Chapter 4 – Accidental Injury Reporting

A. References

  1. SPPM 2.24 Accident Reporting and Follow-Up
  2. SPPM 2.26 Investigating Accidents
  3. Human Resource Services Incident Report Information
    1. Incident Report Form—Requires network authentication.
    2. Supervisor’s Accident Investigation Report
    3. Witness/Injured Person Statement Form
  4. Online Incident and Accident Investigation Reporting Flowchart
  5. Motor Vehicle Safety—Accidents: SPPM 7.20
  6. Motor Vehicle Accident Form
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B. Appendices

C. Purpose

This chapter establishes requirements, responsibilities, and procedures for reporting significant near misses, incidents resulting in injury, work related illness or death, and accidents involving property damage.

D. Scope

All significant near misses, accidental injuries, work-related illnesses, and accidents resulting in property damage must be reported to supervisors immediately for evaluation and investigation. WSU must report employee fatalities or in-patient hospitalizations within eight (8) hours of the incident. WSU must report non-hospitalized employee amputations or loss of an eye within twenty-four (24) hours of the incident. Contact EH&S (509-335-3041) immediately after seeing to proper medical care/first aid/treatment for all major incidents. Do not disturb the scene of a major accident except to attend to the affected employee(s) and/or prevent further injury. The scene must otherwise remain intact to support WSU’s and L&I’s accident investigation.

Supervisors must report any significant near miss, accidental injury, or work-related illness within 24 hours of occurrence by submitting an online Incident Report (requires network authentication), and if required, a Supervisor’s Accident Investigation Report. Reference section F and the reporting flowchart in Appendix 1 of this chapter for more information on report submission requirements.

In the absence of the supervisor, it is the Manager’s, Director’s, or Chair’s responsibility to ensure the required documentation is submitted. Procedures for reporting accidents/injuries and work-related illnesses are documented in the WSU Safety Policies and Procedures Manual, section 2.24.

  • Reporting:
    • An online, interactive reporting flowchart to aid in determining what forms to submit is available at the link below.
    • Incident Report:
      • Incident Reports are used as the first-line reporting method for all significant near misses, accidental injuries, work-related illnesses, and accidents resulting in property damage.
      • Incident reports are required for all employees, students, volunteers, and visitors for incidents that occur in any College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) facility or at any CAS event, on campus or off campus while conducting University business.
      • Anyone can submit an Incident Report on behalf of someone else, and anyone can submit an Incident Report on their own behalf. For WSU employees, however, an Incident Report is preferably submitted by the injured person’s supervisor.
    • Supervisor’s Accident Investigation Report:
      • In addition to an Incident Report, a Supervisor’s Accident Investigation Report may be required in addition to an Incident Report.
      • Use the interactive online incident and accident investigation tool (link above or in A. References, above) or see the flow chart in Appendix 1 to determine if you need to submit a Supervisor’s Accident Investigation Report.
        • If you’re still unsure, call EH&S at 509-335-3041 to discuss the incident.
  • Identifying a significant near miss
      • WSU defines a significant near miss as an opportunity to improve health and safety in a workplace based on a condition or an incident with potential for more serious consequences, including:
        • Minor incidents and injuries that had potential to be more serious.
        • Events where injury could have occurred but didn’t.
        • Events where property damage could have resulted but didn’t.
        • Events where potential environmental damage could have resulted but didn’t.
          • An example of potential environmental damage is an open container of a toxic liquid sitting next to a sink.

E. Responsibilities

Supervisors

  • Immediately report (after ensuring appropriate treatment for injured personnel) all significant near misses, accidental injuries, and work-related illnesses.
    • Forward the Incident Report receipt email to your chair or director and to your unit’s Safety Committee Chair.
  • Supervisors are required to investigate all significant near misses, accidental injuries, and work-related illnesses. If required, supervisors also complete and submit a Supervisor’s Accident Investigation Report.
    • Reference section F, section H, and the reporting flowchart in Appendix 1 of this chapter for more information on Supervisor’s Accident Investigation Report submission and routing requirements.
  • Take action to prevent future incidents based upon the results of the investigation.
  • Require all employees to immediately report all significant near misses, accidental injuries and work-related illnesses and accidents resulting in property damage.
  • Complete a Motor Vehicle Accident form when employees are involved in a motor vehicle accident.

 Employees:

  • Immediately report (after ensuring appropriate treatment for injured personnel) all significant near misses, accidental injuries, and work-related illnesses.
  • Take action to prevent future incidents.
  • Complete a Witness/Injured Person Statement when injured or when a witness to incidents.
  • Complete a Motor Vehicle Accident form when involved in a motor vehicle accident.

F. Process for Incident Reporting and Accident Investigation Reporting for WSU Employees

  1. When an injury occurs, take measures to avoid further injury. Evaluate the severity of the injury, and if needed, call for emergency assistance at 911.
  2. Responding to an injury or significant near-miss incident, the SPPM 2.20 General Workplace Safety outlines injury incident response procedures for notifying Emergency Medical Services (EMS) via 911, rendering first aid, and if necessary, transporting the injured person. Further information is available at https://policies.wsu.edu/prf/index/manuals/2-00-contents/2-20-responding-injury-incident/.
  3. The injured employee’s supervisor completes an online Incident Report within 24 hours of the incident occurring. The supervisor also conducts an incident investigation and interviews (when feasible) the employee and any witnesses involved.

