Policy on reporting, recording and notifying accidents, incidents, infectious diseases and deaths inc. RIDDOR arrangements

This policy details the process for reporting, recording and notifying accidents, incidents, infectious diseases and deaths that occur when agency staff are on assignment. Learning from incidents is a vital part of maintaining the safety of patients, staff and visitors in order that the Agency ensures safe standards of care are maintained. Agency staff are reminded also to check the corresponding policy at the client organisation to ensure that any additional requirements at the location of the assignment are adhered to.

RIDDOR

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997 is the law that requires employers, and other people in control of work premises, to report and keep records of:

i. work-related accidents which cause death;

ii. work-related accidents which cause certain serious injuries (reportable injuries);

iii. diagnosed cases of certain industrial diseases; and

iv. certain ‘dangerous occurrences’ (incidents with the potential to cause harm).

Serious accidents, building incidents and certain work related diseases in accordance with the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997 must be reported to the Health and Safety Executive NI. This includes serious injury, over 3 day injuries, specified work related illnesses and serious building related problems.

Accidents

Any injury - including minor injuries – resulting from an accident whilst on assignment should be recorded both in the 'accident book' at the employing client and in the agency’s ‘accident book’. This is mainly for the benefit of agency staff as it provides a useful record of what happened in case they need time off work or need to claim compensation later on. Recording accidents also helps the agency and employing client to see what's going wrong and take action to stop accidents in future.

Incidents

In the ‘Incident and Near Miss Reporting Policy and Procedure’ (September 2011) An incident is defined by the Heath and Social Care Board as, ‘Any event or circumstances that could have or did lead to harm, loss or damage to people, property, environment or reputation’. The Board goes on to list the following occurrences that would typically be regarded as ‘incidents’:

i. Security Incident: Patient or Service user absence; theft of HSCB property and/or staff personal property; malicious damage; removal of non-prescribed substances and alcohol; removal of offensive weapons; restraint and any other issue which poses a threat to services users, staff or visitors;

ii. Fire Incident: any incident no matter how small, involving fire or fire warning systems (including false alarms);

iii. Vehicle Incident: any incident involving a vehicle e.g. Road traffic accident, excluding vandalism or theft which would be classified as a security incident;

iv. Violence, Abuse or Harassment Incident: any incident involving verbal abuse, unsociable behaviour, racial or sexual harassment or physical assault, whether or

not injury results;

v. Personal Accident or Injury Incident: any accident, no matter how small, which did or could have adversely affected any person;

vi. Ill health incident: any case of known or suspected work or environment related ill health;

vii. Clinical Incident: any incident, except medication error, directly related to patient treatment or care which did or could have resulted in adverse outcome (e.g. Treatment, medical equipment failure etc);

viii. Medication Incident: any medication incident which did or may have caused actual or potential harm to patient(s):

ix. Environmental Incident: Environmental incidents are those which have resulted in damage or danger to the natural environment. This may include damage to water courses or land or emissions to the air as a result of accidental pollution e.g. spillage, leakage or uncontrolled discharge of substances, emission to air of gas, dust, fumes or other pollutants, escape or improper storage or disposal of waste, etc.

All incidents listed above must be reported to the Agency. The agency will record all notifications and any further information or advice received in respect of such incidents. In addition, dependent upon the circumstances surrounding the incident itself, further notifications may be necessary, including:

Health and Safety Executive Northern Ireland: Serious accidents, building incidents and certain work related diseases in accordance with the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997 must be reported to the Health and Safety Executive NI. This includes serious injury, over 3 day injuries, specified work related illnesses and serious building related problems.

Police: In the event of instances such as burglary, theft, fraud, assault etc. the PSNI should be informed.

All agency staff have a responsibility to:

i. Report to the agency any incident or near miss they are involved in (the agency will require full factual information to notify the relevant authority);

ii. Attend any education and training sessions available in relation to incident reporting and management;

iii. Co-operate with any subsequent investigation.

Infectious Diseases

Infectious diseases are caused by pathogenic microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi; the diseases can be spread, directly or indirectly, from one person to another. Zoonotic diseases are infectious diseases of animals that can cause disease when transmitted to humans. Under the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010, there are 35 ‘notifiable’ diseases (ie those which must be treated under RIDDOR). All agency staff should be familiar with diseases are notifiable and take necessary steps within the setting of their assignment to ensure that statutory obligations in this regard are adhered to.

Deaths

Death of a service user following palliative care
i. The service user’s GP will be notified immediately;
ii. If the family/next-of-kin were not present at time of death, they will be notified as soon as possible. Upon arrival, the family will be allowed time with the deceased if they so wish, and consulted as to the type of burial required and preferred funeral director;
iii. The GP will certify death and provide the appropriate death certificate, which is then passed to the family with a cremation form if required;
iv. A note of the time and death must be made in the service user’s clinical notes, and the care plan is consulted to confirm any religious/ethnic/cultural considerations to be observed before handling the body.
Sudden death of a service user
i. Under no circumstances is the body to be moved or touched;
ii. The service user’s GP will be notified immediately who, in turn, will notify the coroner/Procurator Fiscal;
iii. The family/next-of-kin will be notified as soon as possible. Upon arrival, the family will be allowed time with the deceased if they so wish, and consulted as to the type of burial required and preferred funeral director;
iv. The GP will certify death and provide the appropriate death certificate, which is then passed to the family with a cremation form if required;
v. A note of the time and death must be made in the service user’s clinical notes, and the care plan is consulted to confirm any religious/ethnic/cultural considerations to be observed before handling the body.

All accidents, incidents, communicable diseases and deaths occurring where an agency worker has been supplied are reported to the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority and other relevant organisations in accordance with legislation and procedures above.