How to Write an Incident Management Policy: A Step-by-Step Guide

What Is an Incident Management Policy?

An incident management policy is a formal document that outlines how an organization identifies, responds to, manages, and resolves incidents that could disrupt operations, impact safety, or harm reputation. These incidents can range from cybersecurity breaches and workplace accidents to ethical violations and compliance failures. A strong policy provides a consistent framework for swift action, minimizing damage and maintaining business continuity.

Action Tip: Keep the policy accessible and easy to understand for all employees to ensure consistent application across the organization.

Use this guide to get started writing your organization's incident management policy.

Step-By-Step Procedure: How to Write an Incident Management Policy

1. Define the Purpose and Scope

First, state the purpose and/or objectives of your incident management policy. Why are you writing it? What do you hope to achieve with it? How will it help your employees, business partners, clients and/or customers?

For example, here is the purpose section from the United States Postal Service (USPS)'s policy:

"The purpose of this policy is to ensure that any incidents that affect the daily operations of the Postal Service Technology Environments are managed through an established process. USPS will utilize the best practice framework for the implementation of Incident Management within Postal Service Technology.

Incident Management is the process that defines an unplanned interruption to an IT service or reduction in the quality of an IT service. Failure of a configuration item that has not yet affected service is also considered an incident.

The goal of Incident Management is to restore the IT service to its normal operation within agreed service level targets and to manage unplanned events which result in the following:

• Interruption to the normal operation of an IT service.
• Report or notice of a reduction in the quality of an IT service.
• Failure of a Configuration Item (Cfg-Item) that has not yet impacted an IT service."

Next, define the scope of the policy. What types of incidents does it cover? Who must follow it? Where is it applicable? What equipment, tools and/or systems does it cover?

This example from the City of Delray Beach, Florida, covers just IT incidents:

"The Incident Management policy will govern the decisions and actions taken in the course of City of Delray Beach (CDB)’s IT Infrastructure standard services failures which causes, or may cause, an interruption to, or a reduction in, the quality of that service. The scope of this policy applies to all incidents reported by CDB’s IT analysts or engineers, to include vendors & third party contract personnel (consultants/contractors) regarding IT Infrastructure hardware, software, system components, virtual components, cloud components, networks, services, documents, and processes."

Alternatively, your policy might be broader, like this one from James Cook University: "This Policy covers all staff, students, affiliates contractors, volunteers, tenants, visitors, and controlled entities, when responding to, and dealing with, a range of incidents and emergencies that may impact on JCU campuses, remote sites, and residences."

RELATED: What is Incident Management Software?

2. Classify Incident Responses

Next, your incident management policy should discuss the different classifications of incidents and how to respond to each. This not only refers to incident types (if they fall within the scope) but different levels of urgency as well.

Include information on the responsibilities, reporting procedures and response time for each incident type and urgency level. List these either alongside the incident classifications or in a separate color code section, like in the example above.

Classifying incidents in your policy will help you respond quickly and consistently when something goes wrong.

RELATED: How Incident Management Software Protects Your Company

3. Discuss Drills and Testing

Having a good incident management policy on paper is one thing, but employees should know how to apply it in practice, too. Drills and testing help employees prepare so they know what to do if a real incident happens. In addition, drills highlight the strong aspects of your policy and what parts need to be changed.

While some types of incidents can't be tested, consider testing employees on:

• Cybersecurity incidents such as data breaches
• Physical security incidents such as break-ins
• Safety incidents such as a chemical spill or broken equipment

How will you test for each type of incident? How often? Who is in charge of running the drills and assessing the results?

4. Note Policy Reviews

Policies shouldn't be written once and never changed. They need to be reviewed regularly to ensure that they still meet your company's mission, mandate, image and needs.

In your incident management policy, include a reviewing schedule and procedures. Who will review the policy? How often will it be reviewed? What is the process when you're updating the policy after an incident occurs versus during a scheduled review?

At the bottom of the document, note updates and changes, as well as when these went into effect. This can help you learn from past mistakes and see how far your organization has come with its incident management process.

What is the Objective of an Incident Management Policy?

The primary objective of an incident management policy is to ensure a prompt, organized, and effective response to incidents. It helps organizations:

• Protect People and Assets: Prioritize the safety and well-being of employees, customers, and stakeholders.
• Minimize Operational Disruption: Quickly restore normal operations to reduce downtime and financial loss.
• Preserve Evidence for Investigations: Secure and document critical information to support root cause analysis, legal defense, or regulatory reporting.
• Strengthen Compliance and Trust: Demonstrate a commitment to legal obligations, ethical standards, and stakeholder expectations.

Action Tip: Align your incident management objectives with your organization's overall risk management and compliance strategies for maximum effectiveness.

Key Components of an Incident Management Policy

A comprehensive incident management policy typically includes the following elements:

• Clear Definitions: Outline what constitutes an "incident" and categorize different types (e.g., cybersecurity, safety, ethical).
• Roles and Responsibilities: Identify who is responsible for reporting, managing, escalating, and resolving incidents.
• Reporting Procedures: Provide straightforward instructions for how and when to report incidents, including anonymous reporting options if applicable.
• Response Plan: Detail the step-by-step actions the organization will take immediately after an incident occurs.
• Communication Strategy: Define how to communicate internally and externally during an incident to maintain transparency and control the narrative.
• Investigation and Documentation Process: Establish guidelines for investigating incidents thoroughly and maintaining detailed records.
• Training and Awareness: Ensure regular training so employees know how to recognize and report incidents.
• Continuous Improvement: Incorporate lessons learned from each incident to refine processes and prevent recurrence.

Action Tip: Regularly review and update your policy to reflect new risks, lessons learned, and changes in regulatory requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. How often should I update my incident management policy?

Your incident management policy should be reviewed at least annually. However, you should also update it after significant incidents, when new risks emerge, or when there are changes to your organization's structure, technology, or regulatory requirements.

This ensures your policy remains relevant and effective. Some organizations in highly regulated industries may need to review their policies quarterly.

2. Is an incident management policy required by law?

In most industries, an incident management policy is not explicitly required by law, but it is often expected as part of broader compliance standards.

For example, frameworks like ISO 27001, HIPAA, and GDPR require documented procedures for handling incidents. Having a clear policy can help meet legal, regulatory, and insurance obligations.

3. Who should be involved in writing the policy?

Creating an effective incident management policy requires input from multiple stakeholders including:

• Senior management to provide oversight and approval
• IT/security teams for technical incident guidance
• HR for employee-related incidents
• Legal for compliance requirements
• Department heads to address domain-specific concerns
• Risk management for identification of potential threats
• Frontline staff who will implement the policy

This collaborative approach ensures the policy is comprehensive and practical.

4. Can you explain the five main phases of the incident management lifecycle?

The incident management lifecycle has five phases:

Preparation – Develop policies, procedures, and training to ensure readiness.
Identification – Detect and report the incident promptly.
Containment – Limit the damage and prevent further impact.
Eradication and Recovery – Remove the root cause and restore normal operations.
Lessons Learned – Analyze the incident to improve future response and update policies.

5. What does an ITSM incident management policy typically include?

An ITSM (IT Service Management) incident management policy usually includes:

• Purpose and scope of the policy
• Definitions of incidents and severity levels
• Roles and responsibilities
• Reporting and escalation procedures
• Response and resolution timelines
• Communication protocols
• Review and improvement process

This helps ensure consistency in how incidents are managed.