Accidents and incidents

Introduction

The timely reporting of any accident or near miss is very important for the Safety Office for two reasons. Not only does it provide an opportunity for the Safety Office to assist departments with advice and support in cases of serious adverse events, but the generation of accident data informs the Safety Office where further training, information and guidance is needed. The reporting of accidents and incidents therefore helps to improve safety for everyone in the University.

Definitions

An Incident could be described as an undesired event that has caused or could have caused damage, death, injury, or ill health.  We break these down into two broad categories for reporting: those that cause property damage, ill health or injury (all are Accidents) or those that had potential to but did not (Near Miss).

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Near Miss

Near miss is an incident or situation which had potential to cause: injury, ill health or damage, but did not.

Accident

In the University we expect that groups and departments learn from incidents, helping to prevent them happening again and so we ask for specific details and investigation for different types and impacts of Accidents.  Therefore we have broken these down into additional categories to help make report easier:

  • An Injury is an incident that has caused direct physical harm to an individual, for example a slip, impact, or fall.  Incidents describing mental distress (work-related or non-work related) can also be submitted under this incident category.
  • Property Damage occurs when an incident occurred that caused damage to equipment or the building but that did not result in an injury.

Your Departmental Safety Officer also has the ability to report two additional categories of Accident:

  • Illness/Disease is the result of a working condition or exposure to a hazardous substance through work that has impacted on the physical health of staff or students.  For example someone who has worked in an awkward body position repeatedly or for a long time that has resulted in a painful musculo-skeletal health condition.
  • Dangerous Occurrences are incidents specified under the Reportable Incidents, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR 2013) that will require a report to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

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