Free incident log template
Write down every incident the day it happens: when, where, who was involved, what happened and what you did about it. The log tracks each follow-up until it's closed, flags the ones that are overdue, and the summary counts incidents by type, severity and month.
| ID | Date | Time | Location | Type | Severity | People involved | What happened | Action taken | Reported by | Follow-up needed | Follow-up due | Closed on | Status | Days open |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INC-001 | Sep 3, 2026 | 9:40 AM | Warehouse, aisle 4 | Injury | Medium | Dana Ruiz (stocker) | Cut on left hand from a box cutter while opening a carton | First aid given, wound cleaned and bandaged | Mark Chen | Refresher on safe box cutter use for the stock team | Sep 10, 2026 | Sep 9, 2026 | Closed | 6 |
| INC-002 | Sep 8, 2026 | 2:15 PM | Front entrance | Slip or fall | Low | Customer (name on file) | Customer slipped on the wet floor by the door. No injury. | Wet floor sign put out, floor mopped dry | Priya Patel | Buy a second entrance mat for rainy days | Sep 15, 2026 | Sep 14, 2026 | Closed | 6 |
| INC-003 | Sep 14, 2026 | 10:05 PM | Loading dock | Security | Medium | None | Rear door found unlocked after closing | Door locked, manager called, camera footage checked | Jason Brooks (night guard) | Get the door closer repaired | Sep 21, 2026 | Sep 18, 2026 | Closed | 4 |
| INC-004 | Sep 22, 2026 | 11:30 AM | Parking lot | Property damage | Low | Delivery driver | Delivery truck backed into a light post and bent it | Photos taken, driver's company and insurance details recorded | Mark Chen | Get a repair quote and send it to the delivery company | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 2, 2026 | Closed | 10 |
| INC-005 | Sep 29, 2026 | 4:50 PM | Break room | Near miss | Low | Two staff members | Extension cord across the walkway. Someone tripped but didn't fall. | Cord removed | Priya Patel | Have an outlet added by the microwave | Oct 20, 2026 | Oct 15, 2026 | Closed | 16 |
| INC-006 | Oct 2, 2026 | 10:10 AM | Sales floor, aisle 7 | Customer complaint | Low | Customer: R. Alvarez | Shelf tag showed the old price and the customer was charged more | Lower price honored, tag fixed | Sam Okafor | Check every price tag in aisle 7 | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 | Closed | 3 |
| INC-007 | Oct 7, 2026 | 8:20 AM | Warehouse | Equipment failure | Medium | Tom Nguyen (forklift driver) | Forklift brakes felt soft during the morning check | Forklift tagged out of service | Tom Nguyen | Service visit booked with the dealer | Oct 14, 2026 | Oct 13, 2026 | Closed | 6 |
| INC-008 | Oct 13, 2026 | 1:45 PM | Office | IT or data | High | Office staff | Staff member clicked a phishing email and typed a password into a fake login page | Password reset, IT notified, account activity checked | Lisa Grant | Turn on two-step login for every account | Oct 30, 2026 | Follow-up overdue | 24 | |
| INC-009 | Oct 16, 2026 | 3:30 PM | Warehouse, aisle 2 | Injury | High | Kevin Moore (picker) | Strained back lifting a 60 lb case alone | Sent to urgent care, manager told the same day | Mark Chen | Add team-lift labels to heavy cases and review lifting rules | Nov 13, 2026 | Open | 21 | |
| INC-010 | Oct 19, 2026 | 7:10 PM | Sales floor, tools | Theft | Medium | Unknown | Two cordless drills missing from display. Empty boxes found in aisle 9. | Police report filed (case 26-4418) | Sam Okafor | Move power tools to the locked case | Oct 26, 2026 | Oct 28, 2026 | Closed | 9 |
| INC-011 | Oct 22, 2026 | 7:55 AM | Parking lot | Slip or fall | Medium | Amy Kim (cashier) | Fell on an icy patch walking in from her car. Bruised knee. | First aid given, ice melt spread on the lot | Priya Patel | Add early-morning salting to the snow contract | Nov 3, 2026 | Follow-up overdue | 15 | |
| INC-012 | Oct 26, 2026 | 12:00 PM | Break room | Fire or smoke | Medium | None | Toaster smoked and set off the fire alarm. Building cleared for 10 minutes. | Toaster unplugged, alarm reset, alarm company called | Lisa Grant | Replace the toaster and check the alarm panel log | Nov 2, 2026 | Oct 30, 2026 | Closed | 4 |
| INC-013 | Oct 29, 2026 | 5:25 PM | Front counter | Security | Medium | Customer (description on file) | Customer shouted at the cashier over a refund and refused to leave | Manager stepped in. Customer left before police arrived. | Sam Okafor | Post the refund policy at the counter, review the de-escalation steps | Nov 12, 2026 | Open | 8 | |
| INC-014 | Nov 2, 2026 | 9:05 AM | Warehouse, receiving | Property damage | Low | Jose Diaz (receiver) | Pallet tipped off the jack. 6 cases of glassware broken. | Area cleaned, stock written off | Tom Nguyen | Check pallet wrap on arrival before moving | Nov 9, 2026 | Open | 4 | |
| INC-015 | Nov 4, 2026 | 2:40 PM | Office | IT or data | Medium | Front desk laptop | Laptop left unlocked and unattended overnight | Laptop locked, user reminded | Lisa Grant | Set all screens to lock after 5 minutes | Nov 6, 2026 | Open | 2 | |
| INC-016 | Nov 5, 2026 | 10:30 AM | Sales floor, kitchenware | Injury | Low | Customer's child | Child pinched a finger in a display drawer | Ice pack given, parent filled in an incident form | Priya Patel | Fit soft-close stops to the display drawers | Nov 12, 2026 | Open | 1 | |
| Item | Count |
|---|---|
| Today's date | Nov 6, 2026 |
| Incidents logged | 16 |
| Open | 5 |
| Follow-up overdue | 2 |
| Closed | 9 |
| Average days to close | 7.1 |
| High severity still open | 2 |
| By severity | |
| High | 2 |
| Medium | 8 |
| Low | 6 |
| By type | |
| Injury | 3 |
| Slip or fall | 2 |
| Near miss | 1 |
| Property damage | 2 |
| Equipment failure | 1 |
| Security | 2 |
| Theft | 1 |
| IT or data | 2 |
| Fire or smoke | 1 |
| Customer complaint | 1 |
| By month | |
| September 2026 | 5 |
| October 2026 | 8 |
| November 2026 | 3 |
What's inside
- One row per incident with date, time, location, type, severity, people involved, what happened and the action taken
- A follow-up for each incident with a due date, so nothing gets logged and forgotten
- Status works itself out: Open, Follow-up overdue or Closed, plus days open for each incident
- A summary with open and overdue counts, average days to close, and incidents by severity, type and month
- Types cover workplace safety, security and IT incidents, and you can rename them to fit
- Room for 30 incidents, and works in Google Sheets and Excel
How to use it
Make your copy
Click "Make a copy" to save the log to your Google Drive, or download the Excel file. Delete the sample incidents when you're ready.
