.
By following the tips in this article, you can ensure that your incident management process is more comprehensive and efficient.
We hope these tips have been helpful. Remember, the goal of incident management is to maintain safety and protect your organization’s interests—so always document everything and take corrective action when necessary.
