Accident and Incident Reporting Policy and Procedure (including Notifiable Incidents Procedure)

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1 Purpose YPCT recognises the important role of accident and incident reporting, and investigation in ensuring the health, safety and welfare of all persons within the workplace. YPCT will ensure all accidents and incidents, regardless of severity, are reported and investigated in order to identify the cause of the incident and put in place corrective actions. This policy has been developed to ensure that all workers (including volunteers) understand the processes to be taken in the event of an accident or incident. Application of policy: This policy applies to all workers of YPCT. Commencement of policy: This policy will commence from 11/10/16 and replaces all other policies of this type. Legislation Work Health and Safety Act 2012 Definitions For the purpose of this Accident and Incident Reporting Policy the following definitions apply: Incident or Accident refers to any event which caused or could have caused harm (injury, illness or damage) to persons, plant, equipment, vehicles, property, material, or the environment. It includes an event that caused no harm or damage but had the potential to do so (a near miss ). Notifiable Incident as defined in the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 means: a) The death of a person; or b) A serious injury or illness of a person; or c) A dangerous incident. They may relate to any person, whether an employee, contractor or member of the public. A Dangerous Incident as defined in the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 means: an incident in relation to a workplace that exposes a worker or any other person to a serious risk to a person s health or safety emanating from an immediate or imminent exposure to a) An uncontrolled escape, spillage or leakage of a substance; or b) An uncontrolled implosion, explosion or fire; c) Or an uncontrolled escape of gas or steam; or d) An uncontrolled escape of a pressurized substance; or e) Electric shock; or f) The fall or release from a height of any plant, substance or thing; or g) The collapse, overturning, failure or malfunction of, or damage to, any plant that is required to be authorized for use in accordance with the regulations; or h) The collapse or partial collapse of a structure; or i) The collapse or failure or an excavation or of any shoring supporting an excavation; or j) The inrush of water, mud or gas in workings, in an underground excavation or tunnel; or Page 1 of 5

2 k) The interruption of the main system of ventilation in an underground excavation or tunnel; or l) Any other event prescribed by the regulations. A Serious Injury or Illness as defined by the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 means: an injury or illness requiring the person to have: a) Immediate treatment as an in-patient in a hospital; or b) Immediate treatment for (i) The amputation of any part of his or her body; or (ii) A serious head injury; or (iii) A serious eye injury; or (iv) A serious burn; or (v) The separation of his or her skin from an underlying tissue (such as degloving or scalping); or (vi) A spinal injury; or (vii) The loss of a bodily function; or (viii) Serious lacerations; or c) Medical treatment within 48 hours of exposure to a substance, and includes any other injury or illness prescribed by the regulations but does not include an illness or injury of a prescribed kind. Responsible Parties: YPCT Responsibilities: Ensure this is implemented throughout the workplace and that all relevant managers/supervisors and workers are trained in the use of this Procedure; Investigate accidents to determine the root cause with the objective of preventing a recurrence; Obtain statistical information about the accident or incidents; Ensuring first aid kits are available and accessible; Utilise SafeWork SA s Injury Management Checklist to ensure workplace health and safety responsibilities are being met; Meet legislative requirements for reporting accidents and incidents. Managers and supervisors will be responsible for: Supervising their areas of responsibility to ensure full compliance with this Accident and Incident Reporting Policy and Procedure; Where a worker is suffering from a work related illness or injury, the Regional Manager will ensure the Injured Worker Pack has been provided to the worker and the contents explained to them; Notifying the Claims Agent within 5 working days of receiving a report from a worker about a work related injury or illness; Where rehabilitation is required, the Regional Manager shall ensure an appropriate program is developed in consultation with the Claims Agent, an approved Rehabilitation Provider and the Injured Worker. Page 2 of 5

