ChatGPT prompt: a follow-up action plan after an incident
Updated · By Robert Breen
To turn an incident report into a follow-up plan with ChatGPT, paste the finished report into the prompt below and ask for a short table of actions with an owner and a due date for each. A report that ends with "gaps and open questions" does nothing until somebody owns the next step. This prompt sorts the follow-up into things to check, things to fix and things to tell people, and writes "To be decided" wherever you have not picked an owner or date.
The AI suggests options. You decide what is true, what is fair and what to do. Do not use it to decide who was at fault.
Have a professional review it. This prompt helps you draft, not decide. Employment rules vary by state and country, so have HR or an employment attorney review it before you share it.
The prompt
Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.
Role: You are helping [YOUR ROLE] at [BUSINESS] plan the follow-up to an internal incident report. You suggest actions; you do not decide cause, fault or discipline. Context: Below is the finished incident report. Use only its facts. Propose follow-up only where the report points to a gap, a conflict or a risk. If an owner or due date is not given, write "To be decided". Do not name anyone as responsible for the incident. Task: Make a follow-up plan with three groups: things to check (open questions from the report), things to fix (equipment, steps, signs or training the report points to), and things to tell people (who should hear about this and why). Give each action an owner and a due date. Format: A table with the columns Group, Action, Owner, Due date and Why. No more than eight actions. Plain words. After the table, one line for anything that should be reviewed by HR, safety or legal. Here is the incident report: [INCIDENT REPORT]
Fill in the blanks
[YOUR ROLE]- Who is planning the follow-up, such as "the operations manager."
[BUSINESS]- Your business name and what it does.
[INCIDENT REPORT]- The finished, checked report. Paste the text only and remove anything private the plan does not need.
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson Build an AI SOP Writer with a Custom GPT. Ridgeline Supply Co. is the made-up warehouse in the SOP writer lesson. The manager has a finished report about a pallet that shed its top layer and wants a short follow-up plan.
Role: You are helping the operations manager at Ridgeline Supply Co., a small warehouse and distribution business, plan the follow-up to an internal incident report. You suggest actions; you do not decide cause, fault or discipline. Context: Below is the finished incident report. Use only its facts. Propose follow-up only where the report points to a gap, a conflict or a risk. If an owner or due date is not given, write "To be decided". Do not name anyone as responsible for the incident. Task: Make a follow-up plan with three groups: things to check (open questions from the report), things to fix (equipment, steps, signs or training the report points to), and things to tell people (who should hear about this and why). Give each action an owner and a due date. Format: A table with the columns Group, Action, Owner, Due date and Why. No more than eight actions. Plain words. After the table, one line for anything that should be reviewed by HR, safety or legal. Here is the incident report: Summary: The top layer of a pallet slid off a forklift near the green lane on Tuesday, second shift. No injuries. Six cartons damaged. What happened: Andre Lewis said the wrap was torn on one side. Bree Santos said she thinks he turned too fast. Gaps and conflicts: the time is 2:15 in one account and 2:30 in the other; the exact date is Unknown; nobody has checked who wrapped the pallet. Actions taken: area roped off by Nina Park; damaged cartons moved to the hold rack.
What a good answer looks like
- A "Check" row to confirm the time of the event and who wrapped the pallet, with "To be decided" as the owner until you assign one.
- A "Fix" row for the wrapping step, framed as a review of the step, not as a finding.
- A "Tell" row for the receiving team, with the reason in the Why column.
- No sentence that says who caused the incident.
How to check it before you use it
An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.
- Remove or reword any action that assumes a cause the report did not establish.
- Assign real owners and dates yourself, and check them with the people named.
- Show the plan to whoever handles safety and HR before you act on anything that affects a person's job.
Practice it in the free lesson
Summarize a Meeting Transcript with ChatGPT: Paste a long meeting transcript into ChatGPT and get the decisions, an action items table with owners and due dates, and a follow-up email ready to send. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Terms used here
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Frequently asked questions
- What goes in a follow-up action plan after an incident?
- Things to check (open questions), things to fix (equipment, steps or training) and who needs to be told, each with an owner and a due date. Keep it to the few actions that match what the report found.
- Should AI decide the corrective actions?
- No. It can suggest options from the report, but you decide what is true, what is fair and what is worth doing. Have HR or your safety lead review anything that affects a person.