These supporting FAQs should be read in conjunction with the Incident Reporting, Investigation and Follow-up Management Standard.

Transcription

1 : FAQ Incident Reporting, Investigation & Follow-up Incident reporting, investigation and follow up INTRODUCTION These supporting FAQs should be read in conjunction with the Incident Reporting, Investigation and Follow-up Management Standard. The management standard contains the responsibilities and an overview of the process whilst this document provides more detailed guidance. 1.0 Incident initial reporting - Information for all 1.1 What is an incident? 1.2 What is an accident? 1.3 What is a near miss? 1.4 What incidents should be reported by managers? 1.5 What is a work related activity? 1.6 When do I report an incident? 1.7 How do I report an incident? 1.8 Do I have to report the incident to other parts of the University as well? 1.9 I am a First Aider. What is my role? 1.10 I am a Fire Marshal. What is my role? 2.0 Preliminary investigation 2.1 Who completes the preliminary investigation? 2.2 How do I verify the facts and carry out a preliminary incident investigation? 2.3 Who receives notification that the preliminary investigation has been has been submitted? 3.0 Communication of incidents 3.1 What is a Health and Safety Incident Alert? 3.2 What should I do as Head of Unit when I m notified of an incident within my unit? 3.3 What should I do as a Head of Unit when I m notified of a relevant incident in another part of the Faculty/University Page 1 of 14

2 3.4 What should I do as School Safety Officer when I m notified of an incident within my unit? 3.5 What should I do as a member of EB if I am notified of a major incident? 3.6 What does do when they are notified of an incident? 4.0 Full investigation and action plan 4.1 When do I carry out a full investigation? 4.2 How do I carry out a full incident investigation? 4.3 What is a root cause? 5.0 Follow Up 6.0 Training 5.1 Is training available how to use the on-line system? 5.2 Is training available in incident investigation? 7.0 Incident Data 6.1 Which Unit is the incident recorded against? 6.2 What information can be seen on the incident database? 6.3 Is the data secure? 6.4 What analysis of data is possible? 6.5 Can I compare the data with previous years? 6.6 How is cumulative incident trend data monitored? 8.0 Future development 9.0 Problem solving 1.0 Information for all 1.1 What is an incident? An accident ora near miss. 1.2 What is an accident? An unplanned, unexpected event that causes harm to people E.g. You trip over a trailing cable and sprain your ankle. 1.3 What is a near miss? An unplanned, unexpected event that, under different circumstances, causes harm to people E.g. You trip over a trailing cable but don t hurt yourself. 1.4 What should be reported? (Staff) You should tell your Line Manager/Principal Investigator (PI) about any work related incidents. This includes accidents, near misses and fire incidents). Page 2 of 14

3 (Student) You need to report any incident (accident / near miss) to the School Office. This should just cover incidents connected with your course or being on University premises. Anyone participating in University / NUSU (Newcastle University Students Union) sports incidents should report an incident to the person in charge of that activity. The First Aider will complete a first aid record for all individuals they treat. This will include both work related and non work related incidents. The Fire Marshall will complete a fire alarm incident form each time the fire alarm is activated. Management will discuss the details of the incident with you. They will complete the electronic incident management system for all work related incident reports and investigations. This includes incidents (near misses, accidents and fire incidents) regardless of the severity. 1.5 What is a work related activity? Any work activity carried out in accordance with a contract of employment. Travelling for business, going on a training course/conference and working from home (where this has been authorised by the Head of Unit) count as work related activities. Any incidents relating to these activities should be reported on the incident form. Sport and fire incidents should also be reported. There is a different questions set related to these areas which the database will automatically direct managers to. Any incidents which are not connected with a Newcastle University work activity or reports of ill health should not be reported on the incident form. The first aid form should be used to record ill health. The only exception is if the incident was caused by a material defect, a fault with equipment or buildings/grounds or other condition, e.g. wet floor. e.g. if you trip up in Jesmond on your way into work and seek first aid assistance from the Robinson Library then you are not required to fill in the incident form. The first aider will fill in a first aid record. Ill health incidents (fainting, seizures, suspected heart attacks etc.) should not be recorded on the incident form. The first aider will keep a record where appropriate. Incidents which occur during downtime on a field trip are not work related. Students staying in residential accommodation is not work related. Only report an incident if there is a problem with the condition of the premises. Page 3 of 14

