Reporting an incident

For: everyone who may report: Workers, Supervisors, Safety Managers and Org Admins. A Guest cannot report.

Use it when: someone was hurt or fell ill, something was damaged or released, or you saw a hazard that needs recording. If nothing happened this time but it could have, report a near miss instead.

You can report from a phone or a computer, with or without a signal.

1. Start the report

On a phone: select Report at the bottom, then An incident.
On a computer: open Incidents, then Report an incident.

If your role may not report incidents, the page says “You may not report incidents in this company.” Ask your Org Admin.

2. Fill in what happened

Field	What to enter
Title	A short name, up to 200 characters. Required.
What happened	In your own words, up to 2000 characters. Required.
Type	Incident, Near miss, Hazard observation, Property damage or Environmental release. Required.
Severity	Low, Medium, High or Critical. Required. Choose what it looks like now; it can be changed later.
When it happened	Date and time. Starts as now. It cannot be in the future.
Site	Where it happened. Required.
Where on the site	Optional, for example “Loading dock, bay 3”.

3. Add who and what was involved (optional)

Under More details (optional) you can add:

People involved: name, whether employee, contractor, subcontractor, visitor or member of the public, job title, the task at the time, the protective equipment worn and whether it was adequate. Tick This person was injured to give the type of injury, the part and side of the body, the treatment, the days away from work and the days of restricted work.
Witnesses: name, contact details and their statement.
Equipment and materials: name, type, condition, last inspection, and for a chemical its name, safety data sheet and quantity.

Each list has an Add button. They are saved with the report. You can also add them later from the incident’s page.

4. Add photos (optional)

Under Photos, select Add photos to take one with the camera or choose some from the device. Photos are made smaller on your device and sent with the report. An incident can hold up to 30.

5. Save the draft

Select Save draft. The incident opens as a draft: nobody investigates it yet. The page says “The incident is saved as a draft. Check it, then submit it.”

6. Check it and submit it

On the incident’s page:

Read the report. To change what it says, select Edit the draft (only the reporter or an investigator can).
Add anything missing under the People and evidence tab: people, witnesses, equipment and photos.
Select Submit.

Once submitted, the incident can no longer be edited this way, and it goes to the safety team. Until you submit it, the progress bar at the top says it is waiting for you.

7. Without a signal

If the phone has no connection, or Custos does not answer, the report is saved on your phone and the page says “Saved on this device. It is sent as soon as there is a connection.”

You return to the incidents list, where the report shows as not sent yet, with its photos.
It is sent by itself when the app is open and the connection is back, within about half a minute. Send now on the list sends it at once.
Sending it twice never makes two incidents.
Saving offline creates the draft only. When it has been sent, open it and Submit it.
Sign out first asks you to confirm, and the report stays on the phone for your next sign-in.

If Custos refuses a waiting report, it stays on the list with the reason. Fix what it names, or Discard it.

8. What happens next, and who sees it

A Worker sees only the incidents they reported (“Your incidents”). Supervisors, Safety Managers and Org Admins see the company’s incidents.
Someone is named to investigate. They record findings and the root cause, corrective actions are created, and the incident is closed once its actions are verified.
Where the site follows a regulation (for example OSHA in the US), each injured person is assessed for whether the case must be recorded and reported to the authority, with deadlines. Safety Managers handle this.
After submitting, you can add comments until the incident is closed.

9. If something goes wrong

What you see	What it means
“Required.” under a field	That field is empty.
“Use at most N characters.”	The text is too long.
“This cannot be in the future.”	Change the date and time.
The Site list is empty	No sites are set up, or they are not on your phone yet. Ask your Org Admin, and open the app once while online.
A red message under the form after saving	Custos refused it for a reason it names. Correct it and save again.
“You may not report incidents in this company.”	Your role cannot report. Ask your Org Admin.