Incident Reporting and Investigation

What to do if someone is injured in the workplace - Quick Guide

Incident Flow Chart

Purpose
Definitions
Roles and Responsibilities
Procedure
Records
Performance Measures
Documents/Forms
References

This procedure outlines the requirements for the investigation and reporting of incidents that occur at the University. It also outlines the requirements for statutory reporting of notifiable work-related injuries and dangerous occurrences, a mandatory requirement under the Occupational Health Safety and Welfare Act 1986 and the reporting of notifiable diseases a mandatory requirement under the Public and Environmental Health Act 1987.

The purpose of incident/ hazard reporting is to ascertain the root causes of the incident/hazard which will

prevent any incident that may result from the hazard,
correct the problem to prevent a recurrence
obtain data which will allow trends to be measured and programs implemented to reduce risk.

Definitions

Accident – is an unplanned occurrence or incident that causes or contributes to personal injury or damage to property.

Incident – is an event that causes or could cause harm (injury, illness or damage) to persons, plant, material or the environment. An incident for the purpose of this procedure will include a ‘near miss’.

Hazard – a situation that has the potential to harm a person, the environment or damage to property.

Health and Safety Representative (HSR) – is a staff member elected to represent a designated workgroup and who has the authority under the OHSW Act to raise OHSW issues with management on behalf of their workgroup.

Corrective action – is an action taken after an incident to correct the problem and to reduce the risk of a similar incident occurring.

Near miss – is any occurrence that might have led to injury or illness to people, danger to health and/or damage to property or the environment.

Immediately notifiable work related injuries –:

a work related injury that causes death
any work related injury that has acute symptoms associated with exposure to a substance at work
any work related injury that requires treatment as an in-patient in a hospital immediately after the injury

A notifiable dangerous occurrence, an incident or event is –

where there is an immediate and significant risk to any person, on or near the relevant place, or who could have been in, or near the relevant place; and
that is attributable to any of the following:
- the collapse, overturning or failure of the load-bearing part of a scaffolding, lift, crane, hoist or mine-winding equipment;
- damage to, or malfunction of other major plant;
- the unintended collapse or failure of an excavation that is more than 1.5 m deep, or of any shoring;
- the unintended collapse or partial collapse of a building or structure under construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair or demolition; or
- the unintended collapse or partial collapse of the floor, wall or ceiling of a building being used as a workplace;
- an uncontrolled explosion, fire or escape of any gas, hazardous substance or steam;
- the unintended ignition or explosion of an explosive;
- an electrical short circuit, malfunction or explosion;
- an unintended event involving a flood of water, rock burst, rock fall, or any collapse of ground;
- an incident where breathing apparatus intended to permit the user to breathe independently of the surrounding atmosphere malfunctions in such a way that the wearer is deprived of breathing air or exposed to an atmospheric contaminant to an extent that may endanger health;
- any other unintended or uncontrolled incident or event arising from operations carried on at a workplace.

Notifiable Diseases –

(a) a communicable disease included in Schedule 1 (Public and Environmental Health Act 1987); or
(b) a communicable disease prescribed by regulation to be a notifiable disease;

Lost-time injuries/diseases – those occurrences that resulted in a fatality, permanent disability or time lost from work of one day/shift or more.

Roles and Responsibilities

Line Managers and Supervisors are responsible for:

implementing this procedure in their area of responsibility and accountability
ensuring that appropriate staff receive suitable training to carry out their role in hazard and incident reporting, investigation and recording;
completing the online learning program for Incident Investigation
promptly reporting and investigating incidents in their area of responsibility and accountability
completing and forwarding incident report forms to OHSW Services as soon as practicable and within designated time lines using form OHSW9 - Incident Report
implementing identified risk control measures to prevent recurrence of incidents
consulting with staff in relation to the measures to be taken to prevent recurrence of incidents.
reviewing hazard/incident reports for their area to ensure that all recommendations are implemented
ensuring, as far as is reasonably practicable, that adequate financial provision and other resources are made available to institute the recommended actions

Staff are responsible for:

not placing themselves or others at risk of injury
reporting incidents to their supervisor or manager, and health and safety representative (if applicable), as soon as possible after the event
participating in the development of appropriate risk control measures to prevent recurrence of similar incidents
using risk control measures as required and any other action taken, which is designed to protect health and safety.

Health and Safety Representatives (HSR) are encouraged to participate in investigations of incidents and assist with the development of measures to prevent recurrence of incidents.

