Health and Safety

Policy Guidance
for Incident
Reporting and
Investigation
Document Reference: H&S No.10/00/00.48

This document includes a statement of Policy of Glasgow Caledonian

University together with summary guidance to assist Executive Members,
Executive Deans and Heads of Professional Support Departments in
discharging their health and safety responsibilities. The subject of this policy
and guidance is incident/near miss reporting; in particular taking into account
the requirements of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous
Occurrences Regulations 1995.

Note: Schools and Professional Support Departments must develop local

arrangements to comply with this policy and incorporate them within their
respective Health and Safety files.

Prepared By: Health & Safety Department

Date Issued: May 2004
Contents

Table of Contents..
.2

1. Introduction.....
3

2. Summary of Action Required to Facilitate this

Policy..4

3. Background...
...5

4. Accident Reporting Procedure....

..6

5. Dangerous Occurrence/Near Miss Reporting Procedure..

..7

6. Over 3 Day Injuries...

........................................................7

7. Reporting the Subsequent Death of an Employee...

..8

8. Reporting of Cases of Disease..

..................................................8

9.
Definitions
.8

Appendices
Appendix 1: Incident Reporting Flowchart
Appendix 2: Dangerous Occurrence/Near Miss Reporting Flowchart
Appendix 3: Definitions RIDDOR Reportable Incidents

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1. INTRODUCTION

Glasgow Caledonian University

Incident Reporting Policy

Glasgow Caledonian University acknowledges its duty to make sufficient

provision for the management of health and safety in the workplace. It is
the policy of the University to fully implement the requirements of the
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 by providing
the facilities, procedures and resources to effect a suitable and sufficient
health and safety management system.

The individual University Executive Deans and Heads of Professional

Support Departments are accountable to the Executive Members for the
implementation of this policy within their areas of responsibility and
control.

Duties of implementation may be delegated to individuals in a manner

that accurately reflects their existing levels of competence and
responsibility.
These individuals must plan, organise, control, monitor and review their
health and safety management systems. However, in certain
circumstances, the advice and assistance of specialist advisors will be
required.

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2. SUMMARY OF ACTION REQUIRED TO FACILITATE THIS POLICY

2.1 Summary Guidance

All Staff*: -

- Ensure that any accident to yourself, no matter how minor, is reported on

an Incident/Near Miss Form (Form S1/S1e) or in the departmental
accident book
for minor incidents (eg. slight cut or abrasion).
- Call a first aider for anyone who needs first aid treatment.
- Inform a responsible person of any dangerous occurrence or near miss.

*Please note that, the Incident/Near Miss Form (Form S1e) can be found in
your department or at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/healthandsafety/index.html.
Students should not be regarded as staff unless they are actually
employed by the University e.g. some research students, placement
students who are paid by the University.

Heads of Department: -

- The Head of Department shall ensure that any incident which occurs
within their area of responsibility and control should be properly
investigated.
- Designate a responsible person to assist in collecting incident
information, completing paperwork and taking remedial action. The
responsible person could be the Departmental Safety Co-ordinator
or any other member of staff. Note that the reporting of dangerous
occurrences and near misses is mandatory.
- Communicate to all staff within your department the procedures for
dealing with incidents and ensure that they have been informed of
the name(s) of the responsible person(s).
- Ensure that any paperwork is completed and forwarded according to this
guidance to ensure compliance with legislation.
- Ensure that the Health and Safety Adviser is informed as soon as it
becomes apparent that an employee will be off work for more than
three days as a result of a workplace accident.
- Ensure that the Health and Safety Adviser is informed if an employee
subsequently dies with one year as a result of an incident at work.
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 - Inform the Health and Safety Adviser if an employee suffers from a
reportable disease (Please See Appendix 3).

First Aiders: -

- After giving treatment to any injured person, complete an Incident/Near

Miss Form (Form S1/S1e) and send to the H&S Dept by post or by e-
mail to hsforms@gcu.ac.uk
In the case of a major injury or fatality telephone the Health and
Safety Adviser.

Responsible Persons: -
- In the case of a dangerous occurrence telephone the Health and Safety
Adviser.
- Investigate incidents before completing the relevant parts of any
Incident/Near Miss Form and recommending remedial action,
identifying where possible any immediate or underlying causes.
- Ensure remedial action is carried out.

