Reporting accidents and incidents at work - it's easy

Our work activities can sometimes put us and others at risk of harm through injury or ill health.  Harm can be physical and/or mental. Reporting incidents that happen at work which cause harm or have the potential to cause harm, is essential for preventing future harm.

All work accidents and incidents of work-related ill health should be reported, no matter how minor. Incidents of verbal abuse and physical assault should be reported too.

Reporting means managers are made aware and can take some action to stop such incidents from happening again, which could lead to more serious consequences next time. Near misses – where people have narrowly avoided injury after something went wrong – should be reported too, as they can be investigated, and solutions found to reduce the likelihood of injury or ill health happening in the future.

Imagine if you found discarded needles on a work visit to a property, and you narrowly missed a needlestick injury.  Reporting it rather than ignoring it means that others are alerted to the problem and precautions put in place, so you and your colleagues are prepared and protected if any future visits necessary. Precautions could include training, safety shoes, addition of the property to the Client Risk Register, or future communication by phone call where possible.

Reporting incidents can also show where there is a wider problem if similar incidents are happening frequently, whether it is a local problem or also happening in other departments.

How to Report

You should report an incident immediately to your line manager.

The incident should also be reported via Sphera incident reporting portal, either by:

• Selecting ‘Health & Safety – Report Incident’ icon in your drop-down list of Favourites (East Lothian Council folder) on your internet browser.

Or

• Selecting the ‘Report an incident’ button at the top of the Health and Safety webpage.

 Any employee with East Lothian Council computer access can do this.

There are several types of report forms – select the one you want to use after reading the descriptions next to the link. The forms are designed to be straightforward to complete.  Help is available from the health and safety team if you need it.

Important things to remember:

• Take a note of the Incident Number – you (or your manager) might need it later to add further details to your report.
• Press ‘Save details’ button at the bottom to ensure your report is logged.

Once recorded, the incident report will be allocated to the person in your work area who is responsible for investigating the incident and in charge of follow up action, such risk assessment reviews and updating control measures designed to protect you, your colleagues and others affected by the work.

Check with your line manager what the arrangements are if you don’t have access to a computer.

We need your help! If you don’t report, there is no record of the incident happening, and it’s less likely something will be done about it.

Further help on reporting incidents can be obtained from:

• doing the short LearnPro course ‘ELC: Incident Reporting’ within LearnPro Essentials - for all employees

the Corporate Health and Safety Team. Email: Healthandsafety@eastlothian.gov.uk