Accident and Incident Reporting and Investigation Children s and Adult Services www.southwark.gov.uk October 2012 Scope This procedure describes the arrangements for reporting and investigating accidents and incidents across children s and adult services. Employees at all levels need to promptly report all accidents that cause injury, ill health or damage, and incidents causing damage to property and equipment. It is equally important to report verbal assaults and incidents that do not cause any injury as research by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has shown that there is a ratio between the number of non-injury incidents, minor injury accidents, major injury accidents and fatalities an organisation suffers. Recording and investigating minor incidents will show where systems are failing and what needs to be done to prevent a more serious accident. They should be regarded as a learning opportunity. Managers must familiarise themselves with the Reporting of Injuries, Disease and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (as amended) (RIDDOR) and the supporting Approved Code of Practice. This can de downloaded free from the HSE website www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l73.pdf This procedure should be read in conjunction with Safety Directive 204 and Guidance Note 204. What do employees have to do when an accident or incident happens? Report it to your manager quickly. The Regulations require employers to report some accidents and incidents to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and there is a time limit of 15 days. If you are injured while on another employer s premises, you should report it to the person in control there, as well as to your line manager. What do managers/headteachers have to do? Take the necessary action to deal with immediate risks. If someone has been hurt, first-aid or professional medical help for the injured person is of course the first priority. Inform the injured person s next of kin if they are to be taken to hospital Warn everyone in the area to keep away until you can be sure that no-one else is likely to be hurt The HSE may want to investigate the accident and will require the accident site to be left undisturbed. If this is a possibility, you must make sure that the area is kept just as it was at the time of the accident. Do not remove anything. Lock the doors and put up notices prohibiting entry
If faulty equipment was involved, isolate it and make it safe. Do not let anyone else use it Complete form HS1 and HS2 for all accidents/incidents involving staff, service users, visitors or contractors. Complete form HS3 and HS2 for all accidents/incidents involving school pupils Contact the health and safety team and forward the completed forms within 48 hours of the occurrence Report all accident/incidents that have resulted in time loss as soon as possible to the health and safety team. Reports to be made on the first day of absence via email or telephone. Report any incident/accident that could have resulted in serious injury to the health and safety team via email or telephone Report any accident/incident that resulted in a third party being taken from the scene to hospital via email or telephone If the accident has happened to someone who is employed by someone else, such as a contractor or an employee of one of our partner organisations, report it to their employer as well as to the departmental health and safety manager so that they can report it to the HSE Accidents/incidents that are not reportable to the HSE or where there was no resulting injury must be reported within 48 hours All accidents or incidents that either did or could have had serious consequences must be investigated as soon as it happens. Any delay will make the investigation more difficult Let the safety representative for the area know about the accident and involve them in any subsequent investigation Monitor/review accidents/incidents within their area of responsibility Completing the accident form HS1/HS2 and HS3/HS2 The information it contains will help managers at all levels to make decisions on what needs to be done to improve standards of health and safety, so it is important that the form is completed carefully and in as much detail as possible. Employees should complete and sign HS1 if they are able, otherwise it should be completed and signed by the manager on their behalf. Managers must ensure that all information required in Part 1 HS1 is properly completed and go on to fill in HS2 the investigation section. This may involve checking records, talking to staff involved in the accident and asking questions about the effectiveness of such things as personal protective equipment, systems of work or supervision. It is important to ascertain whether there were any actions that directly led to the event and to identify the immediate and underlying causes. Non compliance with established procedures should be reported and investigated. The member of the school supervising staff should complete pupil accident report HS3 and the investigation HS2 should be completed by a member of the school management team. Once the form has been completed, send it to the departmental health and safety manager within 48 hours of the accident or incident. Managers/headteachers must retain copies of completed accident reports in a secure location for monitoring and review. The departmental health and safety manager will report all reportable accidents to the Health and Safety Executive as soon as possible by F2508.The deadline for these to be submitted to the HSE is
