Background: The fertility clinic is an environment in which significant adverse incidents are potentially catastrophic. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) publishes an annual report of adverse incidents in fertility clinics across the UK. These incident reports are published with the view that providing clinics with ‘lessons to learn’ will encourage education, lead to a reduction in adverse incidents and create a culture of transparency. However, the latest data demonstrates that a meaningful reduction in adverse incidents in the fertility sector is yet to be seen. Consequently, the efficacy of the HFEA incident reporting system is uncertain. Human factors has emerged as a science, which may be applicable to the incident reporting systems used within the fertility clinic. Through the application of human factors theory, ergonomists endeavour to realise how systems can be redesigned to maximise performance and minimise risk. The HFEA have already recognised the value of applying human factors science to the complex, sociotechnical system of the fertility clinic in their latest incident report.Method: This study has capitalised on the HFEA’s realisation by conducting a human factors based document analysis of the published HFEA incident reports, with the aim that the results would inform recommendations for enhancing the HFEA’s current incident reporting system. The narrative, messages and intentions of each report were analysed using an inductive thematic analysis. The HFEA’s analyses of the adverse incidents, in particular the contributory factors and learning points identified, were analysed using a deductive thematic analysis, using the SEIPS model as a conceptual framework.Results: Firstly, the results of each inductive thematic analysis revealed four themes, which emerged from the data, giving an insight into the narrative, messages and intentions of the HFEA reports. The themes were: (1) culture of incident reporting, (2) role of the HFEA, (3) importance of incident reporting and (4) incident reporting processes. Secondly, the deductive thematic analysis revealed that the HFEA do not employ a holistic, systems based approach to errors which led to underdeveloped analyses of incidents and weaker interventions.Conclusion: The results of this study align with the current literature, highlighting that incident reporting systems which do not embrace a more systematic methodology are making a poorer impact. We recommend that the HFEA strive to fully embed human factors methodologies into their incident reporting systems. We propose that human factors will enhance the reports and improve education, learning and corrective actions in fertility clinics.