The first priority is the customer’s wellbeing — ensure appropriate first aid or emergency response. Once the customer is cared for, immediate documentation steps include: note the exact time, the exact location within the store, and exactly what the customer reported happening. Photograph the location and any conditions that may have contributed (spilled product, wet floor, damaged fixture) before anything is cleaned up or moved. Obtain the customer’s name, contact information, and a description of any claimed injury — documenting whether they declined medical attention or requested it. Identify and obtain contact information from any witnesses. Document what corrective action was taken (area cleaned, hazard removed). Avoid making statements about liability or admitting fault. In IncidentVault, all of this is guided through a structured mobile form that prompts for each required element — ensuring nothing is missed regardless of which staff member is completing the report.

Incidents involving minors have heightened documentation and privacy considerations. The statute of limitations for claims involving minors typically does not begin until the minor reaches the age of majority — meaning retail incidents involving children can generate claims many years after the event. Complete documentation at the time of the incident, including all available evidence, is particularly important for incidents involving minors. For documentation and privacy purposes, IncidentVault allows for appropriate notation that an incident involved a minor without necessarily capturing the minor’s personal information directly (the minor’s parent or guardian’s information is typically captured instead). Access controls ensure that sensitive incident records are accessible only to authorized personnel. Note: Legal and documentation requirements for incidents involving minors vary by jurisdiction — always consult your legal counsel regarding applicable requirements in your operating locations.

Workers’ compensation incidents involve employees injured in the course and scope of their employment — an associate who slips in the stockroom, a cashier who develops carpal tunnel syndrome, or a manager who is injured responding to a security incident. These claims are governed by the workers’ compensation system, which typically provides medical benefits and wage replacement without requiring proof of employer negligence. General liability incidents involve customers, contractors, delivery drivers, and any other non-employee who is injured on the premises or due to the retailer’s operations. These claims require proof of negligence or premises liability and are typically handled through general liability insurance. IncidentVault tracks both types with appropriate incident forms and routes them to the correct insurance policy — workers’ compensation for employee injuries and general liability for non-employee injuries — with the connection to specific policies maintained in the insurance management module.

Yes. IncidentVault’s multi-tenant architecture accommodates franchise retail structures where corporate-owned locations and franchisee-owned locations have different data ownership and access requirements. Franchisors can deploy standardized incident forms, required fields, and escalation rules to all franchise locations — ensuring documentation consistency across the network — while maintaining appropriate data boundaries between franchise groups. Corporate risk leadership at the franchisor level can have portfolio visibility into aggregate incident patterns across the network without necessarily having access to individual franchisee’s confidential incident records. Franchisees maintain ownership and control of their location’s incident data while submitting to the standardized format that franchisor risk management requires. Contact IncidentVault to discuss the specific multi-tenant configuration appropriate for your franchise structure.