Health and Safety Adviser: -

- Ensure that any injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences are
reported to the HSE in accordance with RIDDOR 95.
- Assist and advise as required with any incident investigation where the
incident is serious and provide a report for management.
- Compile incident statistics to be fed back to Departments through the
University Health & Safety Committee.

3. BACKGROUND

3.1 This document will guide you on the Universitys policy and procedures for
complying with the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous
Occurrences Regulations 1995. For more detailed guidance on the
Regulations you may wish to obtain a copy of A guide to the Reporting of
Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (HSE
Books, L73, ISBN 0-7176-1012-8).

3.2 The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences

Regulations 1995 (hereafter known as RIDDOR 95) have certain statutory
reporting requirements which must be observed in the event of an incident
which occurs on University premises and involving employees, clients,
contractors, students and other persons, or involving employees engaged
in University business on other premises.

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3.3 An incident in this document refers to any accident resulting in fatality,
major or first aid injury, or a dangerous occurrence or a near miss. The
reporting of diseases is also covered in this set of policy arrangements.
Please refer to section 8 for a full explanation of the key terms
used throughout this document and Appendix 3 for the definition
of a RIDDOR reportable incident.

3.4 The Health and Safety Adviser will: -

Provide an interface between the University and the Health and

Safety Executive ensuring that any injuries, diseases and dangerous
occurrences are reported to the HSE in accordance with RIDDOR 95.
Act as a point of contact should the HSE wish to investigate an
incident.
Assist and advise as required with any incident investigation where
the incident is serious and provide a report for management.
Compile incident statistics to be fed back to Departments through the
University Safety Committee to ultimately inform the risk assessment
process.

3.5 Heads of Department must designate a responsible person to assist in

collecting incident information, completing paperwork and taking
remedial action. The responsible person would normally be the
Departmental Safety Co-ordinator but it could also be any other member
of staff or indeed the Head of Department. The important point is that
the responsible person is made aware of their responsibilities as outlined
in this document and that their role is communicated by the Head of
department to all other members of the Department. The Health and
Safety Adviser should also be informed of the name, designation and
phone number of the responsible person(s). It should also be noted that
there is nothing wrong with appointing more than one responsible person
(especially in larger Departments) and indeed, at the very least, a depute
should be designated to take over the responsibilities when the
responsible person is not at work.

4. ACCIDENT REPORTING PROCEDURE (used in the event of an injury

to a person)

4.1 Staff have a legal responsibility, under the Social Security (Claims and
Payments) Regulations 1979, to record any injury at work, no matter how
minor. They should do so by reporting the incident on an Incident/Near
Miss Form (Form S1/S1e) or in the departmental accident book for minor
incidents (eg. slight cut or abrasion.

4.2 When an accident occurs and a person is more seriously injured a First
Aider should be summoned immediately to provide treatment, by calling
telephone extension 2222. In the event that the accident causes the
death of an employee or a major injury to an employee, arising out of or
in connection with the work of the University (this also includes a death or
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 major injury as a result of physical violence), the First Aider will contact
the Health and Safety Adviser by telephone on 331 8859 as soon as they
have finished attending to the injured person. In the event that the
accident causes the death of a non-employee or leads to the non-
employee to being taken to hospital by whatever means, and the injury
arises out of or in connection with the work of the University, again the
First Aider will contact the Health and Safety Adviser by telephone as
soon as they have finished attending to the injured person.
Note: For a definition of major injury please refer to Appendix 3.

4.3 For every accident attended, regardless of whether the injuries were
serious or the Health and Safety Adviser was contacted by telephone, the
First Aider must submit an Incident /Near Miss Form (Form S1/S1e) to the
Health and Safety Adviser within 3 working days of the accident.

4.4 Once the Form S1/S1e is received by the Health and Safety Adviser the
incident details will be entered into a computer database and, where
necessary, forwarded to the relevant Departments responsible person.
This will not be necessary if the injury sustained did not arise out of or in
connection with the work of the University.

4.5 On receiving the Form S1/S1e the responsible person may have to visit
the scene of the accident to gather information before completing the
Form S1/S1e for the signature of the Head of Department (in the absence
of the Head of Department the responsible person will sign the form).
The Form S1/S1e will then be returned to the Health and Safety Adviser
within 4 working days of the responsible person having received it. A
copy should be retained by the responsible person and the Head of
Department.