within 15 days of the accident/incident occurring. The health and safety manager will also report all notifiable diseases/dangerous occurrences to the HSE as required. What accidents/incidents are reportable to the HSE? A major injury.this includes fractures (other than to fingers, thumbs or toes), amputation, dislocation of the shoulder, hip, knee or spine, loss of sight, chemical or hot metal burn or penetrating injury to the eye, injury leading to unconsciousness or which results in the person being detained in hospital for more than twenty-four hours, acute illness requiring medical treatment arising from exposure to biological agent of other substance If an employee is unfit for normal duties for more than seven consecutive days as a result of an accident at work. From 6 April 2012, RIDDOR s over three day injury reporting requirement changes. From this date the trigger point increases from over three days to over seven days incapacitation (not counting the day on which the accident happened).incapacitation means that the worker is absent or is unable to do work that they would reasonably be expected to do as part of their normal work. Reportable Death: All deaths arising out of or in connection with work. An accident in connection with work that happens to a third party, i.e., someone who is not an employee, such as a pupil, service user, agency staff or a contractor, that results in them being taken to hospital directly from the scene. For further guidance on the types of accidents/incidents in the education sector that are reportable to the HSE is available from www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/edis1.pdf Reportable Dangerous Occurrence. Events which do not necessarily result in a reportable injury but have the potential to cause significant harm. They are listed in Schedule 2 of RIDDOR and include serious incidents such as a collapse of a building, scaffold or lifting equipment, explosion and failures of pressurised systems. Diseases that are contracted through a specified type of work are also reportable. These are listed in the Approved Code of Practice that supports the regulations. Check with the departmental health and safety manager if you are unsure whether a health condition is reportable. Investigating accidents and incidents Accident/Incident investigations are to be carried out by competent persons. The departmental health and safety manager will assist managers/headteachers with accident investigations where required. How long and how detailed the investigation needs to be will depend on how serious the result of the accident is, or could have been. Sometimes a few minutes discussion will be enough but in other cases a more detailed investigation will be needed to find out exactly what happened, what conditions led to the accident and what needs to be done to prevent it happening again. The purpose of the investigation is to establish whether the system failed, someone just made a mistake or important safety rules were broken and, if so, why. Step by step investigation Inspect the scene of the accident/incident and record the conditions. Make a sketch of the accident site, take photographs (if applicable) and record details of the event. Workplace defects, such as poor lighting, holes in floors or uneven surfaces should be recorded. Look for the immediate and underlying cause of the accident/incident. Draw up a list of facts that must be established. These would normally include the following. Record the weather conditions at the time.
Review whether any personal protective equipment was being worn and, if so, its condition, fit and comfort for the wearer. The condition and maintenance of any equipment involved. Whether a safe system of work or procedures were being followed. The type and level of training the person had been given. The level of supervision the person had at the time of the accident. Interview all those involved, beginning with anyone who was injured and including anyone who witnessed the accident Review the risk assessment for the activity and establish whether all the controls identified in the assessment were in place. Complete the investigation section of the accident report form fully and send it to the departmental safety manager. Investigations following a fatality, major injury or dangerous occurrence must be undertaken by a panel appointed by the Strategic Director to investigate the basic and immediate causes of the accident and to produce recommendations to prevent recurrences. Responsibilities Business managers/ managers/headteachers will Ensure that all managers and employees within their area of responsibility are aware of the requirements for accident/incident reporting and investigation and are trained in the use of the appropriate forms Ensure that all accidents/incidents are reported /investigated in their area of responsibility in accordance with departmental/corporate requirements Implement actions arising from accident/incident reporting and investigation to prevent recurrences Review risk assessments/adequacy of control measures following accident/incidents Establish monitoring regimes for implementation of actions arising from accident reports and investigations Regularly review accident/incident reports Analyse accident/incident statistics to identify trends. Record and monitor sickness absence as result of accidents/incidents Ensure that managers/ supervisors receive training in accident/incident investigation and in use of accident report formshs1, HS2 and HS3 Departmental health and safety manager will Evaluate the quality and accuracy of information included in accident/incident reports and will request clarification/further information as required Maintain accident data using a coding and classification system to assist in the analysis of data
Produce quarterly reports of accident/incident statistics for review by divisional management teams and the departmental health and safety committee. These reports will include an analysis of trends and days lost as a result of accidents/incidents. Accident/Incident data will be reported on a workplace/business unit basis and will include accident/incident and ill health trends. Include information obtained from the accident/incident data in the annual review of health and safety performance and use this information to develop the health and safety plan. Assist managers/headteachers with accident investigations where required, advise on control measures and share lessons learned to improve health and safety management across children s and adult services Employees Report promptly all accidents/ incidents and near misses Co operate with managers/supervisors conducting investigation