Rowing Club Incident Report Form
A one-page form for recording incidents and near misses properly - the same day, while people remember. Download the PDF, keep blank copies in the boathouse, and file every completed one. Free, no email address required.
What should an incident report capture?
Date, time and exact location; who was involved and who witnessed it; the boats and equipment concerned; water and weather conditions at the time; a factual description of what happened; any injuries and treatment given; and the follow-up actions with a named owner and date. Near misses get the same form as injuries - they are the cheapest safety lessons a program ever gets. Clubs and members affiliated with USRowing should also submit reportable incidents through USRowing's incident reporting process.
Download the form
Download PDFFree. No email, no watermark. Print a stack for the boathouse bulletin board.
What is on the form
One page, seven sections. Designed to be completed in five minutes the same day, not reconstructed a week later.
1. When and where
Date, time, and precise location - "200 yards upstream of the highway bridge, on the boathouse side", not "on the river".
2. Who
People directly involved, their squads, and witnesses with contact details. Include the coach on duty or session leader.
3. Boats and equipment
Which shells, oars, launches or trailers were involved, and any damage - this feeds your maintenance log.
4. Conditions
Current or river stage, wind, visibility, water and air temperature, daylight. The pattern across incidents is where the safety lessons hide.
5. What happened
A factual account in the writer's own words. What was seen and done - not whose fault it was.
6. Injuries and treatment
Any injury however minor, first aid given, whether EMS was called, and who was informed.
7. Actions and reporting
Follow-up actions with a named owner and a date, whether the risk assessment needs updating, and whether the incident was reported to USRowing.
This form is a club-level record. It does not replace any reporting obligations that apply to your program, your school or your insurer, or your governing body's requirements. Clubs and members affiliated with USRowing should submit reportable incidents through USRowing's incident reporting process.
The form is for the day. The pattern is the point.
One incident report tells you what happened on Saturday. Fifty of them tell you which stretch, which conditions and which boats keep coming up. That needs the incident, the people and the equipment to be connected records rather than paper in a binder - which is what Row HQ does: members, boats, damage history and boat logs in one place, so when something happens the who-had-which-boat-when question answers itself. Print this form for the boathouse; keep the system of record in Row HQ; coach with the time you get back.
Set up your club freeFree for programs of up to 20 athletes.
Incident reporting FAQs
Should near misses be reported as well as injuries?
Yes - always. A near miss is an incident where nobody happened to get hurt this time: the eight that missed the sculler in fog, the slings that collapsed with no one under the boat. They are far more common than injuries and show you exactly where the next injury is coming from. Use the same one-page form, mark it as a near miss, and review the pattern at board level each season.
When does an incident need reporting to USRowing?
USRowing asks member organizations and individual members to report safety incidents through its incident reporting process - including capsizes, collisions, injuries, equipment failures and safety-relevant near misses. The club form on this page is your own record on the day; the USRowing submission is the formal report. Check USRowing's current guidance for exactly what is reportable, and note the submission in section 7 of the form so nothing falls through the gap. Safeguarding concerns are different: those go to the U.S. Center for SafeSport, not the incident log.
How long should incident reports be kept?
Keep them for as long as a claim could realistically arise. Limitation periods for injury claims vary by state and generally run longer for minors, so ask your insurer or the club's attorney what retention period fits your situation. Many clubs simply keep all incident records for the life of the club - they are also the program's institutional safety memory. Store them securely: they contain personal and medical information, so access should be limited to those who need it.
Related
The incident log is the feedback loop for your risk assessment - review one against the other at least annually. Browse the full templates library for more club documents.