Incident Reporting and Record Keeping
What the domain tests
This domain tests incident reports, occurrence books, statements and record retention. The exam expects factual, timely, legible records that another person can act on.
Core rules
- Record the facts: date, time, exact location, people involved, witnesses, what was said and done, injuries, damage, property, police or case numbers and action taken.
- Separate observation from opinion. Write the man smelled of alcohol and was unsteady rather than the man was drunk; write I saw or the witness said.
- Write contemporaneously or as soon as possible, in ink, with no blank spaces; draw a line through errors, initial and date them. Never rewrite a page to hide a correction.
- Use the occurrence book for routine events and a separate incident report for significant ones. Number pages and keep entries chronological.
- Preserve evidence and chain of custody: who found, who received, where stored, time and signature.
- Disclose only to authorised persons; retain records under site policy and law.
Worked example
A guard sees two men arguing and one push the other. Reasoning: this is an assault allegation, so the report needs exact words and actions, not a conclusion. He records the time, location, description, the push he saw, injuries, whether police were called, and names of witnesses. He does not write they were fighting over money unless he heard it, and he does not decide who was at fault.
Traps
Writing opinions, leaving blanks, back-dating, altering a report after submission, failing to note the time police arrived, or handing the original to an unauthorised person.