Templates and records · SQAS2022

SQAS transport incident and near-miss report

SQAS gauges safety culture by how many near misses are reported, not just by how many accidents there are. The report turns every warning sign into a cause and an action.

In one sentence

The transport incident and near-miss report records every accident, incident, near miss or service nonconformity —spills, leaks, damage, delays, documentation errors— with its classification, the investigation of causes, the actions taken and, where applicable, the report the ADR requires, because the management area of the SQAS Core questionnaire assesses how nonconformities are reported and investigated, and the ADR requires serious accidents involving dangerous goods to be reported (1.8.5).

Content reviewed on 17 October 2026

Type of information: Mandatory record Management area of the Core questionnaire; accident report under the ADR (1.8.5) where applicable
Who fills it in: Driver and transport manager The driver reports; the transport office investigates with the safety adviser if dangerous goods are involved
When: When it happens Immediate reporting; investigation within a few days; ADR report within the authority’s time limits
How long it is kept: At least the assessment cycle SQAS sets no retention periods; the report is valid for three years and the assessor reviews the evidence for that period. Where a legal period applies, such as those in the ADR, that one prevails.

What the standard requires

What SQAS2022 demands and what it leaves to your judgement

The SQAS guidelines place the reporting and investigation of nonconformities in the management area of the Core questionnaire, alongside management responsibility, personnel and audits. The assessor looks for a system that encourages reporting, classifies, investigates causes and shows that action is taken.

When a serious accident or incident occurs during the loading, filling, carriage or unloading of dangerous goods, the ADR requires a report to be sent to the competent authority (1.8.5), and the safety adviser must prepare a report on any accident affecting people, property or the environment (1.8.3).

The key for SQAS is not to have few incidents on record, but many near misses reported and properly analysed.

Read it in context: Safety, health, and environment, in the SQAS2022 Academy

Structure

Fields the template should include

Number, date, time and place
Type: accident, incident, near miss, service nonconformity, customer complaint
Vehicle, tank, driver and customer
Product, UN number and quantity affected
Description of what happened
Consequences: people, environment, damage, delay
Immediate and underlying causes
Corrective actions, owner and deadline
Report to the authority and adviser’s report, where applicable
Communication to the customer or shipper
Closure and effectiveness

Example

Example: drip from the bottom valve

Company, people and figures are fictitious: the example only shows what a properly completed record looks like.

Field	Content
Number	INC-2026-019 · 22 May 2026 · waiting area at customer QX’s plant (fictitious)
Type	Incident with no personal injury
Product	Sodium hydroxide solution · UN 1824 · about 2 litres
Description	Before unloading, the driver notices a drip from the bottom valve of tank CT-12
Response	Spill kit used as per the instructions in writing · customer informed · area clean in 20 min
Cause	Valve gasket past its replacement interval; the maintenance plan did not include it
Action	Bottom valve gaskets added to the preventive maintenance plan for all tanks · workshop · 15 June
ADR report	Not required given the quantity and absence of consequences, according to the safety adviser
Closure	Gaskets checked on 38 tanks; 5 replaced

At the audit

Mistakes auditors commonly flag

Few records and hardly any near misses: a sign that people are not reporting.
The cause is always the driver, and the action is always a talk.
Customer complaints and service nonconformities go through a separate channel.
Incidents involving dangerous goods that the safety adviser never hears about.
No trend analysis by customer, route or type of operation.

In Kimobox

How this record is kept in Kimobox

1Each transport incident is documented as a record with its cause analysis.
2The root cause is mandatory and the corrective action has an owner and a deadline, with an alert.
3Load security incidents are recorded with their resolution in the same system.
4Incident indicators feed the fleet dashboard.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask us before getting started

Why does SQAS value near misses?

Because they are early warnings of accidents. A system with many near misses reported and investigated shows that drivers trust it and that the company acts before anyone gets hurt.

When must a report be sent under the ADR?

When a serious accident or incident occurs during loading, filling, carriage or unloading, according to the ADR criteria (1.8.5): personal injury, product loss above certain quantities, material or environmental damage, or intervention by the authorities. The safety adviser helps make that call.

Do customer complaints belong here?

They should. SQAS assesses service quality as well as safety, and a delay or a mistake in the delivery documents is a nonconformity to be analysed in the same way.

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Sources

Where each figure comes from

References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.

SQAS/ESAD Guidelines Cefic · September 2024
Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) UNECE · Current edition
SQAS — Safety & Quality Assessment for Sustainability: Core and Transport Service questionnaires Cefic · Revised questionnaires in force since 1 January 2022