Accident Reporting Procedures
In the event of an accident, seven different parties -- the injured employee, those working with or near the injured employee, the employee's supervisor, the Safety Coordinator, the Facilities Human Resource Specialist, a Safety Committee member, and the Safety Committee as a whole -- have certain responsibilities that must be fulfilled. These responsibilities may contribute to the saving of the injured employee's life, the initiation of the Return-to-Work Program, the prevention of similar accidents in the future, and so on. This page lists the step-by-step actions that should be taken by these seven parties.
The box on the right side of the page entitled "Accident Forms" contains links to four forms necessary in the accident recovery process. The Safety Committee Accident/Injury Review and Supervisors Accident/ Injury Report forms are used in post-accident investigations to prevent similar accidents from occurring. The Employee's First Report of Injury or Illness should be filled out by any employee who suffers even a very minor injury, so as to initiate the insurance claim process should the injury worsen. The Worker's Compensation Employer's First Report of Injury or Illness is to be filled out by the Safety Coordinator.
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Bystanders' (usually coworkers') Responsibilities
A. The first priority after an accident has occurred is medical intervention. This may include: simply lending support to the injured employee; administering first aid; accompanying the injured employee to WordMed or the Emergency Room; or, ultimately, calling 911.
B. Administer emergency first aid if necessary. If an employee falls unconscious, is bleeding, or sustains a serious injury, first aid measures may be necessary while awaiting the arrival of emergency medical personnel. If you are not trained or comfortable administering first aid, notify someone who is. At the very least, stay with the employee until someone more qualified arrives on the scene.
C. Serious injury may not be apparent from any observation you can make. Minor injuries may become serious without expert first aid. Make sure the effects of an injury aren't worsened because the employee is permitted to resume his normal duties without being checked out.
D. There is also a concern about other employees. If the injury is the result of an exposure of some kind or of some immediate safety hazard. others may be at risk. Take steps right away to get a safety hazard corrected, if one is present. If the conditions are hazardous beyond employees' training, then the area should be vacated and authorities called.
Injured Employee's Responsibilities
A. The employee's first task is to report to the direct supervisor. How and when the supervisor is contacted will depend on the severity of the injury. Once the medical condition has been stabilized, the injured employee should immediately contact the direct supervisor in person; if this is impossible, the phone or another contact method may be used.
B. If medical attention is necessary, the employee must initially visit WorkMed. This is located in the Logan Regional Hospital, just east of the Emergency Room.
B-1. The employee has the right to change doctors after the WorkMed visit.
C. The direct supervisor should be contacted immediately after the employee feels an injury may have occurred or medical intervention has taken place. Even minor or incidental injuries should be reported to the supervisor. This will help to protect the employee should the injury worsen.
D. The employee is responsible for contacting the Facilities Safety Coordinator and helping in the process of submitting a WCF First Report of Injury Form. This form notifies WCF of the injury and initiates the insurance claim process.
E. The employee's supervisor may ask the employee to participate in filling out the Supervisor's Accident/Injury Report.
F. Maintain communication with Facilities. Active cooperation is important in the injured employee's recovery. All those involved in the injured employee's return-to-work process must be aware of the workplace restrictions and when they change.
F-1. If the treating health care provider issues workplace restrictions for the injured employee, those restrictions must be submitted to the supervisor and/or the Facilities Human Resource Specialist in an expedient manner.
F-2. The injured employee must give notice to the supervisor or the Facilities Human Resource Specialist of all upcoming medical appointments in relation to the workplace injury.
F-3. Whenever the treating health care provider changes or updates previous workplace restrictions, it is then the employee's responsibility to submit the latest workplace restrictions to the supervisor or the Facilities Human Resource Specialist.
F-3-A. The new workplace restrictions should be submitted to Facilities before the injured employee begins the next work shift.
F-4. When the treating health care provider removes workplace restrictions, it is then the employee's responsibility to submit the return-to-work release to the supervisor or Facilities Human Resource Specialist.
F-4-A. The release to work should be submitted to Facilities before the employee begins the next work shift.
G. The employee should participate in Return-to-Work planning meetings and follow-up informational meetings.
Supervisor's Responsibilities
A. The steps taken after an accident has occurred can make a significant difference in the employee's well-being and in Facilities' productivity.
B. Lend support to the injured worker. Make sure that the worker is secure and that the area is safe for other workers.
C. Immediately contact the Safety Coordinator so that Facilities' accident response process can be initiated. Leave a voicemail message if the accident occurs during an off-shift or if the Safety Coordinator is out of the office. The Safety Coordinator can also be reached via cell phone.
D. Accompany the injured worker to the Emergency Room/WorkMed, especially if the worker cannot safely drive himself or herself.
D-1. When accompanying the employee to receive medical attention, your role is one of support and assistance.
