Maintenance teams operate in challenging environments that often include workplace mishaps, near-misses, and other potential hazards. That’s where maintenance incident reports come in. Not only do these reports help team members isolate and problem-solve safety concerns, leading to a safer workplace, but they also help your company comply with regulations and minimize legal risk. When handled well, a maintenance incident report process can also help streamline workplace processes and show you care about the health of team members.
What is a maintenance incident report?
Maintenance incident reports are documented accounts of unexpected safety events, near misses, or accidents that occur during maintenance work. For example, you’ll definitely need a report when employees come into contact with harmful substances or organisms or when machine failure leads to—or comes close to—employee injury.
Unfortunately, there may even be incidents that result in significant harm or death. Maintenance incident reports play a critical role in learning from these events and helping your teams prevent them from happening ever again.
Incident reports cover more than just injuries that occurred during work and involve many different aspects of workplace safety, including:
- Events that threatened company assets or employee well-being
- Hazards to health and safety found in the work environment
- Inappropriate staff behavior that violates company policies or creates an unsafe atmosphere
- Security breaches or lapses that compromise the integrity of the job site
By investigating and creating a detailed record of incidents maintenance teams encounter, it becomes easier to discover the root causes of the problems and develop targeted solutions to prevent them. Incident reports become the foundation for ongoing efforts to create a culture of safety and continuous improvement.
The purpose of a maintenance incident report
Maintenance incident reports serve a bigger purpose than simple documentation. They’re a key way for stakeholders on your maintenance or legal teams to ensure compliance with regulatory standards like OSHA and create accountability for safe and effective business practices. For maintenance teams, incident reports play a pivotal role in:
- Addressing knowledge gaps with formal safety training programs
- Facilitating the development of preventive measures
- Improving overall workplace safety
OSHA and other regulatory agencies require that teams report certain safety incidents, with different rules based on the severity of the event. Requirements like these keep organizations accountable for maintaining safe workspaces and help them continually improve their practices.
Reporting of maintenance incidents also improves communication between maintenance team members and other departments in an organization. When maintenance workers share information with other stakeholders like procurement, engineering, or operations, they drive collaboration and ensure safety is prioritized. Each incident is viewed as an opportunity to work more effectively, update equipment, or optimize how you allocate resources.
How to implement an incident report process
An effective incident report process is vital for ensuring that organizations gain the most meaningful lessons and improvements possible from the event. To streamline the process, establish clear guidelines for writing incident details, create coherent review and approval workflows, and give the team comprehensive training.
Incident details to document
When an incident occurs at the worksite it is essential to document all information for an investigation and future prevention. Here are some key details that should not be overlooked:
- Primary details: Location, date, and time of the incident
- Injured or impacted personnel: Name, job title, department, and role in the process in question
- Injury or damage incurred: Type, severity, and affected body parts or assets
- Witness accounts: A statement from individuals who were present and saw the event occur. Include all individuals to gain all available perspectives.
- Treatment provided: Any medical treatment or first aid administered
- Full description of the incident: Detailed sequence of events leading up to, during, and after the incident
- Cause: Superficial causes followed by root cause analysis performed to identify factors that contributed to the incident
Review processes and approval workflows
A well-structured process with clear review and approval workflows is where follow-up, accountability, and improvement happen. Ideally, an incident report workflow should outline the following:
- A requirement to document the incident within 24 hours of the event, or less than 8 hours for severe incidents, with “severe incidents” defined clearly in protocols
- Timelines for each subsequent step of the process to ensure each report moves through the process in a timely manner
- Investigation procedures and personnel accountable for the investigation
- Protocols for identifying and implementing corrective action
- Informing relevant parties and stakeholders at the management and executive level, as appropriate for the severity
- Documentation requirements for each step of the process
Workflows should clearly define the roles and responsibilities of each person involved in reviewing and acting on incident reports. Whether someone is directing an investigation, taking corrective measures, or informing relevant parties about what happened, expectations for actions taken in response to an incident must be established ahead of time.
Maintenance team training on incident reporting
Do your maintenance teams have the proper training to report incidents effectively? Incident reporting should be a regular part of training and professional development. Provide clear guidelines on what incidents are reportable, proper reporting protocols, and how to write a thorough report that includes all important details.
Using report templates and checklists can help ensure consistency in your organization’s reports and make follow-up and review much easier. Team members can also undergo scenario-based training exercises to develop the skills and confidence needed to handle real-world events.
Minimizing risk in maintenance
When your reporting process is outlined clearly, backed by training, and documented thoroughly, you’re helping to develop a culture that ensures the safety and success of everyone involved. At their core, maintenance incident reports help to minimize risks and ensure the long-term viability of your maintenance operations.
Over time, organizations typically find that maintenance staff face particular safety risks that require a more proactive approach. They often deal with hazardous equipment, materials, and environments that only become more risky when assets and facilities aren’t properly maintained according to clear protocols. Maintenance teams can help minimize maintenance risks through:
- A preventive maintenance program that reduces wear and tear, thereby minimizing risk to employees
- Well-established safety protocols such as using lockout tagout (LOTO) and equipment isolation
- Good training and communication regarding the dangers of any chemicals or substances in the environment
If and when incidents do happen, reports help maintenance teams drive down risk by:
- Providing data that reveals patterns and trends that point to needed improvements
- Highlighting areas where people need more training or resources
- Making corrective actions easier to implement to prevent future problems
Following OSHA standards and other regulations is a necessity. But maintenance teams know that staying compliant and up-to-date with the latest guidelines and best practices not only reduces risk but also delivers the secure and efficient maintenance environment that everyone wants.
Effective reporting enhances your maintenance teams and your company
When you approach incident reporting with growth in mind, it improves your whole company, not just maintenance. Using data and maintenance reporting, teams can improve transparency and uncover hidden patterns that help create better preventive maintenance strategies.
With more information, maintenance teams can collaborate more easily with their colleagues, improving operations overall. With a solid maintenance incident report process in place, organizations can unlock new opportunities for optimization and risk mitigation. When supported with the right tools like a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS), organizations can ensure workflows are adhered to consistently and maintenance incidents get the review and oversight they need.
To learn more about how Limble CMMS can help facilitate incident reporting practices and better maintenance workflows at your organization, contact us today!
