Accident Investigation Form

Educational workplace-safety awareness — connected to industries, occupations, employment law, employment documents and company types. Informational only — not legal advice and not a substitute for mandatory workplace safety training; employers remain responsible for compliance, training and worker authorization.

What this form is for

An accident investigation form gives you a consistent way to capture the facts of an incident or near miss — what happened, where, who was involved, what the immediate and underlying causes appear to be, and what should change so it is less likely to happen again. It is a free educational starting point you can adapt.

It does not decide whether an incident is legally reportable, replace the formal reporting the law may require to the official authority, or replace a competent investigation where one is needed. Employers remain responsible for investigating, reporting where required, and acting on the findings, following the applicable law and the official authority’s guidance.

What a good version covers

• Date, time and location of the incident.
• Who was involved or affected, and any witnesses.
• A factual description of what happened, before any conclusions.
• Immediate causes and the underlying or root causes.
• Any injury, damage or near-miss outcome.
• Immediate actions taken to make the situation safe.
• Actions to prevent recurrence, with owners and target dates.
• Whether the incident may need formal reporting to the official authority.

How to use and adapt it

• Record the facts promptly while details are fresh, separating fact from opinion.
• Look beyond the immediate cause to why it was able to happen.
• Focus on learning and prevention, not on blame.
• Check separately whether the incident is reportable to the official authority.
• Assign and follow up the prevention actions until they are done.
• Defer reporting thresholds and timescales to the applicable law and official authority.

Common mistakes

• Recording opinions or blame instead of the facts.
• Stopping at the immediate cause and missing the underlying ones.
• Assuming an incident does not need reporting without checking the rules.
• Identifying actions but never completing them.
• Treating the form as the whole investigation rather than a record of it.

Preparing and sharing it

You can export, edit and complete this form and save or share it as a PDF, so incidents are recorded consistently and the learning can be shared and tracked.

Where a completed form needs a signature or needs to reach a manager, safety lead or, where required, the official authority, it can be sent securely as a PDF. The form supports awareness and recordkeeping; it does not decide what is reportable, replace required reporting, or replace training. It is not legal advice.