4 Any non-work related incidents which are reported will be removed by line management and. 1.6 When do I report an incident? In all cases, it is essential that PIs, managers or supervisors are made aware of any incident as soon as possible after it has happened. Students should inform the School Office of any incidents as soon as possible after the incident has happened. Every effort should be made by members of staff to speak to line management either in person or by telephone. Depending on individual circumstances it is accepted this may not be possible. In this case please speak to the person who is acting on behalf of your Line Manager/PI in their absence. Reporting an incident on a Monday morning after a weekend accident is acceptable. Similarly the first working day after a bank holiday or closure period is reasonable for most incidents. The local incident plan / University major incident plan should be instigated for any serious incidents occurring outside normal working hours. Any significantly late submissions of incident forms will not be included in the incident statistics (i.e. after the relevant quarterly report has been submitted to UHSC / EB / Council) Any late submissions will be followed up by management to ascertain why this has occurred. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are also reported to senior management on late submissions. 1.7 How do I report an incident? It may be that a first aider / member of staff will assist you immediately as a first responder. They will not report the incident for you but will complete First Aider or Fire Warden/Marshal forms which will be available to management. The employee involved in the incident is responsible for informing their Line Manager/PI of the incident either in person or by telephone. Your Line Manager/PI will verify the facts of the incident with you. The first section of the incident report form is designed for this purpose and will also allow your Line Manager/PI to do a preliminary investigation and instigate any immediate actions. Students need to inform the School Office in person or by telephone of any incidents. Students should report any sports injuries to Sports Centre or Student s Union in person or by telephone. Page 4 of 14

5 1.8 Do I have to report the incident to other parts of the University as well? Defects in the fabric of the building/premises should be reported to the Estates Support Service. Your Line Manager/PI will check with the first responder if this has already been done. There may be a need to complete a separate insurance claim form for vehicle and travel related accidents. Please speak to the Insurance section about this. 1.9 I am a First Aider. What is my role? Administer first aid as necessary. This will have been covered in your first aid training. There is an online first aid record to complete afterwards. This will be uploaded to the incident database and will be available to management as this will help inform the incident investigation. A blanks report form can be printed from the database. The following information is required on the first aider report: Name of Injured Person Contact details of the injured person University Unit, Tel, (+ company if a contractor or address and tel if a member of the public) Description of circumstances requiring first aid (may be an accident or ill health) Date of the incident Time of incident Location Name of witnesses Details of injury / ill health (free text box) Details of any treatment given (free text box) Was an ambulance called? Did the person go to hospital? / Which one? Was any treatment refused by the injured person? Name of first aider + Signature is possible Name of the Injured person (again) + Signature of injured person (If this is practical to get) 1.10 I am a Fire Marshal. What is my role? Your fire first responder role will have been explained on the Fire Marshall /Warden course. There is an online fire alarm form to complete. This will be uploaded to the incident database and will be available to management as this will help inform the incident investigation. If there is fire or smoke you will also need to notify the manager of the area or ESS so they can investigate. 2.0 Preliminary Management Investigation 2.1 Who completes the preliminary investigation? The Line Manager/PI/Supervisor needs to complete the online preliminary incident investigation. Page 5 of 14

6 2.2 How do I verify the facts and complete a preliminary incident investigation? A successful investigation outcome will hinge of 2 key elements: Promptness Thoroughness You need to complete the preliminary investigation management section of the online form. This will populate an incident database. You will need to do the following: Verify the facts by talking to the injured person in the first instance Identify the actual / immediate cause of the accident Examples: Incorrect use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Improper technique /not following the safe operating procedure Incorrect use of equipment Faulty equipment Defect in the fabric of the building/premises Implement immediate control measures (excluding first aid / emergency response) Examples: Reviewing the safe operating procedure with the injured person Arranging refresher training A reminder to take more care Submitting a defect report Identify the incident severity Major - Fatality, RIDDOR specified injury, RIDDOR Dangerous Occurrence, RIDDOR Occupational Disease, Major Fire, Significant Hospital visit, any lost time (in days), fire or smoke Minor - Minor injury, first aid treatment, near miss, fire alarm activation There is a drop down list on the online form. Severity is explained further in the briefings and training. will provide assistance on incident severity if the Units need assistance. Identify the incident type The following a drop down list is on the online form: Contact with moving machinery or material being machined Hit by moving, flying or falling object Hit by a moving vehicle Hit by something fixed or stationary Injured whilst handling, lifting or carrying Page 6 of 14

7 Slipped, tripped or fell on the same level Fell from a height Trapped by something collapsing Drowned or asphyxiated Exposed to, or in contact with a harmful substance Exposed to fire Exposed to an explosion Contact with electricity Injured by an animal Physically assaulted by a person Another kind of accident Sharps Identify an incident investigation team Major Head of Unit, Line Manager, School Safety Officer,. Input from essential. Significant Line Manager, School Safety Officer. Input from desirable. Minor - Line Manager, School Safety Officer. The Biological Safety Supervisor should be co-opted on the investigation team for any biological incidents and the Radiation Protection Supervisor should be co-opted on the investigation team for any incidents involving radiation. In the case of student incidents, the School Office will take the initial details from the student and the School Manager will complete the preliminary investigation part of the database. 2.3 Who receives notification that the preliminary investigation has been submitted? Once your Line Manager (or the School Office/School Manager in the case of students) completes the preliminary investigation initial report an incident alert will be sent to senior management. Which level of management receives the form will be dependent upon the severity of the incident. For example, senior management will receive an alert notifying them about all major incidents. Your Line Manager/PI will give you the option of the form being sent to your trade union health and safety representative. and Insurance receive copies of all notifications and can see all incident reporting, investigation and management information. Other managers will be notified depending on the severity of the incident. Page 7 of 14

