3 Ways to Increase Effectiveness of Incident Reports (OVA Incident Reporting)

Last updated: May 2026

A workplace incident report is a formal document used to record any event in which someone is hurt, threatened, or exposed to risk at work — including acts of occupational violence and aggression (OVA).

How Do You Make Workplace Incident Reports More Effective?

The three most impactful steps organisations can take to improve the effectiveness of their incident reports are:

1. Be clear on what an incident is — establish explicit written boundaries so every team member knows what must be reported, including near misses and verbal threats.
2. Train the team on how to write an incident report — provide a standardised template and teach staff to write objectively, not subjectively.
3. Follow up on incident reports — review reports to identify patterns, run targeted drills, and put strategies in place to reduce future risk.

Why this matters right now: Safe Work Australia’s 2024 report found a 56% increase in serious workers’ compensation claims for workplace violence and assault over the last five years — a rate of increase more than triple the overall growth rate in serious claims. Accurate, consistent incident reporting is the foundation of any organisation’s response to this trend.

Who Is This Article For?

This article is for:

• Managers, team leaders, and supervisors responsible for workplace health and safety
• HR professionals developing or reviewing incident reporting procedures
• Organisations in high-risk sectors such as healthcare, aged care, education, community services, retail, and transport
• Any team member who may need to complete an incident report following a workplace even

This may not apply if:

• Your organisation already has a fully embedded, regularly reviewed incident reporting system with strong follow-up protocols in place

Table of Contents

• What is an incident report?
• 1. Be clear on what an incident is
• 2. Help train the team on how to write an incident report
• 3. Follow up on incident reports
• Common mistakes organisations make with incident reports
• What happens if you ignore incident reporting?
• Other names for incident reports
• Glossary of key terms
• Our expert take
• What our clients say
• Related articles

What is an incident report?

An incident report is a document that an organisation must fill out when an incident takes place. An incident can be considered as any event in which someone has been hurt, a health and safety issue has been discovered, something has been damaged, or other misconduct has occurred in the workplace.

Usually written in a form or a template, the report serves to detail exactly what has happened, who was involved, the date and time of the incident, where the incident took place and why it happened, as well as any follow-up action taken afterwards. Incident reports provide insight into whether appropriate steps were taken at the time and should lead to organisations creating plans to prevent recurring incidents.

Typically, an incident report is used by the organisation to increase their overall health and safety and to make sure there are consistencies in how incidents are dealt with. In some cases, it could also be used by police or legal institutions if an issue needs to be taken further.

It is important for all members of an organisation to understand the importance of incident reports, and how they can create one.

Under NSW law each entry in a mandatory register of injuries must include the following details — and similar requirements apply across all Australian states and territories:

• The name of the worker with an injury
• The worker’s occupation at the time of injury
• The time and date of injury
• The nature of the injury
• The cause of the injury

Here are 3 things your organisation should do to increase effectiveness of incident reports:

1. Be clear on what an incident is

Every team member needs a shared, written definition of what counts as a reportable incident — because without one, incidents go unrecorded.

Everybody has a different level of tolerance, and some team members will allow incidents to go without reporting them, simply because the employees are used to the behaviours they are experiencing, or they find reporting unnecessary as they do not understand the benefits.

It is important to have clear guidelines on what an incident is and to be clear on boundaries. Even though some team members can tolerate higher levels of threats and abuse, not all team members can. Within a company, there should be explicit boundaries on what is acceptable behaviour.

All incidents, big or small, should be reported, to prevent future harm. Even ‘near misses’ should be communicated, so potential hazards can be reported and mitigated effectively.

WorkSafe Victoria defines occupational violence and aggression as any situation where a person is abused, threatened, or assaulted in circumstances related to their work — whether the perpetrator is a client, customer, member of the public, or a co-worker. 

In the context of occupational violence and aggression (OVA), reportable incidents can include:

• Physical assault — including biting, spitting, scratching, kicking or pushing
• Verbal abuse — including yelling, swearing, threats made with or without a weapon
• Property damage — such as banging, kicking, throwing or hitting objects
• Online or phone-based abuse and threats — including via social media
• Near misses — situations that could have caused harm but did not.

2. How should organisations train their teams to write an effective incident report?

Organisations must provide a standardised template and invest in training so that staff complete reports accurately, objectively, and promptly — every time.

Organisations need to provide a form or template for employees to fill out, this will ensure that they know exactly what to include in their reports. Team members must also understand that an incident report needs to be filled out as soon as possible after the event takes place.

Furthermore, it should be made clear that the report is objective, not subjective. For example:

Subjective: The person showed his usual aggressive behaviour.

Objective: The person demonstrated aggressive behaviour and was observed with clenched fists, pacing up and down, waving their arms and calling out obscenities.

This prevents bias and emotion from influencing the factual elements of the report. All parties involved (including witnesses) should check the report for accuracy and sign off on it before it is filed.

Team members can also include photo evidence or illustrations of the event to help display what has occurred.

A step-by-step approach to completing a workplace incident report:

1. Complete the report as soon as possible — ideally within the same shift or working day.
2. Use the standardised template — do not rely on memory or informal notes.
3. Describe what happened objectively — use specific, observable language; avoid interpretation or personal opinion.
4. Record all parties involved — including witnesses, and note their account of events.
5. Attach any supporting evidence — photos, CCTV references, or written statements.
6. Have all parties sign off — this confirms the report’s accuracy before it is filed.

3. Why is it important to follow up on incident reports — and how should organisations do it?

Following up on incident reports transforms them from passive records into active safety tools that reduce risk, support staff, and drive genuine organisational improvement.