Set today's date
On the Summary tab, the first value is the date the log counts from. Type =TODAY() there so overdue follow-ups and days open stay current.
Log incidents the same day
Add one row per incident. Stick to facts: what you saw, what you were told and what you did. Give it an ID, a type and a severity of High, Medium or Low.
Add the follow-up
Write what still needs doing and the date it's due. If nothing is needed, type None and put today's date in Closed on.
Close it out
When the follow-up is done, type the date in Closed on. The status changes to Closed and the days open stop counting.
Review the summary
Check Follow-up overdue each week. The by-type and by-month counts show where the same thing keeps happening.
Tips
Log near misses too
A trip that didn't end in a fall is a free warning. Near misses are where you spot a hazard before someone gets hurt.
Write it like a witness
Record what happened, not who was to blame. "Cord across walkway, staff tripped" is more useful later than "careless".
Keep personal details light
Shared sheets get forwarded. Use names or initials and keep medical details, home addresses and ID numbers in your official records instead.
Use a filter for reviews
Click Data, then Create a filter, and filter Status to Open or Type to Injury to see just what you need for a meeting.
Questions
What should an incident log include?
At a minimum: the date and time, where it happened, who was involved, a factual description, the action taken, who reported it and any follow-up. This template has a column for each, plus a status and days open.
Can I use it as a security incident log?
Yes. Use the Security and IT or data types for things like unlocked doors, lost laptops, phishing emails or account break-ins. Rename the types or add your own on the Summary tab and in the Type column.
Is this an official OSHA form?
No. It's a simple log for keeping track of incidents and follow-ups. If you have to report workplace injuries to OSHA or another agency, use their forms as well and check what applies to you.
How does the sheet know a follow-up is overdue?
It compares the Follow-up due date with the date on the Summary tab. The sample uses a fixed date so the example makes sense. Type =TODAY() in that cell to keep it current.
How do I add more than 30 incidents?
Insert rows above the last row and copy the Status and Days open formulas down. Then stretch the ranges in the Summary formulas to cover the new rows.
Is it free, and does it work in Excel?
Yes to both. Copy it to Google Drive or download the .xlsx file. The formulas work the same in Excel.
Pro version
Incident Log Pro
Log incidents and near misses, give every follow-up an owner and a due date, and see the trends by month, place and cause.
Set it up once
List your incident types, severities, locations, root causes and people on one Setup tab. Every dropdown and view follows it, so renaming or adding one never breaks anything.
Every follow-up has an owner and a date
Add as many actions to an incident as it needs, each with an owner, a due date and a done date. Overdue and due-soon actions are flagged red and amber.
Statuses that work themselves out
Each incident shows Needs action, Open, Action overdue, Ready to close or Closed, based on its actions. Nothing gets logged and forgotten.
See the month at a glance
Pick a month on the Dashboard: incidents, injuries, near misses, days lost, open items, average days to close and days since the last injury, with charts by type and severity.
Spot the patterns
Trends shows every month side by side by type, location and root cause, with darker squares where things happen most. Add hours worked and you also get an injury rate per 100 full-time workers.
A report ready for the meeting
Monthly Report puts the month's incidents and open actions on one printable page with space for notes and a sign-off.
| Free | Pro |
|---|---|
| One follow-up per incident | As many actions per incident as you need |
| Open, overdue or closed | Five statuses worked out from the actions |
| Summary counts | Dashboard with a month picker and two charts |
| · | Root cause categories and a 'why it happened' note |
| · | Trends by month, type, location and root cause |
| · | Near misses per injury and an injury rate from hours worked |
| · | Printable monthly report with sign-off |
| · | Setup tab for your own types, places, causes and people |
$19 one-time
7 tabs: Start Here, Dashboard, Incident Log, Actions, Monthly Report, Trends and Setup. You get two copies: one filled in with a sample business so you can see it working, and a blank one ready for your own incidents.
Get Incident Log Pro for $19- Instant download after checkout
- Works in Google Sheets and Excel
- Yours to keep and reuse every year