Investigating Health & Safety Incidents

All incidents that are work-related and/or occur on university controlled premises must be followed up with some degree of investigation. 

 

 In some cases it may be straightforward, for example:

• Confirming that first aid provisions were available & adequate at the time
• Confirming that the correct procedure was followed in response to the foreseeable incident (e.g. evacuation protocols; chemical spillage management protocols)
• Confirming that a repair work order have been arranged / completed to fix an isolated issue

 

In other cases the circumstances may be more complex and point towards underlying failures in health & safety management. In these situations, a deeper review is required.

The scope and depth of an investigation depends on the nature and severity of the health & safety incident.

• When an incident is more serious, and associated with obvious shortfalls in health & safety management processes, then a more thorough investigation is warranted.                      
• When an incident is less serious, and significant gaps in health & safety management processes are not apparent, then a more straightforward approach is sufficient.

 

Categorising severity of incidents

The below table sets out the framework for sorting health & safety incidents by nature & severity. The lower the investigation category, the more serious the incident and the greater need for a more comprehensive investigation (as a general rule).

Sorting incidents into investigation categories is also the first step to determine the investigation process to be followed - please see the next section for further information. 

Training

All investigation coordinators must complete Health & Safety Investigation Training, which is delivered by the university central health & safety team. This training module is part of the training programme for all Departmental Safety Coordinators. 

 

Guidance

Guidance is also available, which outlines best practice for conducting a health & safety investigation. Please refer to the guidance linked at the bottom of this web page.