Procedure

Immediately notifiable work related injury/ notifiable dangerous occurrence
1. Obtain first aid treatment/assistance for any injuries
2. Secure the site (if applicable)
3. Immediately notify OHSW Services (8302 1635 or 8302 1787)
4. OHSW Services notify SafeWorkSA by telephone 1800 777 209 as soon as reasonably practicable
5. Commence an internal investigation using the Incident Report Form OHSW9 as soon as practicable after the incident but within 12 hours involving: Line manager/supervisor, OHSW Services, Health and safety representative, Any other relevant personnel
6. Ensure any recommendations are actioned
Lost time injuries
1. Obtain first aid treatment/assistance for any injuries
2. Investigated incident using the Incident Report form OHSW9 as soon as possible after the occurrence and within 12 hours, involving;
3. Line Manager/supervisor
4. HSR
5. Other relevant personnel
6. Forward completed Incident report & Workers Compensation claim form to the line manager/supervisor and OHSW Services
7. Ensure all recommendations identified from the investigation are actioned/ planned for rectification using the section on the Incident Report Form that indicates the person responsible for action, action taken, timeframe for completing action and the action completed sign off
8. Details of incident and recommendations to be discussed at local working groups/committees
9. Any unresolved recommendations are to be included in local action plans for completion
All other incidents
1. Obtain first aid treatment/assistance for any injuries
2. Investigated incident using the Incident Report form OHSW9 as soon as possible after the occurrence and within 12 hours, involving;
3. Line Manager
4. HSR
5. Other relevant personnel
6. Forward completed Incident report and Workers Compensation claim form to line manager and OHSW Services
7. Ensure all recommendations identified from the investigation are actioned/ planned for rectification using the section on the Incident Report Form that indicates the person responsible for action, action taken and action completed sign off.
8. Details of incident and recommendations to be discussed at local working groups/committees.
9. Any unresolved recommendations are to be included in local action plans for completion.
Securing of Site –
1. The site of the incident must be made safe to prevent further injury, accident or incident or undue damage to site
2. For an immediately notifiable work related injury/ notifiable dangerous occurrence, the site of the incident must then be secured to ensure that it is not disturbed until permission is given by the Safework SA inspector
The Investigation Process
1. An immediate inspection of the site should be conducted. This inspection should provide an objective assessment taking into account the severity of the incident in both human and financial terms.
2. Analyse the environment prior to the occurrence. This may include,
  - The system of work being carried out.
  - Instructions and or SOP for the work and if there were any deviations from these?
  - Workplace conditions such as lighting, floor surface, stair treads, warning signs, weather conditions if the incident occurred outside.
  - Location of the incident
  - Materials used or handled
  - Transport or equipment used.
3. The incident
  - Personnel involved/ experience/training
  - Witnesses
  - What happened
  - Time of the incident
  - What equipment / substances was being used
4. Following the incident
  - Result of the incident - Injury or damage
  - Rescue procedures
  - Any events which contributed to enhancement of injury or damage
Effective investigation will look for the design, environmental and behavioural components of an incident and not look for a single cause. The investigation should:
- Identify causes, such as design, environment, behavioural or management factors
- Identify problem areas or particular hazards
- Recommend corrective action
- Provide information that can be used as a preventative tool
- Provide management, supervisors, health and safety representatives and committees with data about health and safety problems
- Provide information that can be used to analyse the need for specific programs
Debriefing

Where a serious or significant hazard or incident has impacted on other people or has caused concern within an area, a debriefing should be offered by the line manager/supervisor and/or OHSW Services to explain:
- the outcome of the hazard or incident;
- the outcome of the investigation; and
- any corrective/preventive measures that have been or will be taken
Staff counseling should be offered for persons affected by the hazard or incident using the University’s Employee Assistance provider – Davidson Trahaire Corpsych by calling: 1300 360 364.
Information Analysis

The incident investigation team will analyse the information gathered from the incident, identify underlying causes and recommend appropriate action.

The Line Manager will review each completed report and recommendations and ensure that all corrective actions have been implemented.

The Local Working group/OHS Committee will review data from investigations, monitor trends and make recommendations to the Line Manager/Senior manager on appropriate preventative strategies and priorities in health and safety.

All investigations are to be forwarded to OHSW Services and entered into a spreadsheet. Recommendations and actions are reviewed and followed up by OHSW Services to ensure relevance and completion. OHSW Services will review incident statistics, identify trends and determine the appropriate use of resources on a priority basis. Recommendations are made to the University OHSW Committee and Vice Chancellor where appropriate.
Notifiable Diseases

Some infectious diseases are described as notifiable in South Australia and must be reported to the Department of Health. The medical profession is responsible for reporting notifiable diseases. Medical practitioners and microbiological laboratories are obliged by the Public and Environmental Health Act, 1987, to notify cases suspected of having notifiable diseases and all notifications are recorded and followed-up appropriately.

There are numerous conditions that must be notified to the Communicable Disease Control Branch (CDCB) under the Public and Environmental Health Act. Notification ensures that steps are taken, where necessary, to prevent the spread of an infectious disease to other people in the community.

Persons displaying symptoms of a notifiable disease that may be of concern may be requested by University management to seek medical attention in the interests of other staff or students with whom they may have had contact.

Records

All records should be maintained for not less than 5 years. The records should be held by individual workplaces.

Performance measures

Incidents have been reported to OHSW Services (within 12 hours and investigate within 5 days ).
Incidents have been investigated and reported using OHSW9.
Relevant corrective actions have been implemented and signed off.