Incident reporting

Accidents and unsafe events continue to happen across all areas of the council. By gathering information about these events it is possible to identify trends and then take action to prevent future accidents happening.  Legislation also requires that we report certain events to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and so our accident reporting system needs to allow for all accidents to be promptly reviewed and a decision made on whether the circumstances need to be reported to the HSE.

Getting started

Before starting a report you should check what your Resource/Service guidance is on how to use the accident reporting system. There may be slightly different ways of working for each Resource.

What do we need to do?

• Ensure all accidents and incidents are reported as soon as possible to the Line Manager.
• If you suspect that a specified injury or dangerous occurrence has been sustained or has occurred please telephone the Health and Safety Team before completing the online form.
• If you send a person to hospital, particularly a member of the public or pupil, find out their address and date of birth or at least some means of contacting them.
• If someone is off work or on 'light duties' as a result of an accident, for more than 7 days let the Health and Safety Team know by email. Saturday and Sunday are included if the person was not fit for normal duties over the weekend. The accident has to be reported if the person is back at work but on 'light' duties for over 7 days.
• If someone is off work because of an illness and it could be due to work report it to the Health and Safety Team by email.
• Do not contact the Health and Safety Executive yourself, the Health and Safety Team will discuss this with you and agree who and how the contact is made.

Use the following link to access the reporting tool: OSERT reporting system 

Fill out the form with as much detail as possible. If key details are missing, it may be sent back for more information. Once submitted, the form goes to your line manager, then to the health and safety team for review. You will receive an email confirmation after submitting the form and an accident book email once the reporting process is complete..

How to report an event

You can report an event in one of three ways these are outlined below.

1. As the affected person – you will need your employee number and access to the email account registered on FUSION.
2. As the manager of an affected person – you will need your employee number and access to the email account registered on FUSION.
3. As a colleague – employee numbers for the manager and the affected employee will be needed. This route can be used by affected employees that do not have access to their email account or do not have an email address registered on FUSION.

A more detailed user’s guide is available in the form of a short learn on line presentation, and the system includes a number of tips and alerts around the fields that need to be completed or use the guidance booklet available online

The system is constantly developing, and if you find that the drop-down lists do not offer appropriate options, please get in touch with your Service Health and Safety Officer.

Access OSERT via the Me tab on FUSION or by using the link above.