Print PDF version

BiteSize SHE

Related UKRI Code​

Contents​

• 1. Purpose ​ ​​
  
• 2. Scope​
  
• 3. Definitions​
• 4. Responsibilities 
  
  • 4.1 All persons witnessing or involved in an incident
    
  • 4.2 Line managers or supervisors
  • 4.3 Directors
  • 4.4 SHE group
  • 4.5 Head of SHE
  • 4.6 Occupational Health Department
  
  
• Appendices
• Appendix 1 - SHE incident types and their categorisation
• Appendix 2 - Summary flowchart of incident reporting and investigation
• Appendix 3 - Incident Reporting routes
• Appendix 4 - Guidance on the conduct and format of local investigations
• Appendix 5 - Guidance on the conduct and format of formal board of enquiry investigations
• Appendix 6 - Serious or potentially serious investigation guidance and pro forma
• Appendix 7 - Training requirements
• Appendix 8 - Audit checklist
• Appendix 9 - Document Retention Policy 
  

Revisions

1. Purpose

Safety, Health and Environmental (SHE) incidents cause injury, ill health, property or environmental damage, adverse media reaction, loss of time and money. SHE incidents are, to a large extent, preventable and the STFC's SHE management system is reviewed regularly and updated to reduce the risks of SHE incidents.

Investigating and understanding the causes of injuries is an important means of improving our SHE management system. It is essential that all SHE incident, injuries and near miss incidents are reported to SHE Groups and thoroughly investigated so that we can learn from them and minimise the potential for recurrence.

Under the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR), the STFC (SHE Group) is legally required to notify the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) immediately of certain accidents, diseases and specified dangerous occurrences to and report the incident within 15 days. There are also requirements under the Ionizing Radiations Regulations 2017 (IRR 17) to report certain incidents involving ionising radiation to the HSE as well as requirements to report serious environmental incidents to the Environment Agency.

2. Scope

This code applies to any SHE incident, irrespective of severity, that could or did result in injury to people, harm to health, damage to property or harm to the environment involving STFC staff, visitors, facility users, contractors working on behalf of the STFC, and tenants working on STFC sites.

This code applies to any SHE incident that could or did result in injury to STFC staff while travelling on Council business in the UK or overseas or working on non-STFC sites in the UK or overseas.

This code encompasses all SHE incidents and includes incidents involving radioactive materials and fire.

3. Definitions

Incident

An unplanned or uncontrolled event.

Accident

An incident that has resulted in an injury or damage to property.

Near miss

An incident that, under slightly different circumstances, could have resulted in an injury or damage to property.

Occupational ill health

An abnormal condition or disorder of a person, caused by exposure to environmental factors associated with Council employment.

Environmental incident

An incident that caused or had the potential to cause damage to the environment.

Fire

Any uncontrolled combustion, or suspected combustion, smoke, flames, sparks, fumes.

RIDDOR incident

An injury specified in Schedule 1 of RIDDOR 2013. E.g. fatality, fractures, amputations or dislocations or where a person has been admitted to hospital for more than 24 hours.

OR

An Incident that is specified in Schedule 2 of RIDDOR 2013. E.g. Failure of a load-bearing part of a crane, explosion or bursting of a pressure system, electrical failure causing a fire, collapse of a large structure or accidental release of a biological agent.

OR

An injury which, although not a major injury, has resulted in the injured person being away from work or unable to carry out the full range of his/her duties for more than seven days (including weekends and rest days but excluding the day of the accident).

Serious or potentially serious (SoPS) Incidents

Those incidents (injuries, near misses, vehicle incidents, fire incidents) that did, or had the reasonable potential to , result insignificant and permanent​ harm to staff, contractors, tenants, visitors at STFC sites or for staff while travelling and working on Council business away from STFC sites.

See Appendix 1 for examples

4. Responsibilities

A summary flowchart of this code can be found at Appendix 2 .

4.1 All persons witnessing, or involved in, a SHE incident or near miss shall:​

• 4.1.1 Report incidents requiring local or emergency assistance immediately: 
  
  

  	RAL	DL	Chilbolton	Boulby Mine	UKATC	Swindon Office
  First Aid	Locally lis​ted ​and defined
  Occupational Health	6666	3234	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
  Ambulance	2222	3333	(9)999	3333	222	2222
  Fire	2222	3333	(9)999	3333	(9)999 out of hours	2222

• 4.1.2 Do not enter the area unless it is safe to do so. 
  
  
• 4.1.3 Ensure that any casualties are seen to by a first aider. Secure the immediate area, containing any escaped material as near to the source of the escape as possible, preventing further incidents or injury to others. In the event of major incidents, once safe and secure, the location should be sealed and impounded pending further investigation. 
  
  
• ​
  4.1.4 Report the incident, or near miss, using the Report Incident link at the top of this page. Details of how to use the system are available . Where ever possible photographic evidence should be collected for inclusion in Evotix Assure to facilitate the incident's understanding. Alternatively the incident may be reported using local incident reporting pro-forma, and sent to responsible SHE team. All incidents should be reported as soon as practicable and no later 2 working days after the incident is identified. Staff without computer access should report the incident to their line manager to report on their behalf.
  
  ​
  4.1.4 Report the incident, or near miss, using the Report Incident link at the top of this page. Where ever possible photographic evidence should be collected for inclusion in Evotix Assure to facilitate the incident's understanding. Alternatively the incident may be reported using local incident reporting pro-forma, and sent to responsible SHE team. All incidents should be reported as soon as practicable and no later 2 working days after the incident is identified. Staff without computer access should report the incident to their line manager to report on their behalf.
• 
  
• 4.1.5 Inform their line manager of the incident. For incidents involving contractors the contract supervisor shall be informed. For incidents involving facility users or visitors their STFC host/contact shall be informed. The contract supervisor or STFC host shall report the incident vai Evotix Assure.
  
