(last updated 28-01-19)

All safety incidents occurring within University premises must be formally reported via the University Safety Incident Reporting System. The on-line reporting form can be accessed here.

A safety incident is an unplanned event that causes, or could have caused, ill health, injury or equipment/building damage.

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The following types of incident must be reported immediately in person or by phone to your laboratory manager or SLS Safety and then reported electronically as soon as possible:

1. Incidents resulting in personal injury or ill health or resulting in contamination of persons with any harmful substance
2. Incidents resulting in serious damage to equipment or the building
3. Incidents resulting in spill or release of a harmful substance in a quantity that poses a risk to the safety or health of persons
4. Incidents resulting in any fire or explosion (whether or not the fire alarm activated)
5. Incidents where an unsafe condition remains that could pose a serious risk to the safety or health of people or that could result in serious damage to equipment or the building

The following types of incident should be reported electronically as soon as possible:

1. Incidents that caused minor equipment or building damage or resulted in spills not covered above (e.g. A small spill of a non-hazardous substance in a fumehood)
2. Incidents that had the potential to cause injury, ill health or damage to equipment or the building, but did not do so (i.e. "near misses")
3. Safety concerns of any kind (e.g. Smells)

• Each report is automatically sent to Safety Services, SLS Safety and the email addresses given in the "Details of person involved in the incident" and "Incident Management" sections of the on-line form.
• SLS Safety automatically forward reports on to the relevant Lab/Service Manager. What happens beyond this point depends upon the nature and severity of the incident. SLS Safety and/or Safety Services will be directly involved in the investigation of any incident that cannot be effectively dealt with at local level.
• If SLS Safety/Safety Services are not directly involved, it is important to keep them up to date on the progress of any investigation and actions taken to prevent a recurrence of the incident. Updates should be sent via email to SLS Safety and Safety Services.
• Safety Services keep track of all reports and chase up any that have not been resolved to their satisfaction on a monthly basis.
• The on-line form can also be used to report fire incidents, including fire alarm activations. These reports are submitted by Fire Marshals/Wardens only.
• SLS Safety is responsible for analysing safety incident reports and presenting an anonymised summary to the SLS Safety Committee.
• Safety Services take responsibility for notifying the Health & Safety Executive, if and when necessary.
• Safety incident reports usually contain personal data and must be securely stored with access being restricted to those involved in the incident, reporting process and subsequent investigation.