8 3.0 Communication 3.1 What is a Health and Safety Incident Alert? Once the Line Manager/PI has completed the preliminary investigation and recorded this on the database an incident alert will be sent to senior managers. This will be generated automatically by the database which will forward the following information: Incident severity Incident type Persons notified Incident summary Unit Location Date & time Staff or non staff Injury Job title of injured person Immediate cause(s) Immediate action taken Name investigating manager Job title of investigating manager, Insurance and the School/Unit Safety Officer will receive copies of all incident reports. Which senior managers receive the alert depends on the severity of the incident: Major incidents (Fatality RIDDOR Specified Injury, RIDDOR Dangerous Occurrence, RIDDOR Occupational Disease, Major fire (extensive damage, injury or ill health) will be sent to the Director/Deputy Director of Operations, the Chair of the Faculty Health and Safety Committee, the Head of Unit and the School Manager/Administrator. The Director/Deputy Director of Operations will inform the Faculty PVC. Significant incidents (Any lost time in days, Person going to hospital) will be sent to the Director/Deputy Director of Operations, the Chair of the Faculty Health and Safety Committee, the Head of Unit and the School Manager/Administrator. Minor Incidents (Minor Injury, First Aid treatment, near miss) will be sent to the Head of Unit and School Manager/Administrator. 3.2 What should I do as Head of Unit when I m notified of an incident within my Unit? Keep a monitoring overview of all incidents relating to areas in their control or shared space under their control. For some Units this may mean that incidents are discussed at the Unit Health and Safety Committee or Unit Executive meetings. Page 8 of 14

9 The Head of Unit will receive an alert that an incident has occurred within their Unit. Heads have access to the data / part of the incident management database relating to incidents connected with the unit they manage. Be involved in the investigation of major incidents. 3.3 What should I do as Head of Unit when I m notified of an incident in another part of the Faculty/University? Heads of Unit will also receive timely details of all significant incidents which have occurred within the Faculty and any major incidents which have happened in other parts of the University. This information will need to be disseminated within the Unit and action taken if necessary. 3.4 What should I do as School Safety Officer when I m notified of an incident within my unit? Whilst it is a management responsibility to investigate incidents, it is intended that the School Safety Officer will play a key role in the Unit incident investigation team. 3.5 What should I do as a member of Executive Board (EB) if I am notified of a major incident? Faculty PVCs will be notified of all major incidents by the Director/Deputy Director of Operations. Health and safety is the first agenda item at Executive Broad. The Faculty PVC will provide an update under this item at Executive Board if there has been a major incident in their Faculty. 3.6 What does do when they are notified of an incident? Once the initial report is submitted electronically on the on-line system, an electronic copy will be received by. will ascertain if the incident is RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013) reportable and make any necessary report to the Health and Safety Executive. Advisors will participate in major and significant incident investigations and assist in making recommendations for risk control measures and follow up actions. may lead on the investigation of the most serious incidents e.g. fatalities. will monitor and review completed investigations for robustness. Page 9 of 14

10 4.0 Full investigation 4.1 When do I carry out a full investigation? The Line Manager/PI will need to carry out a full incident investigation if there has been a major or significant incident. This needs to take place as soon as possible after the incident. 4.2 Who need to be involved in a full investigation? The Line Manager/PI will need to call together an investigation team. The makeup of this team will be dependent on the severity of the incident. Refer to the management investigation chart. 4.3 How do I carry out a full investigation? Call an incident team together Gather factual information Identify the root cause with support from (The immediate cause will have been identified during the preliminary investigation). Identify the follow up action needed Update the incident form Upload all relevant documentation collected as part of the investigation Ensure the actions are closed out in a reasonable timescale. Call the incident team together The suggested members of the team are: Major Incident Head of Unit, PI/Manager/Supervisor, School Safety Officer, Injured Person. involvement is essential. Significant Incident - PI/Manager/Supervisor, School Safety Officer, Injured Person. involvement is recommended Gather factual information You need to gathering factual information. This might include: Visit/revisit the scene of incident promptly Interview witnesses (from people involved before, during and/or after the accident) take statements Ensure any immediate risks have been addressed Isolate scene of incident (f needed this should occur at the preliminary investigation stage Retain any key items of evidence. This might be parts or items of equipment. Take digital photographs Contact Security Control to ask them to check and maintain and CCTV footage Record other details such as measurements, time(s), weather conditions, physical conditions (e.g. whether the floor was wet or dry) sketch drawings/plans Ascertain if a first aid record or a fire incident record has been completed. This will be uploaded to the incident database. Page 10 of 14