For Graduate Teaching Assistants who may work in both research and instructional lab spaces are injured, the acting supervisor responsible for incident reporting for an incident involving a TA/RA and is dependent upon where the incident occurred. If injured performing TA duties, the Instructional Lab Supervisor or faculty member in charge of instructional laboratories submits the Incident Report. If injured performing duties in a research laboratory, the Research Lab Supervisor or PI submits the Incident Report.

  1. The supervisor then completes the Supervisor’s Accident Investigation Report within 48 hours of the incident (see also SPPM 2.26) if any one of the following conditions are met.
  • The employee sustains serious injury
    • Serious injury includes:
      • Death
      • Hospitalization (given a bed for an overnight stay, not just an ER visit)
      • Amputation (to include partial loss of fingers and toes)
      • Loss of an eye
    • If serious injury occurs, immediately contact EH&S at
      509-335-5251.
  • The employee receives medical treatment
  • The employee is unable to work the next full or subsequent shift(s) because of the injury or illness
  • Events and conditions involving a significant near miss or minor accident indicate that most likely injury or illness would have been serious

Completed Supervisor’s Accident Investigation Reports are sent to Shawn Ringo at EH&S at sringo@wsu.edu.

  1. Injured persons and witnesses may complete a Witness/Injured Person Statement.
  2. The Department Chair or Director and the Level 4 Safety Committee Chair reviews the documents.

G. Process for Incident Reporting for Students, Guests, and Visitors

Incident reports must be submitted for undergraduate students involved in an incident insofar as unit employees, such as faculty, staff, or teaching assistants, are aware of them. Units may have their own reporting processes for students involved in an incident, but incident reports can be submitted by staff or faculty. Examples include class instructor, teaching assistant, instructional lab supervisor, or unit administrator.

  1. When an injury occurs, take measures to avoid further injury, evaluate the severity of the injury, and if needed, call for emergency assistance at 911.
  2. Responding to an injury or significant near-miss incident, the SPPM 2.20, General Workplace Safety, outlines injury incident response procedures for notifying EMS via 911, rendering first aid, and if necessary, transporting injured person. More information is available at the link below.https://policies.wsu.edu/prf/index/manuals/2-00-contents/2-20-responding-injury-incident/.
  3. Any WSU employee can submit an incident report on behalf of a student, visitor, or guest. Preferably, however, the campus host should take primary responsibility for submitting an Incident Report for visitors and guests.
  4. Supervisor’s Accident Investigation Reports are not required for individuals who are not employed by WSU.

H. Form Distribution and Routing

After completing the online Incident Report, automated notifications and a copy of the form are distributed to HRS, EH&S and the reporting supervisor via electronic mail.

For all incident forms submitted for WSU employees, it is the responsibility of the supervisor to distribute a copy of the Incident Report and the Supervisor’s Accident Investigation Report, if applicable, to the unit chair or director, the unit Safety Committee chair, and the College of Arts and Sciences Safety Committee chair.

 It is the responsibility of the WSU employee who submitted the form for a student, visitor, or guest to route the Incident Report to the unit administrator and the unit safety committee chair.

 The College-level safety committee chair will route reports received to unit safety committee chairs and to unit chairs and directors as back-up routing to ensure incident reporting is routed to appropriate personnel.

  1. The Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Director at EH&S reviews the report and evaluates the severity or potential severity of a given incident. If a need for additional timely attention is indicated, the OHS Director will contact the supervisor to determine what corrective action has taken place or is needed.
  2. Incident Reports will be held for review at the next CAS Safety Committee meeting to determine contributing causes, review recommended corrective action, and ensure completion of the corrective action. Each Incident Report and Supervisor’s Accident Investigation Report will be documented in the CAS Safety Committee meeting minutes.
  3. The unit safety committee documents, via meeting minutes, recommendations produced by the committee for all unit Incident Reports and Supervisor’s Accident Investigation Reports and sends any recommendations to the unit administrator.
  4. The unit and CAS safety committees may take corrective action or may suggest alternative action.

I. Motor Vehicle Accidents

For an accident involving a motor vehicle while conducting WSU business, regardless of how minor, the driver must immediately notify her or his supervisor, Risk Management, and the Motor Pool (if a Motor Pool vehicle was involved). See SPPM 7.20 for additional information: https://policies.wsu.edu/prf/index/manuals/7-00-motor-vehicle-safety/7-20-motor-vehicle-accidents/.

  1. For an accident involving a motor vehicle with injuries (where medical aid is required), the driver must also immediately notify the local-area law enforcement department. Law enforcement personnel should investigate all accidents resulting in:
  • Damage costing over $1,000 to motor vehicles
  • Damage to other property
  • Injuries to individuals
  1. The driver must submit a completed State of Washington Vehicle Accident Report (SF-137) to their supervisor within 24 hours. The supervisor is responsible for reviewing this document and submitting the original to Risk Management and a copy to the Motor Pool (if Motor Pool vehicle involved) within two working days of the accident. The form is available at: https://etort.des.wa.gov/incidentreport.
  2. Supervisors are responsible for ensuring the most current version of the Vehicle Accident Report (SF-137) and post motor vehicle accident instructions are available in the glove compartment of all motor vehicles prior to use.