How to fill out an incident report child care

Professional Guide to Daycare Incident Reports

No matter how rigid your monitoring of children in your daycare center is, accidents and injuries are inevitable. Filing a daycare incident report is one of the most important steps you must take after a child is injured.

What is a daycare incident report?

A daycare incident report is a record of an accident, injury, behavior, or other incident that requires a child to stop normal activity and receive first aid or medical attention. They also cover instances of neglect, like a child being left without proper supervision, aggressive or unusual behavior, suspicion of abuse, and errors in following through with directives from caregivers. Don’t be hesitant or cautious to generate an incident report; they’re essential documentation for your daycare business’ operations. Even when you aren’t sure a report is necessary, having one is always more beneficial than not. 

Incident reports are meant to be comprehensive in case they need to be referred back to later and provide a detailed, objective record of a situation. It may also be one report of an isolated incident or an ongoing report of a continuous issue. All additional reports related to a prior incident should be equally as thorough and include the context of the previous reports.

Why are incident reports essential?

Daycare incident reports inform parents and guardians about their child's health and safety. Incident reports also help remove ambiguity after an incident by documenting what happened, when and how the incident occurred, and the staff member responsible for taking care of the child. Incident reports should be completed as soon as possible after the event.

As a childcare provider, you’re responsible for compliance with childcare laws and regulations. Daycare incident reports help hold your business accountable. They highlight repeat issues facing your facility and allow you to analyze how situations occur to prevent them in the future. Also, if any lawsuit is filed against your daycare, proper documentation is essential for those proceedings.  

Your daycare’s purpose is to provide high-quality care to the children you serve. Because incident reports improve the effectiveness of your facility, they also improve the care you provide. Having detailed records of situations helps identify where the children’s needs aren’t being met. They also provide information that may be important for parents and caregivers, doctors, therapists, or future teachers. 

How to write a daycare incident report

Daycare incident reports need to include specific information about the incident, the child that was involved in the incident, and the action that was taken after the incident occurred.

What should be included in a daycare incident report?

A daycare incident report should include:

• The name of the daycare
• The childcare consultant
• The injured child's name and age
• The cause of the injury
• The date, time, and location of the incident
• The locations of any injuries the child suffered
• The types of injuries the child suffered
• Medical treatment that the child received
• The name of the medical facility (if the child was taken off-site to receive treatment)
• The name of a staff member who witnessed the incident
• The equipment involved in the incident (toys, playground equipment, furniture, medication)
• The steps taken to prevent the incident from reoccurring 

After the incident report is completed, it should be signed and dated by the child's parent or guardian and the employee who completed the form. The form should also note the method used to contact the child's parent or guardian, the name of the employee who contacted them, and the date and time the parent or guardian was contacted.

Storing and sharing incident reports

Procedures for storing and sharing daycare incident reports vary by state. Most states require you to maintain copies of all incident reports at your center for a certain period of time and give a copy to the child's family. Other states require you to file a copy of the incident report with the state's licensing agency. Consult your state's Department of Human Services to learn more about its legal requirements regarding record keeping.

Legal requirements of incident reporting

Laws regarding reporting daycare incidents vary by state. Childcare.gov provides websites and phone numbers that can be used to report childcare incidents in every U.S. state and territory.

Incident reporting by state

• Alabama

• Alaska

• Arizona

• Arkansas

• California

• Colorado

• Connecticut

• Delaware

• District of Columbia

• Florida

• Georgia

• Hawaii

• Idaho

• Illinois

• Indiana (PDF)

• Iowa

• Kansas

• Kentucky

• Louisiana (PDF)

• Maine

• Maryland

• Massachusetts (PDF)

• Michigan

• Minnesota

• Mississippi

• Missouri

• Montana

• Nebraska

• Nevada

• New Hampshire (PDF)

• New Jersey

• New Mexico

• New York

• North Carolina

• North Dakota

• Ohio

• Oklahoma

• Oregon

• Pennsylvania

• Rhode Island (PDF)

• South Carolina

• South Dakota

• Tennessee

• Texas (PDF)

• Utah

• Vermont

• Virginia

• Washington

• West Virginia

• Wisconsin

• Wyoming

Easily create and download incident reports

The brightwheel app is an all-in-one-solution that allows you to operate your program with ease and confidence. With brightwheel, your childcare employees can quickly log incidents from their phones or tablets, allowing you to easily create and share incident reports with families and guardians.

How to Write Incident Reports in Childcare

Of all the documentation you wish you didn’t have to do as a childcare provider, incident reports aka ouch reports could be sitting right at the top of the list. When a parent entrusts their child in your care, it is not the most pleasant of things to report back to them that their child was injured while being under your supervision.