4.6 For ease of understanding, these reporting procedures are illustrated as a

flowchart (See Appendix 1).

5. DANGEROUS OCCURRENCE/NEAR MISS REPORTING PROCEDURE

5.1 In the event of a dangerous occurrence or a near miss the Departments

responsible person or Head of Department should be informed
immediately. If the incident happens on the campus in an area which is
outwith the scope of a particular Department (e.g. car parks, central
concourse) then Estates Department should be contacted to act as the
responsible person.

Note: For definitions of dangerous occurrence and near miss please

refer to Appendix 3.

5.2 The responsible person will then visit the scene of the incident to gather
information where necessary. If the incident is a dangerous occurrence
the responsible person will contact the Health and Safety Adviser
immediately by telephone (331 8859).

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5.3 The responsible person will complete the relevant parts of Form S1
(shown in the Appendix) for the signature of the Head of Department (in
the absence of the Head of Department the responsible person will sign
the form). The Form S1 will then be returned to the Health and Safety
Adviser within 7 working days of the incident. A form should be sent
to the Health and Safety Adviser even where the Adviser has already
been contacted by telephone. A copy should be retained by the
responsible person and the Head of Department.

5.4 For ease of understanding these reporting procedures are illustrated as a

flowchart (See Appendix 2).

6. OVER-3- DAY INJURIES

6.1 According to RIDDOR 95 where a person is incapacitated for workfor

more than three consecutive days (excluding the day of the accident but
including any days which would not have been working days) because of
an injury resulting from an accident arising out of or in connection with
work the responsible person shall send a report thereof to the relevant
enforcing authority. In order for this to happen the responsible person
within a Department, or the Head of Department, must monitor the
progress of any employee injured in an accident at work. As soon as it
becomes apparent that the employee will be off work for more
than three days, i.e. at least four days, the responsible person or
Head of Department should inform the Health and Safety Adviser
on 331 8859.

6.2 The Health and Safety Adviser will already have been notified through the
accident reporting procedures that an employee was injured and will be
able to use the information from the Form S1/S1e to provide a report to
the Health and Safety Executive (the enforcing authority).

7. REPORTING THE SUBSEQUENT DEATH OF AN EMPLOYEE

7.1 Under RIDDOR 95 there is a requirement to report the subsequent death

of an employee who dies as a result of a reportable injury within one
year of the incident.

7.2 In order for this to happen the responsible person within a Department, or
the Head of Department, must monitor the progress of any employee
seriously injured in an accident at work. As soon as the responsible
person or HOD becomes aware of the subsequent death of an employee
they should inform the Health and Safety Adviser on 331 8859.

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7.3 Reasonable steps must also be taken to monitor the progress of any
employee who is seriously injured and leaves their employment within
a year of the incident.

8. REPORTING OF CASES OF DISEASE

8.1 Certain occupational diseases which affect employees have to be

reported to the Health and Safety Executive (See Appendix 3). The
requirement to report a case applies only where a written diagnosis
from a registered medical practitioner has been received.

8.2 In such circumstances the Manager, Head of Department or responsible

person will have to check whether the employees job involves work
activities specified under Schedule 3 of RIDDOR 95 which are linked to
certain diseases. In practice the Manager or Head of Department may
seek the advice of the Health and Safety Adviser. In any event the Health
and Safety Adviser must be informed of any notifiable diseases so that
the correct form can be completed and submitted to the Health and
Safety Executive.

9. DEFINITIONS

9.1 In this document a responsible person is a Departmental Safety Co-

ordinator or any other member of staff who is designated by the Head of
Department to assist in collecting incident information, completing
paperwork and taking remedial action.

9.2 An incident in this document refers to any accident resulting in

fatality, major or minor injury, or a dangerous occurrence or a near miss.

9.3 First Aid injuries are any injuries which require first aid treatment
but do not require any further treatment (e.g. taken to hospital). In this
document we exclude very minor cuts and scratches which are self
treated, for example by the application of a plaster. However it should be
remembered that for any accident, no matter how minor, an entry should
be made in the Accident Book.

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