OHS Incident, Injury, Hazard Reporting and Investigation

Procedure (MPF120!
"O#$R%I%" PO&I'(
This procedure has been made under the Occupational Health and Safety Policy.
S'OP$
This procedure applies to all staff, students, contractors and other personnel at workplaces under
the management or control of the University of elbourne.
This procedure applies to work!related incidents and ha"ards, including#
incidents, near misses or ha"ards
in$uries or illnesses
environmental damage
property loss or damage
theft.
This procedure describes the University%s process for#
recording and classifying occupational health and safety & related incidents, including
work!related in$uries or illnesses, in accordance with the re'uirements of the Accident
Compensation Act 1985 ()ic*
assessing and where necessary investigating reported incidents and ha"ards to
determine the root causes
monitoring planned corrective actions to prevent or reduce the risk of reoccurrence of
reported incidents.
PRO'$)*R$
1+ Incident response
+.+ ,nyone involved in an incident must immediately respond with these actions#
+. Protect your health and safety.
-. Protect the health and safety of others.
.. /f necessary, provide aid to any in$ured persons involved in the incident.
0. /f necessary, call for a first aider.
1. /f necessary, call emergency services.
2. /f applicable, call campus security to coordinate access for emergency services on
campus.
3. /f applicable, take essential action to make the site safe or to prevent a further incident.
+.- ,fter in$ured persons have been assisted, those involved must isolate the incident site or
take any essential action to prevent a further incident.
+.. The site must not be disturbed further until it is confirmed that the incident does not
re'uire notification to a regulatory authority (see section .* or until a 4orkSafe inspector has
authorised the disturbance.
Page + of 3
+.0 On confirmation that the site can be disturbed, work may start on site restoration, repair
work and arrangements to make the site safe.
+.1 , health and safety representative (HS5* for a designated work group (647* may inspect
the workplace immediately following an incident occurring.
2+ Incident reporting
-.+ The 6irector, OHS and /n$ury anagement must maintain a register of in$uries in
accordance with the re'uirements of the Accident Compensation Act 1985 ()ic*.
-.- Staff, students, contractors and visitors must report any incident and8or ha"ard to their
local supervisor or the manager of the work area as soon as reasonably practicable.
-.. High conse'uence incidents must be reported immediately. Other incidents must be
reported in writing within -0 hours of becoming aware of the incident, in$ury or illness.
-.0 Staff, students, contractors and visitors must complete a formal incident report for any
OHS incident that occurred on campus, or at a University!controlled workplace, or while engaged
in any University!sanctioned activity. 9vents that must be reported include#
in$uries or illnesses
incidents or near misses
property loss or damage
environmental damage
theft.
-.1 Staff who do not notify their supervisor of any work!related in$ury or illness within .: days
of becoming aware of it may risk any entitlement they have to make a workers compensation
claim.
-.2 /ncident reports should be submitted via Themis to the local supervisor, e;cept where
there is valid reason (for e;ample, if the supervisor is the sub$ect of an allegation, or if the
supervisor is absent*. 4here there is a valid reason for directing an incident report to recipient
other than the supervisor, the reporter should seek advice from their local OHS practice e;pert to
establish an appropriate recipient (see incident reporting instructions on the Safety website*.
-.3 ,n acknowledgement email will be sent to the person who submitted the incident report
and (if applicable* to the in$ured person. They will receive further email notifications of the
progress of the incident report, including#
acknowledgement of receipt by the supervisor8nominated recipient
finalisation of corrective actions by the supervisor8nominated recipient
close!out by the relevant local OHS practice e;pert.
-.< On receiving the incident report, the supervisor must, as soon as reasonably practicable,
identify and record#
immediate actions taken to assist any persons in$ured during the incident
immediate actions taken to prevent reoccurrence of the incident
if a copy of the incident report has been provided to the HS5
if a copy of the incident report has been provided to ,sset Services
Page - of 3
severity of the incident
likelihood of the incident occurring or reoccurring
resultant risk rating of the incident
if an on!site incident investigation has been completed
if applicable, the members of the incident investigation team
planned actions to prevent reoccurrence of the incident
due date for completion of planned corrective actions.
-.= The supervisor must notify an /n$ury anagement case manager if any University
employee in$ured as a result of the incident took time off work.
,+ Incidents re-uiring noti.ication to /or0Sa.e #ictoria
..+ The categories of incident re'uiring notification to 4orkSafe )ictoria are#
The death of a person.
, person re'uiring medical treatment within 0< hours of e;posure to a substance.
, person re'uiring immediate treatment as an in!patient in a hospital.
, person re'uiring immediate medical treatment for#
o the amputation of any part of his or her body
o a serious head in$ury
o a serious eye in$ury
o the separation of his or her skin from an underlying tissue (such as de!gloving or
scalping*
o electric shock
o a spinal in$ury
o the loss of a bodily function
o serious laceration.
,n incident that e;poses a person in the immediate vicinity to an immediate risk to the
person>s health or safety through#
o the collapse, overturning, failure or malfunction of, or damage to, any plant that
the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2007 ()ic* prescribe must not be
used unless the plant is licensed or registered
o the collapse or failure of an e;cavation or of any shoring supporting an
e;cavation
o the collapse or partial collapse of all or part of a building or structure
o an implosion, e;plosion or fire
o the escape, spillage or leakage of any substance including dangerous goods
o the fall or release from a height of any plant, substance or ob$ect.
..- 4hen a supervisor is informed of an incident re'uiring notification, they must immediately
contact their local OHS practice e;pert (during business hours* or the on!call OHS practitioner
through the Parkville campus Security ?ontrol 5oom on :. <.00 2222 or e;tension 02222.
... The supervisor must ensure that the incident site is not disturbed until authorised (see
section +..*.
..0 The on!call OHS practitioner must assess the incident details and determine if the incident
re'uires notification to 4orkSafe )ictoria. /f notification is re'uired, the on!call OHS practitioner
will commence the process for notification in accordance with the 4ork instructions for incident
notification to 4orkSafe.
Page . of 3
1+ Incident investigation
0.+ 4hen the supervisor assesses the risk rating of an incident, near miss, illness or in$ury to
be medium, high or very high, they must ensure that a formal incident investigation is carried out.
0.- The investigation must identify any#
behavioural causes of the incident (substandard practices that caused the e;posure to
harm*
physical causes of the incident (substandard conditions that caused the e;posure to
harm*
management system deficiencies that led to behavioural or physical causes (absence or
failure of process to ade'uately control substandard practices or conditions*.
0.. /ncident investigations must commence within 0< hours or as soon as reasonably
practicable after the supervisor is informed of the incident.
0.0 The supervisor must establish an incident investigation team, which may include#
local supervisor or manager (team leader*
persons involved in the incident and witnesses
HS5 (if reasonably practicable*
local OHS practice e;pert or local OHS coordinator.
0.1 The supervisor or manager should act as the team leader and at least one team member
should be trained in University of elbourne incident investigation methodology.
0.2 The incident investigation team must establish the facts, including circumstances leading
up to the incident, and what happened during and after the incident. The team must gather and
consider information including#
identified ha"ards
effectiveness of the e;isting risk assessments
effective of the e;isting risk controls
photos, sketches and other evidence from the site gathered during inspections and
observations,
discussions with persons involved (or who are aware of possible contributing factors*,
and statements from witnesses
materials, e'uipment chemicals and substances involved
e;act location and environmental conditions including lighting, weather, ventilation and
floor conditions
e;act time and date of the incident and other time factors (for e;ample, shift changes,
rest breaks, task duration, work time frames and deadlines*
se'uence of events, before, during and after the incident, including any unusual events.
0.3 The team must document the investigation on an /ncident investigation (S0* form.
0.< The team leader must provide a copy of the completed incident investigation report to the
local OHS ?ommittee and the local OHS practice e;pert.
2+ 'orrective actions
Page 0 of 3
1.+ The team will recommend corrective actions to eliminate or reduce the risk of a similar
incident occurring, so far as is reasonably practicable.
1.- The supervisor must ensure that appropriate corrective actions are implemented, or that
the recommended corrective actions are escalated to a person responsible for their
implementation.
1.. 4hen implementing corrective actions, the supervisor must ensure that local personnel
affected are consulted.
1.0 The supervisor must monitor progress on implementing corrective actions and record
when implementation is finalised.
+ Revie3 o. investigation reports and corrective actions
2.+ The local and budget division OHS committees must#
review incident investigation reports submitted to the committee
nominate a person to review and report back to the committee on the effectiveness of the
implemented control measures.
4+ Reporting 5ig5 conse-uence incidents
3.+ The 6irector, OHS and /n$ury anagement will ensure high conse'uence incidents are
reported to#
Head of the relevant budget division
OHS ?ommittee (for OHS incidents, in$uries and illnesses*
5isk anagement ?ommittee
,dministrative and @usiness ,dvisory 7roup
University ?ouncil.
R$&67$) )O'*M$%7S
Occupational Health and Safety Act 200 ()ic*
Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2007 ()ic*
Accident Compensation Act 1985 ()ic*
,S +<<1.+# easurement of occupational health and safety performance ! 6escribing
and reporting occupational in$uries and disease
,S8ABS 0<:+# Occupational health and safety management systems & Specifications
with guidance for use
Aational Occupational Health and Safety ?ommission, Type of occurrence classification
system
)ictorian 4ork?over ,uthority, ?laims anual, -::<
4orkSafe )ictoria, 7uide to /ncident Aotification, .rd 9dition, -::<
/ncident reporting flow chart C.pdfD
/ncident reporting (Safety website*
4ork instructions for incident notification to 4orkSafe
)$FI%I7IO%S
Page 1 of 3
7er8 )e.inition
'orrective actions The actions taken after an incident to prevent or reduce the risk of the
incident reoccurring.
)isease ,ny physical or mental ailment, disorder, defect or morbid condition
whether of sudden or gradual development. The aggravation,
acceleration, e;acerbation or recurrence of any pre!e;isting disease.
(Accident Compensation Act 1985 C)icD*
$nviron8enta9 da8age ,n event that causes harm to the environment through the generation
of environmental noise, environmental release or e;cessive resource
consumption.
Hazard , source or a situation with a potential for harm in terms of human in$ury
or ill!health, damage to property, damage to the environment, or a
combination of these. (,S 0<:+*
Hig5 conse-uence
incidents
/ncidents that re'uire notification to a regulator, or incidents that are
assessed to be very high risk. /ncludes incidents that e;pose a person
to immediate health or safety risk, or seriously endanger or threaten
their health or safety.
I99ness ,ny work!related illness, including disease.
Incident ,ny unplanned event resulting in, or having a potential for in$ury, ill
health, damage or other loss. (,S 0<:+*
Medica9 treat8ent Treatment by a registered medical practitioner within the meaning of the
Health !"ofessions Regist"ation Act 2005 ()ic*.
%ear 8iss ,n event that could have resulted in human in$ury or damage to
property, process or the environment, but did not.
Preventative actions The actions taken to prevent or reduce the risk of an incident occurring.
/or0:re9ated injury ,ny physical or mental in$ury and, without limiting the generality of that
definition, includes (a* industrial deafnessE (b* a disease contracted by a
worker in the course of the worker>s employment (whether at, or away
from, the place of employment*E (c* a recurrence, aggravation,
acceleration, e;acerbation or deterioration of any pre!e;isting in$ury or
disease. (Accident Compensation Act 1985 C)icD*
R$SPO%SI;&$ OFFI'$R
The 6irector, OHS and /n$ury anagement is responsible for the development, compliance
monitoring and review of this procedure and any associated guidelines.
IMP&$M$%767IO% OFFI'$R
The 6irector, OHS and /n$ury anagement is responsible for the promulgation and
implementation of this procedure in accordance with the scope outlined above. 9n'uiries about
interpretation of this policy should be directed to the /mplementation Officer.
R$#I$/
This procedure is to be reviewed by .: Fune -:+1.
#$RSIO% HIS7OR(
#ersion 6ut5orised <y 6pprova9 )ate $..ective )ate Sections 8odi.ied
! OHS? .+ October -::2 .+ October -::2 !
! 7eneral
anager, 9HS
+< ay -::= +< ay -::= !
! OHS? = ay -:+- +< Fune -:+- 5evised format
Page 2 of 3
,dded specific reference to ha"ard
reporting. Previously only referred to
in associated guidance.
5emoved reference to
environmental management.
9nvironmental damage remains as a
incident type for reporting purposes
inor rewording not altering intent or
process, e.g. updating position
descriptions and names of current
committees involved in OHS
document approval processes
5emoval of some specific
instructional content better located in
guidance.
+ Senior )ice!
Principal
-< Fune -:+- -< Fune -:+- Aew version arising from the Policy
Simplification Pro$ect. Goaded into PG as
)ersion +.
Page 3 of 3