Though it may seem easier to ignore the minor injuries and squabbles, it's important that you document the incidents (no matter how small they are) and make sure the parents are notified about it. Instead of harming your reputation, it can, in fact, reflect positively on your accountability and competence as a childcare provider.

As long as you've assessed the risks in your setting and taken the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of the children, it is normal for children to suffer minor falls and injuries as they explore their boundaries. Little bumps and scrapes are a natural part of growing up, and most parents would acknowledge the fact as well.

Why is it important to maintain incident reports in childcare?

1.Legal Compliance

It is a regulatory requirement in most countries to retain an up to date record of accidents and incidents along with relevant signatures. For instance, in the UK, it’s mandatory for all childcare providers to maintain incident reports, inform parents and get their signatures on the reports, no matter how small the injury.

More serious incidents would, however, require you to notify the parents immediately and inform the authorities as soon as reasonably possible. You can find more information on informing the authorities in our article on reporting accidents and incidents to Ofsted.

If you are in the U.S, the childcare laws and regulations are more diverse and would vary from one state to the other and sometimes among various regions within a state. Make sure you check with the relevant authorities to ensure what the regulations are in your region.

2.Requirement for Insurance

As a childcare provider, you could be held liable for compensation and legal costs if a child in your care has a serious accident as a result of your negligence. Maintaining accurate incident reports could be a requirement for your insurance policy depending on the cover you have opted for.

3.Identification of Potential Hazards within the Premises

Regular incidents when using a particular toy or equipment or playing in a certain area could be an indicator of a risk or hazard that has been lying low within your premises. Keeping track of the incidents can help you identify patterns and flag any source of danger which might have gone undetected in your risk assessments.

4. Help with the Diagnosis of Developmental Disorders

If a child seems to be especially prone to accidents, it could be pointing towards a developmental disorder related to spatial processing, balance or vision. Incident reports can help doctors and occupational therapists identify patterns and diagnose any underlying developmental or behavioural disorders.

What are the details to include when writing an incident report?

Depending on the legal requirement in your region, you would be required to either use an official incident reporting form or create one for yourself. You can create your own incident forms using our free customisable template for incident reports. The important details to include in your report are:

• Name and address of the child
• Date and time of the incident
• Nature of the injury
• Description of the incident
• Details about any treatment or first aid administered
• Witnesses if any
• Name and signature of the person who attended to the injury
• Name and signature of the person who the accident was reported to
• Signature of the parent

In case you use a digital platform like Cheqdin at your centre, you can record the incidents in your digital reports, notify the parents digitally and print off the document later, as required. However, regardless of how you choose to record the incident, make sure you get the signature of the parents on the document and give them a copy of the signed report at pick up.

And most importantly, remember to retain a copy of the report for your own records and keep it filed away safely with the child’s documents.

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Disability compensation | Tervisekassa

Compensation for incapacity for work paid by the employer and the Health Insurance Fund

A doctor can issue a certificate of incapacity for work to a person who has health insurance through the employer. The question of the eligibility of issuing a sick leave depends on the decision of the doctor and the state of health of the person.

On the basis of a certificate of incapacity for work, the employer and the Health Insurance Fund pay the person sickness compensation, the purpose of which is to partially compensate the employee for the wages lost during the illness.

The Health Insurance Fund usually pays compensation within a few working days from the moment the information is provided by the employer. The deadline for processing sheets is extended if, for example, the bailiff has issued a seizure order, the employer is late in providing insurance data, etc.

Doctoral benefits, parental benefits and other social taxes are not taken into account when calculating disability compensation paid by rural municipality, city or creative associations.

You can check the information about sick leave certificates and, if necessary, make an extract on the state portal www. eesti.ee in the service "Compensation for temporary disability"

Pay attention! The current temporary sick leave compensation system, according to which employees receive payment from the second day of illness, will be extended until June 30, 2023. one or more arrest warrants, the Health Insurance Fund is obliged to withhold the amount to be seized from your temporary disability benefit and transfer this amount to the account of the bailiff who sent the arrest warrant.

If you find that your income and dependents are not included in the arrest, contact the bailiff in charge of the enforcement proceedings. The order of retention can be changed by the bailiff. Contact details of bailiffs can be found on the website of the Chamber of Bailiffs and Bankruptcy Managers.