  
• 4.1.6 Report any actual or suspected occupational ill health to their line manager. 
  
  
• 4.1.7 Co-operate with STFC management in the investigation of the incident to identify its root case and prevent recurrence. 
  
  

4.2 Line managers or supervisors of those involved in SHE incidents or responsible for areas in which SHE incidents occur shall:

• 4.2.1 Ensure that all incidents in their areas of responsibility are reported to the SHE Group as soon as is practicable and no later than 2 working days after the incident is identified using the Report Incident link at the top of this page, or incident reporting pro forma (see Appendix 3 ). Work related injuries that result in more then 7 days sick leave/lost time are by definition RIDDOR reportable. 
  
  
• 4.2.2 Conduct local investigations of any incident for whom they are the responsible manager and forward the report to their Director, copied to SHE Group, within 2 weeks of the incident identifying the root cause(s) of an incident and actions to prevent a recurrence. See Appendix 4 for guidance on the conduct and format of local investigations. 
  
  
• 4.2.3 For contractor injuries the STFC manager responsible for the activity under which the contractors work will assume the role of line manager and ensure that a local investigation is undertaken directly or through the contractor's management. 
  
  
• 4.2.4 As appropriate inform the relatives of those injured via HR, the employer of visitors, tenants or facility users, or the contracting company for incidents involving their personnel. 
  
  
• 4.2.5 In addition to any investigation, discuss with any STFC employee who has sustained an injury or been involved in a SHE incident, what happened and determine what can be learnt from the experience and what could be done differently as a result. The objective of such discussions is not to apportion blame but ensure that the organisation as a whole has learnt from the incident and minimised the possibility of its recurrence. 
  
  
• 4.2.6 Ensure all actions arising from incident investigations are satisfactorily completed in a timely manner. 
  
  
• 4.2.7 Inform Occupational Health professionals and SHE Group of any reported or suspected instances of occupational ill health for further investigation.

4.3 Directo​rs shall:

• 4.3.1 Ensure that all staff, facility users, contractors and visitors are encouraged, in a "blame free" environment, to understand the importance of reporting all SHE incidents, irrespective of their severity to their line manager and the local SHE Group. 
  
  
• 4.3.2 Monitor SHE incident levels within their departments and formulate appropriate actions in consultation with their senior management and Safety Committees to improve SHE performance. 
  
  
• 4.3.3 As appropriate commission or lead formal investigations into highly significant SHE incidents to identify their root cause and seek appropriate actions to prevent their recurrence, see Appendix 5 for guidance on the conduct and format of formal investigations. 
  
  
• 4.3.4 The Chief Executive Officer and Directors with oversight responsibility for SHE at specified locations may at their discretion, commission or lead formal board of enquiry investigations into highly significant SHE incidents.

4.4 SHE group shall:

• 4.4.1 Maintain a record of all incidents reported to them in Evotix Assure reviewing the quality of information reported, applying consistent incident classification and that incident investigations are appended to the incident report. Such records shall be maintained indefinitely. 
  
  
• 4.4.2 Ensure all relevant personnel are informed of SHE incidents as soon as practical. This shall include: the responsible line management and the relevant Department Director; chair of the Departmental Safety Committee; Department Safety Contact; and employee safety representatives. 
  
  
• 4.4.3 Where the incident has potential wider learing for the STFC, communicate the incident to Departmental Safety Contacts, Departmental Safety Committee Chairs and management at all locations. 
  
  
• 4.4.4 Inform relevant STFC Directors and senior management in the event of any SHE incident where there are significant reputational, financial or regulatory implications arising from any SHE incident as soon as is practicable. 
  
  
• 4.4.5 Assess all reported incidents and as necessary report incidents to the HSE under RIDDOR 2013, or the Environment Agency (EA) gathering as required further information from responsible management, see Appendix 2 . Where incidents involve ionizing radiation or radioactive materials the Radiation Protection Advisor (RPA) shall co-ordinate all communication and consultation with the regulatory bodies, HSE and/or EA ensuring that the Head of SHE is informed. 
  
  
• 4.4.6 Report SHE statistics to STFC committees and management, reporting performance, identifying trends, and identifying and communicating STFC wide learning from incidents in a timely manner. 
  
  
• 4.4.7 Where incidents involve lost time ensure that a signed hard copy of the incident report from Evotix Assure​ is obtained and retained. 
  
  
• 4.4.8 As appropriate facilitate and participate in investigations of formal boards of enquiry or cases of occupational disease or ill health.

4.5 Head of SHE shall:

• 4.5.1 Where an incident involves ionizing radiation or radioactive materials the Radiation Protection Advisor shall undertake these duties ensuring that the Head of SHE is consulted. 
  
  
• 4.5.2 Determine whether an incident should be classed Serious or Potentially Serious (SoPS) thereafter ensuing that a SoPS report, see Appendix 6 , is completed by local management. 
  
  
• 4.5.2 Determine for those incidents assessed to be SoPS whether a formal Board of Enquiry investigation is required, see Appendix 5 . 
  
  
• 4.5.3 Approve all reports to regulatory authorities: HSE; EA etc., prior to release.

4.6 Occupational Health Department shall:

• 4.6.1 Report all visits to the occupational health department of actual or suspected work related injuries or cases of occupational related diseases to SHE Group. 
  
  
• 4.6.2 Participate in investigations of cases of occupational disease or ill health.​