Incident reports should not simply be filed away and forgotten. They are a tool that allows organisations to identify patterns and risks and take steps to reduce them. Therefore, reviewing, or debriefing incident reports and monitoring what has been done following them is a crucial step.

Often, organisations only use incident reports for statistics, rather than to conduct training and drills around the behaviour outlined. It is important to support the team when incidents happen, and employees should always receive training on how to prevent similar events from taking place.

Organisations need to create strategies to deal with difficult behaviour and put in place appropriate actions that help minimise future risk. A desirable outcome is all team members are aware of the appropriate processes and safety protocols.

An effective incident report follow-up process includes:

• A formal debrief with the team within 48–72 hours of a significant incident
• A review of the report by a WHS officer or manager to confirm all required actions have been taken
• Identification of any patterns across multiple reports (e.g. repeat locations, times of day, or client types)
• Targeted training or drills based on the type of incident reported
• Policy or procedure updates where gaps are identified
• Ongoing monitoring to confirm that risk reduction strategies are working.

What are the most common mistakes organisations make with incident reports?

Even well-intentioned organisations frequently undermine the value of their incident reports by making a handful of recurring errors.

• Reporting too late — completing the report days after the event means critical details are lost or distorted.
• Using subjective language — phrases like “they were being difficult” or “the usual behaviour” introduce bias and reduce the report’s legal and operational value.
• Failing to report near misses — if it almost happened, it needs to be documented. Near misses are early warning signs.
• Filing and forgetting — storing reports without reviewing them means the same risks will recur.
• Inconsistent templates across teams — when different departments use different formats, identifying patterns across the organisation becomes nearly impossible.
• Not including witnesses — witness accounts add objectivity and credibility.
• Using incident reports only for statistics — data collection without action is a missed opportunity for genuine safety improvement.

What happens if an organisation ignores proper incident reporting?

Failing to report and follow up on workplace incidents carries serious consequences — for individual employees, for teams, and for the organisation as a whole.

• Repeated incidents — without documentation, the same hazards and behaviours repeat because no corrective action is taken.
• Legal and regulatory exposure — under Australian Work Health and Safety (WHS) legislation, organisations have a duty to identify, record, and manage workplace hazards. Failure to do so can result in significant penalties.
• Psychological harm to staff — employees who experience incidents without organisational follow-up report lower morale, higher stress, and reduced confidence in management.
• Increased workers’ compensation claims — Safe Work Australia data shows there were 53,139 accepted workers’ compensation claims for assault between 2012 and 2022. Organisations without strong reporting cultures are more likely to experience escalating claims. 
• Damaged workplace culture — when incidents are ignored or minimised, it signals to staff that their safety is not a priority, accelerating turnover and absenteeism.

Other names and terms used for workplace incident reports

Workplace incident reports are also commonly referred to as:

• Incident report forms
• Workplace injury reports
• OVA incident reports (in the context of occupational violence and aggression)
• WHS incident forms (Work Health and Safety)
• Safety incident logs
• Hazard reports or near-miss reports
• Critical incident reports (for more serious events)
• Workplace aggression reports

Regardless of what they are called in your organisation, the purpose is the same: to accurately document what happened, support the people involved, and prevent future harm.

Glossary of Key Terms

• Incident report — a formal document completed after a workplace event involving harm, risk, damage, or misconduct.
• Near miss — an event that could have caused harm but did not; also called a close call or hazard report.
• OVA (Occupational Violence and Aggression) — any incident in which a worker is abused, threatened, or assaulted in relation to their work.
• Objective reporting — describing events using observable, factual language without personal interpretation or emotion.
• Subjective reporting — describing events in a way that reflects personal opinion, bias, or assumption rather than observable fact.
• WHS (Work Health and Safety) — the Australian regulatory framework governing employer and employee obligations to maintain safe workplaces.
• Psychosocial hazard — a workplace risk that affects psychological health, such as exposure to aggression, bullying, or traumatic events.
• Debrief — a structured review session held after an incident to discuss what happened, how it was handled, and what can be improved.

Our Expert Take on Incident Reporting

“In over 25 years of delivering occupational violence and aggression training across Australia and New Zealand, one of the most consistent gaps we see is organisations collecting incident data but not acting on it. A report that gets filed and forgotten is worse than no system at all — it creates a false sense of security. The real value of an incident report is in what happens after it’s submitted: the debrief, the training, the policy review, and the genuine follow-through. That’s where safety cultures are built.”

— Resolution Education Australia Training Team 

At Resolution Education we provide occupational violence and aggression training and workplace conflict resolution training throughout Australia and New Zealand

What Organisations Say About Resolution Education Training

“Resolution Education delivered some training in remote Australia for our company. The trainer was great to deal with, quick to respond, tailored the training to suit our needs and at a competitive price. The relaxed nature of the training delivered really suited our staff members and has ‘armed’ our team with some essential skills.”

— Paul Carney, Operations Manager

If you need help or advice on how to write incident reports, or how to create drills from these incidents, fill in the form below. We are eager to work with you.

Resolution Education works with organisations across Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, and throughout regional and remote Australia to build training programs tailored to your team’s specific incident history and risk profile. Contact us today to discuss how we can help.

Written by the training team at Resolution Education Australia — specialists in occupational violence and aggression (OVA) training and workplace conflict resolution, with over 25 years of experience delivering practical, hands-on training to organisations across Australia and New Zealand.

Related Articles

• How to Prepare for & Respond to Critical Incidents
• How Can Workplace Violence Prevention Training Protect Your Team in Australia?
• Occupational Violence and Aggression (OVA) Training
• Workplace Conflict Resolution Training
• Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace