Accident, incident and near miss policy
Document status
This is a controlled document and should not be saved onto local or network drives.
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to outline the steps involved in dealing with accidents, incidents and near misses to ensure that, as far as possible, those circumstances can be avoided in the future.
Re-engage recognises that accurate and consistent recording of accidents, incidents and near misses can play a major part in reducing the likelihood of them happening again. With this in mind, it is essential that all accidents, incidents and near misses – no matter how small, are properly reported.
Definitions of terms
- An accident is an unexpected event that causes, damage, injury, or harm.
- An incident is any injury, loss, damage or abuse to older person, volunteer, or staff member, or to property or equipment.
- A near miss in an incident that had the potential to cause harm, loss or injury but was prevented.
- RIDDOR – Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations.
There is a legal requirement to report all case of RIDDOR to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). This is known as Accident and Dangerous Occurrence Reporting and a link to what you should report can be found here.
Scope
Re-engage will ensure that all staff and volunteers are aware of their responsibility to report accidents, incidents and near misses using the accidents and incident reporting process.
Re-engage will ensure that the process for reporting accidents, incidents and near misses is implemented and maintained and that any subsequent actions are effectively managed to reduce the likelihood of the situation happening again.
Statement of principles
The key objective of this policy is to ensure that Re-engage manages and investigates all accidents and incidents in line with best practice, learns and shares lessons, and takes appropriate action to protect older people, volunteers, and staff from harm by:
- recording accidents and incidents
- investigating accidents and incidents as appropriate
- regularly monitoring accident and incident data
- reporting to statutory agencies promptly
- minimising loss of reputation, or assets
- ensuring that lessons are learnt from incidents to prevent incidents reoccurring
- promoting a culture of accountability without ‘blame’ where older people, volunteers and staff feel able to report incidents or near misses and learn from mistakes without fear of recrimination
- empowering volunteers and staff to recognise potential risks and to feel supported in the reporting of an accident, incident or near miss
Responsibilities
The head of service delivery is responsible for this policy.
The senior management team (SMT) are responsible for monitoring compliance with this policy and will receive regular reports on accidents, incidents and near misses that have been reported.
Re-engage’ s board of trustees will be informed about accidents, incidents and near misses via a quarterly report.
Staff and volunteers are responsible for highlighting any risks or issues and any staff member or volunteer can complete an incident reporting form and should be fully cooperative with any review processes.
Process
- All accidents, incidents and near misses must be immediately reported using the accident, incident and near miss reporting form.
- The accident, incident and near miss mailbox will be monitored daily by the head of service delivery.
- Staff and / or volunteers directly involved in or a witness to an accident, incident or near miss will have a debrief of the circumstances with the head of service delivery to establish the facts around the situation and to identify if any additional support is needed.
- The head of service delivery will review the accident, incident or near miss and record the actions and outcomes in the accident, incident and near miss case management log.
In the absence of the head of service delivery, a member of SMT will assume the role.
Monitoring and review
- Accidents, incidents and near misses must be recorded in chronological order in the accident, incident and near miss case management log and updated to record the actions taken.
- The accident, incident and near miss case management log will be periodically analysed to identify trends.
Associated documentation, legislation and supporting references
The following are regulation and legislation that directly apply to this policy:
- Re-engage serious incident policy
- RIDDOR – Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013
- Health & Safety at Work Act 1974