ICAT, the Industrial Concussion Assessment Tool, helps the people on site recognize a possible head injury, refer the worker to the right care, and document what happened. It’s free, it’s open source, and it was built for industrial and occupational settings from the start.
What ICAT is
ICAT is a free, open-source head-injury recognition and documentation tool. If you know the concussion screening tools used in sport, ICAT will feel familiar. The difference is that ICAT was built for the workplace: the people, the settings and the paperwork that come with an injury on the job.
It gives you a structured, step-by-step way to work through a suspected head injury, from the moment of the incident to a clear escalation decision and a written report.
What ICAT isn’t
ICAT is not a diagnostic instrument.
It does not diagnose concussion.
It does not provide medical clearance.
It does not make return-to-work decisions.
It never replaces licensed medical evaluation, clinical judgment, employer policy or applicable regulations.
ICAT is for education and structured recognition. It is not medical advice. When in doubt, refer.
Who it’s for
ICAT is built for the people who are there when a head injury happens at work:
Safety managers who need a consistent process across shifts and sites.
First aiders who are often the first trained person on scene.
Injury-prevention specialists working on the floor with workers every day.
Medical professionals in industrial and occupational settings who need a workplace-specific assessment and record.
Why it exists
Most concussion tools and norms come from sport. They grew out of consensus meetings about athletes and were refined for sidelines and training rooms. The workplace looks different.
The median age of the employed U.S. worker is about 42 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025 data). Balance performance can change with age even without a recent injury, yet the balance norms used in concussion testing were built on young competitors, not the industrial workforce.
Timing is different too. A worker can take a hit on Friday, finish the shift, and not feel the symptoms until the weekend, since signs and symptoms can take hours or days to appear or be noticed. By Monday, nobody at work saw anything happen, and there’s no report and no documentation.
ICAT exists to close that gap with a practical, evidence-informed tool made for the way injuries happen and get handled at work.
How it’s used
ICAT follows three steps:
Recognize. Spot the signs that a head injury may have happened.
Refer. Point the worker toward an appropriate care pathway.
Document. Record what was observed and who was referred.
When you open the tool, you choose the path that matches your role:
PATH A
Path A: First Responder. For managers, safety leads and first aiders. Covers recognition, red flags, escalation and documentation, with no clinical scope.
PATH B
Path B: Clinical Assessment. For onsite medical and injury-prevention professionals. Adds a fuller occupational assessment and disposition.
Both paths document the event and lead to a clear escalation decision.
Private by design
ICAT has no accounts and doesn’t store any data. Everything stays in your browser session, and the report you generate is the record.
Free and open source
ICAT is free to use. The app code is open source under the MIT License, and you can view it on GitHub: github.com/industrialconcussion/icat
ICAT(TM) is a trademark of Industrial Concussion Institute LLC (trademark pending). The MIT License covers the app code, not the ICAT name or branding.
See it for yourself.
Open ICAT and see how it works, or talk to us about training your team to use it.
ICAT(TM) (trademark pending). Not a diagnostic instrument. Not medical advice.