3 Workers will be responsible for: Adhering to this at all times; Identify and minimise the risk throughout the workplace and report accidents and incidents when they occur; Co-operate during any investigation into an accident or incident at the workplace. Injured workers will be responsible for: Reading information in the Injured Worker Pack and completing the necessary forms, returning to the Regional Manager as soon as possible and in all cases within 24 hours; Forward medical certificates to the Regional Manager within 24 hours of attending a doctor or clinic; Actively participating in the development, implementation and review of any rehabilitation program necessary to assist in their recovery and return to pre-injury duties. Procedure In the event of any incident in YPCT s workplace or as a result of, or during the delivery of YPCT services, the following must be adhered to: Where a person has been injured, the responsible person at the incident site will ensure they have received appropriate first aid or medical treatment; All incidents, regardless of their severity (including near misses) must be reported to the Regional Manager or Volunteer and Risk Coordinator as soon as possible, and within 24 hours of the incident occurring; In the event that an incident meets the criteria of a notifiable incident the Regional Manager must be notified immediately. They will then notify SafeWork SA by phone ( hour service) as soon as reasonably practicable but no later than within 24 hours of the notifiable incident. Refer to the Notifiable Incidents Flow Chart. The SafeWork SA Notifiable Incident Report Form must also be completed and sent to SafeWork SA; All workers and contractors will fully co-operate with all requests by a SafeWork SA Inspector once their identification has been sighted and authenticated; No workers or contractors will respond to media inquiries but will notify the Regional Manager and advise them of media interest; The responsible person at the incident site is to ensure immediate short-term measures are taken to prevent recurrence of the incident and, if necessary, isolate the area to preserve evidence in the event of investigation by regulatory authorities. Refer to WHS-POL007 Hazard Management Policy and Procedure for establishing appropriate control measures; As soon as possible, and no later than within 24 hours, provide the injured worker with an Injured Worker Pack which includes WHS-SF001 Accident / Incident Report Form, a Return to Work SA Claim Form and a CLI-SF004 Authority to Release Medical Records Form. Page 3 of 5

4 On receiving a report from a worker about a work related injury illness, the Claims Agent must be notified within 5 days of receipt; All incidents must be recorded on the WHS-SF002 Accident/Incident Register and those records maintained for a period of at least five (5) years. Injuries, illness and property damage must be recorded on the WHS-SF001 Accident / Incident Report Form or WHS-SF010 Vehicle Accident Report Form and WHS-SF002 Accident / Incident Register. The person completing these forms should, wherever possible, be the person who was directly involved or witnessed the event; Incidents must be investigated using the WHS-SF001 Accident/Incident Report Form with the focus being on the circumstances of the incident, identification of hazards and the measures to be taken to prevent recurrence through the elimination or minimisation of risk. The most appropriate corrective action will be taken to ensure the incident does not recur; Incident investigations must be carried out by the Regional Manager of the incident site (or delegated to suitable competent person nominated by the Regional Manager) in consultation with the relevant workers or their representatives. If a serious accident does occur, funding departments may request documentation from YPCT to show evidence of how it will manage the serious incident. YPCT must notify the funding departments of any serious incidents within 24 hours of the incident occurring, or within 24 hours of becoming aware of the incident as set out in clause 35 of the Aged Care Funding Agreement. In addition, the specific requirements for notices made under the Aged Care Funding Agreement are set out in clause 50. Incident notification procedures represent a reactive response to serious incidents and should be complemented by proactive and systematic risk management activity aimed at minimising risk of any new incidents. Learning from incidents that occur aids in preventing the recurrence of any serious incidents. Breaches of this policy All workers are required to comply with this policy at all times. A breach of this policy may subject the worker to disciplinary action and in serious cases may include termination of employment. In the instance of volunteers, their engagement may be terminated. Contractors found in breach of this Policy may have their contracts terminated. Variations YPCT is committed to continuous improvement and reserves the right to vary, replace or terminate this policy from time to time. Signature Date 11/10/16 Related Policies, Procedures and Standard Forms WHS-POL001 Workplace Health and Safety Policy WHS-POL007 Hazard Management Policy Page 4 of 5

5 WHS-PRO001 Emergency Management Procedures WHS-SF001 Accident/Incident Report Form WHS-SF010 Vehicle Accident Report Form WHS-SF002 Accident / Incident Register CLI-PRO007 Client Non Response Procedure CLI-PRO008 Client Medical Emergency Procedure CLI-SF004 Authority to Release Medical Information GOV-POL006 Media Relations Policy and Procedure HR-POL002 Privacy Policy VOL-AGR001 Volunteer Privacy Agreement Notifiable Incident Report Form SafeWork SA Injury Management Checklist SafeWork SA Return to Work SA Claim Form Notifiable Incidents Flow Chart Aged Care Funding Agreement References 1 The death of a consumer, staff member, subcontractor or volunteer does not in itself constitute a serious incident. However, if the death involves circumstances that are out of the ordinary then it may constitute a serious incident, for example: The death occurred in unusual circumstances; A consumer dies and the standard of services provide may have been a contributing factor; The death has an obvious and direct correlation to the services the person was receiving; and The death is reportable by law 1 A serious injury to a consumer, staff member, subcontractor or volunteer does not in itself constitute a serious incident. However, if the serious injury involves circumstances that are out of the ordinary then it may constitute a serious incident, for example: The serious injury occurred in unusual circumstances; The serious injury results in the hospitalization of a consumer, staff member, subcontractor or volunteer; A consumer is seriously injured and the standard of services provided may have been a contributing factor; The serious injury has an obvious and direct correlation to the services the person is receiving; and The serious injury is reportable by law Page 5 of 5