D-2. Obtain a copy of the employee's release-to-work or work restrictions from the treating health care provider and deliver it to the Facilities Human Resource Specialist before the employee returns to work.
E. Visit the scene of the accident as soon as possible, preferably the same day as the accident. This will be the beginning of the accident analysis.
E-1. The site visit should be done in cooperation with a member of the Safety Committee. (The Safety Coordinator will tell you who this will be.) Though this is a joint accident analysis, both supervisor and Safety Committee member should prepare individual reports.
F. Make sure the employee fills out the Worker's Compensation paperwork.
F-1. Generally, the Safety Coordinator will assist the employee with the Worker's Compensation paperwork.
F-2. If the injured employee works on an off-shift and finds it difficult to visit the Safety Office, the shift managers are also capable of assisting with the Worker's Compensation paperwork.
G. Fill out the Supervisor's Accident/Injury report form. This should be done after visiting the scene of the accident, speaking with the injured employee, and interviewing any witnesses of the accident. The purpose of the accident report is to determine the underlying causes of the accident and what could have been done to prevent the accident from occurring. This information will be used to prevent future accidents.
H. The injured employee is paid for the entire day of the accident, whether he/she is at a medical provider facility or at home. Therefore, when an employee who is required to fill out a timecard has an accident, he/she will use the task code 109 for the time on the timecard, from the time of the accident until the end of the shift.
H-1. The Facilities Human Resource Specialist will be responsible for recording any missed or restricted time due to the accident after the first day.
I. Maintain regular contact with the injured employee while he/she is off work or is temporarily transferred to another job task. This can be as simple as a weekly encouraging phone call.
J. If necessary, participate in the injured employee's Return-to-Work plan and make workplace accommodations as necessary. (See the Return-to-Work policy.)
Safety Coordinator's Responsibilities
A. Contact and assign a Safety Committee member to investigate the accident.
A-1. Inform the injured employee's supervisor of which Safety Committee member will be assisting in the accident analysis.
B. Personally investigate all incidents leading to an Emergency Room visit or substantial property damage.
C. Provide auxiliary support to the supervisor of the Safety Committee member with the incident analysis.
D. Prepare the Worker's Compensation paperwork in cooperation with the injured employee.
E. Notify the Facilities Human Resource Specialist that an accident has occurred.
F. If workplace restrictions are prescribed by the injured employee's medical provider, the Safety Coordinator should help to ensure that restrictions are accommodated and that the injured employee is safe performing accommodated job tasks.
G. Participate in follow-up interviews and evaluation of the accident analysis and return-to-work process.
H. Work in conjunction with the Safety Committee to determine the root causes of the accident. Develop and implement plans to prevent further occurrences of the accident.
I. Disseminate the proper paperwork to all those involved.
I-1. Copies of the WCF paperwork and the Supervisor's Accident Report should be forwarded to the following:
- The Campus Human Resource Office
- The Campus Environmental Health and Safety Office
- The Assistant Vice President of Facilities
- The Facilities Human Resource Office
- The Facilities Safety Office
J. Maintain and file the WCF paperwork.
K. Work with MIS to produce a monthly report illustrating the current lost time and restricted work hours compared to previous months and years.
K-1. At the beginning of each month, forward copies of that report to the following:
- The Assistant Vice President of Facilities
- All Facilities Directors
- All Facilities Managers
Facilities Human Resource Specialist's Responsibilities
A. Work with the injured employee to take care of any additional Worker's Compensation concerns beyond the first Report of Injury.
B. Track the monthly lost time and restricted hours arising from workplace accidents.
C. Oversee the Return-to-Work program within Facilities.
Safety Committee Member's Responsibilities
A. The Safety Coordinator will assign a Safety Committee member to conduct the injured worker's accident analysis.
B. The Safety Committee member will follow up with the injured employee, the supervisor, and any witnesses to the accident within 24-48 hours of the accident.
C. Visit the accident site on the same day that notification occurs, with the supervisor if possible.
D. Complete the Safety Committee's Internal Accident Analysis form. This form should only be completed after the injured employee, the supervisor, and any witnesses to the accident have been interviewed and the accident site has been visited.
E. Determine the underlying and root causes of the accident.
F. Present the information gathered during the analysis to the Safety Committee at the regularly scheduled meeting.
G. Gather any further information concerning the incident as requested by the Safety Committee.
Safety Committee's Responsibilities
A. Review the Supervisor's Accident report.
A-1. The Safety Committee member assigned to the accident investigation will lead the discussion.
B. Review the Safety Committee member's Accident Report.
B-1. The underlying and root causes of the accident will be examined and determined during this review.
C. Develop and initiate plans to remedy or mediate the causes of the incident.
D. Disseminate the accident prevention information throughout Facilities.
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