Does it really matter if we don’t report less serious incidents?
That probably depends on whether incident reporting is for the sake of compliance or to achieve a positive effect on safe work practices and the continuous improvement of your organisation overall.
If the former, then no. If the latter, then yes.
Staff who work alone and are responsible for their own safety. However, there is widespread inconsistency and under reporting of all incidents including those involving aggressive behaviours. The number and severity of reported incidents is far lower than that of actual incidents. This may lead to inaccurate assessment of risk resulting in poor decisions being made about safety.
What are the contributing factors inhibiting the reporting of incidents?
Staff may become desensitised to, and consequently accept, a certain level of aggression as part of the job. This is particularly so when the staff member believes the aggressor did not intend to cause them harm.
Other examples include situations where staff members believe that:
- Reporting an incident is inefficient and takes too long;
- Colleagues do not share the perception that there is a risk to safety;
- Incidents involving aggressive behaviours may represent professional failure on the part of the staff member;
- Management may think the staff member does not have the skills to handle difficult situations, or that the staff member may be seen as the cause of the incident;
- Corrective action is unlikely to be taken should the staff member take the time to report an incident; and/or
- Debriefing and support for staff is unavailable.
When incident reporting is done well
When incident reporting is done well the right balance is struck between the amount of detail required to complete an incident report and the administrative ease to submit a report. This promotes a culture where ALL incidents are reported. You will then be able to identify trends in the severity and frequency of incidents.
You will be able to identify escalating and de-escalating trends for individual staff members and groups of staff members, for individual clients and groups of clients.
Being able to identify the trends will enable supervisors and managers to understand what (or who) is and is not working well, and provide the opportunity to address those areas earlier.
Accurate data on the incidents that are affecting your workforce also provides for an excellent evidence based assessment of the strategies you are using.
When we talk about reporting of incidents, more and more consideration is given to psychological injuries. If I was to take a fall today and fracture my wrist, it is clear what incident caused the fracture and for whom I was working for at the time of the incident. Therefore it is also clear who will be paying the workers compensation claim.
However it will not always be so clear which particular incident(s) contributed significantly to a worker’s psychological injury. With accurate reporting of all incidents, this task may become easier.
Achieve a positive effect on safe work practices
If you want to achieve a positive effect on safe work practices and the continuous improvement of the organisation overall, then organisations should implement strategies to minimise the under-reporting of incidents.
For many organisations, consideration should be given to streamlining the incident reporting process and continuing to nurture the culture of reporting of all incidents and near misses.
Systems should be in place to quickly report high frequency incidents.
When reported incidents more accurately represent actual incidents, all concerned will share a better understanding of the risks involved. This will enable more meaningful collaboration on safe work practices and strategies to effectively reduce the number and severity of actual incidents.
Travis Holland
Managing Director
Holland Thomas
Should you wish to discuss strategies to improve your staff’s safety in their work environment, please feel welcome to contact Holland Thomas.
Our goal at Holland Thomas is to create safer workplaces that enhance wellbeing for all concerned whilst also delivering improved operational and financial performance.
This blog draws on our years of experience delivering our M.A.B.™ Staff Safety Training (Contextualised Prevention and Management of Aggressive Behaviours) across Australia and the development of My Safety Buddy, our smartphone app and web portal based lone worker safety solution.
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