Incidents - reporting

Whilst the immediate priority following is an incident is to minimise harm, it is also important that the incident is reported so that any necessary longer term actions required can be implemented.

As well as forming a record of the incident, a key part of reporting is to determine what level of investigation is required.

Companies usually have incident report forms where basic information can be recorded including date and time, people involved, consequences, ongoing activities and conditions at the time of the incident.

When there have been obvious consequences of an incident, getting it reported is not usually an issue. However, for near misses or where is it possible to cover up the consequences, under reporting is a problem. The reasons why people may not report an incident include:

* They do not know it is a requirement
* They do not understand why it is necessary
* They feel it is a waste of time (especially if it is perceived that nothing has ever happened in the past as the result of reporting incidents)
* They are worried that their may be reprisals for themselves or others (if it is perceived that people have been unfairly blamed or punished in the past)

There is a significant cultural element to whether incidents are reported. In particular, people need to feel there is a fair and just culture, and one where the root causes of incidents are identified properly.