11 Gather relevant documentation e.g. safe operating procedures, risk assessments, training records, minutes from meetings, other incident records, equipment manuals, maintenance records, personnel records, emergency response record Identify the Root Cause The information gathered then needs to be systematically examined and evaluated to establish the underlying/root causes. There is a list of the root causes in the drop down lists on the Line Manager/PI part of the report form. Control Co-operation Communication Design Implementation Risk assessment These root causes are taken from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance Investigating Accidents and Incidents. will help managers to identify root causes and form an action plan on a case by case basis. 5.0 Follow up Follow up action Follow-up action to be taken to prevent a recurrence of similar incidents and to reduce the potential severity of any injury which could occur. Closing out actions The database provides a mechanism to monitor and close out all actions. The Line Manager/PI leading the investigation will need to confirm completion of all actions. The database can be set up to send automatic reminders to the person who has completed the form when the actions are overdue. It is recommended that the job number for any Estates defects is recorded on the action plan. Page 11 of 14

12 6.0 Training 6.1 Is training available on how to use the on-line system? Many managers will only complete an incident report and investigation on rare occasions. The on-line system is designed to be as straightforward as possible to fill in with many boxes self-populating, drop down boxes etc. will provide initial training/briefings on request. 6.2 Is training available in incident investigation? Your Unit health and safety training matrix will identify what courses are relevant for your job. provides an in-house accident investigation course which is available to all staff. Accident investigation is also covered on the IOSH Directing Safely, IOSH Managing Safely and the Principal Investigator (PI), Manager and Supervisors courses. 7.0 Incident Data 7.1 Which Unit is the incident recorded against? For consistency, the incident will always be recorded against the Unit in which the member of staff or student is registered. e.g. If a member of staff from Estates has an accident in the Library, this will be recorded against Estates. e.g. If someone has an accident on a training course it will be recorded against the Unit that the individual belongs to. Sport is the exception to this. All sporting accidents will be recorded separately and will not be recorded against the usual employing unit. 7.2 What information can be seen on the incident database?, Insurance and a limited number of staff in NUIT can see all the information on the database. The Head of Unit will be able to see all the information on the database relating to their own unit. They can also nominate other staff to see this information. A Line Manager/PI will be able to see information relating to their own staff. Nominated members of staff from each Unit will be able generate statistics for their own area but not see individual details (personal info / data protection information). The First Aiders and Fire Wardens can see copies of their own reports. Page 12 of 14

13 7.3 Is the data secure? Yes. The data is held on secure University computer systems which are managed by NUIT. 7.4 What analysis of data is possible? The incident database is capable of facilitating a wide variety of analyses at University, Faculty and/or Unit level. New issues that are now recorded in a consistent and searchable way are: Incident severity (Major, Significant, Minor) Incident type (Fatality, RIDDOR Major Injury, RIDDOR Dangerous Occurrence) Immediate cause Root cause (Underlying management related issues) Body part Location Units have access to the incident database to be able to run reports for their own areas. Examples: Units should discuss incidents at their Unit Health & Safety Committee Faculty Health & Safety Committee and Faculty Executive Board can run Faculty reports. Incidents statistics and details of significant incidents are included in the Unit and Faculty Annual Health and Safety Reports. 7.5 Can I compare the data with previous years? The incident management database will be populated from the 2015 launch date. The health and safety data prior to this was held on a separate database. The information on the old database cannot be transferred into the new database. It will be possible to compare University level figures but not the detail at Unit level. 7.6 How is cumulative incident trend data monitored? At a University level, produce a financial year quarterly accident report. This compares quarterly data over a 5 year time period. This report goes to the University Health and Safety Committee, EB and Council. provide summary financial year quarterly accident data to the Director of Finance for Executive Board. provide incidents statistics which are benchmarked against the Higher Education Safety Association Estates Management Records return. These are included in the University annual report. Incident key performance indicators (KPIs) include near misses and measures of incident severity such as lost time accidents and major incidents. Page 13 of 14

14 Key performance indicators (KPIs) are also reported to senior management on late submissions of incident reports. 8.0 Future Development After the launch of the main system, more development work will take place so that the incident management system is compatible with mobile devices. 9.0 Problem Solving If you experience any difficulty completing the boxes required on the on-line system contact the Occupational Health and Safety Service () on or Page 14 of 14