Information about enforcement proceedings against you can be viewed on the State Portal "Executive cases against me"

Additional information:

• Change of personal data
• FIECTION OF UNSEMENT OF INSTALLED income

Compensation for sick leave

	Duration of payment for one insurance event
Illness (including domestic injury from 06/30/2022)	1	Sick leave due to illness	The employer pays compensation from the 2nd to the 5th day of the sick leave. The Health Insurance Fund pays from the 6th day, the amount of compensation is 70%.	Up to 182 days (in case of tuberculosis up to 240 days)
Domestic injury (not valid from 30.06.2022) The Health Insurance Fund pays from the 6th day, the amount of compensation is 70%.	to 182 days
injury, which occurred as a result of a traffic accident Constitution/disease, which occurred due to a traffic accident	9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 18	Sick leave due to illness	The employer pays compensation from the 2nd to the 5th day of illness. The Health Insurance Fund pays from the 6th day, the amount of compensation is 70%.	Up to 182 days
Quarantine	10	Sick leave due to sickness	The employer pays compensation from the 2nd to the 5th day. The Health Insurance Fund pays from the 6th day. The amount of compensation is 70%.	Until the end of quarantine
Occupational disease	2	Sickness certificate	The Health Insurance Fund pays compensation from the 2nd day of illness, the amount of compensation is 100%.	Up to 182 days
Accident case at Accident case that occurred due to road conveying arising from the accident complication/disease	9000 5 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 6 7	Sick leave due to illness	The Health Insurance Fund pays compensation from the 2nd day of illness, the amount of compensation is 100%.	Up to 182 days
Injury while defending the interests of the state or society or preventing a crime	8	Sickness certificate	The Health Insurance Fund pays compensation from the 2nd day of illness, the amount of compensation is 100%.	Up to 182 days
Transfer to an easier job	17	Sick leave due to sickness	light work less than his average income for the previous calendar year. If a person is released from work in the absence of easier work, then from the 2nd day they are paid compensation in the amount of 70%.	Until the mother receives parental benefit or until 182 days
Illness or injury during pregnancy	19	Sick leave due to sickness	The Health Insurance Fund pays the amount of compensation from the 20th day of illness	Up to 182 days
Caring for a child under the age of 12 or an insured person under the age of 19 who has a disability.	14	Leaves for nursing disability	The Health Insurance Fund pays compensation from the first day of release from work, the amount of compensation is 80%. NB! The insured person has the right to receive compensation for disability on the basis of a certificate of incapacity for work in case of caring for a child under the age of 12 for a period of up to 60 consecutive days, if the cause of the disease is a malignant tumor and the treatment of the child begins in a hospital.	Up to 14 days
Caring for a sick family member at home	12	Nursing sick leave	The Health Insurance Fund pays compensation from the first day of release from work, the amount of compensation is 80%.	Up to 7 days
Caring for a child under the age of 3 or a disabled child under the age of 16 if the mother of the child is ill or has childbirth services	13	Certificates of incapacity for work for caregivers	The Health Insurance Fund pays compensation from the first day of release from work, the amount of compensation is 80%.	Up to 10 days
Adoption leave for a child under the age of 10	16	Adoption sheet	The Health Insurance Fund pays compensation from the first day of release from work, the amount of compensation is 100%.	70 days
Organ or bone marrow donation	20	Sick leave	The Health Insurance Fund pays compensation from the first day of release from work, the amount of compensation is 100%.	Up to 182 days

Calculation of compensation for temporary disability

• receipt of annual income;
• annual income is divided by 365 to obtain the average income for one calendar day;
• To obtain the compensation amount, the daily income is multiplied by the corresponding compensation percentage rate, and then the resulting amount is multiplied by the number of days to be compensated.
• 20% income tax is also withheld from the compensation amount.

Calculation of the average income for one calendar day based on the income of the previous calendar year
income, calculated on the basis of a social tax paid by the insured person in the calendar year, preceding the start of the disability sheet / 365	, calculated on the basis of social tax, paid by the built -up person itself paid for it in the calendar year preceding the start of the disability certificate / 365	Income calculated on the basis of social tax, paid by the insured person or paid for him in a calendar year preceding the start of the disability sheet / 365
Calculation of the average income for one calendar day if the income in the previous calendar year was not 9000
Base salary divided by 30. If the base salary is higher than the minimum wage, the allowance is calculated based on the minimum wage.	Benefit is calculated based on the monthly social tax rate	If the self-employed person is required to pay advance social tax payments, the benefit is calculated according to the monthly social tax rate If the self-employed person is not required to pay advance social tax payments, the benefit is not paid005
Calculation of the average income per calendar day if the average income for the previous calendar year is less than the minimum wage	Calculation of the average income per calendar day, if the average income of the previous calendar year is less than the monthly social tax rate	Calculation of the average income per calendar day, if the average income of the previous calendar year is less than the monthly social tax rate
If the base wage is higher than the minimum wage, then the minimum wage is divided by 30 to obtain a calendar day's income. If both the base salary and the average income for the previous calendar year are less than the minimum wage, then the income per calendar day is calculated at a rate more favorable to the individual.	Income calculated on the basis of paid social tax divided by 365.	Income calculated on the basis of paid social tax divided by 365.

illness until the day of recovery indicated on the sick leave, but not more than 240 consecutive calendar days in case of tuberculosis or 182 consecutive calendar days in case of other diseases.