What is an Incident?

An Incident is an unplanned event that results in an injury/exposure/illness, damage to personal property, equipment, or the environment, or an event that has the potential to result in such consequences.  

At the Provincial Workplace Health Contact Centre we have a database that is capable of capturing details of Employee injury or exposure incidents that have occurred through the course of conducting work activities.  This also includes reports that involve personal property damage (damage to glasses, retainers, prosthetics, etc) as these types of personal property are considered an extension of the person and can temporarily render them unable to work if damaged.  Incidents involving damage to work equipment, work property or the work environment can be reported through the local Hazard Reporting process unless the incident had the potential to seriously injure an employee had an employee been present at the time of the event.  This would be considered a Near Miss event and should be reporting to the Contact Centre.

What is my role in Employee Incident and Exposure Reporting?

As a manager in health care, it is your responsibility to make sure your staff know how to report and where to report. 

Whenever an employee is injured you must ensure:

1. The employee reports to first aid for treatment or the first aid attendant is dispatched to the injured employee as per site procedure as required
2. You assess whether the incident is immediately reportable to WorkSafeBC
3. The employee reports to the Provincial Workplace Health Contact Centre to create the Employer's Report of Incident (form 7)
4. You or a delegate complete an investigation of the event/incident that has been reported 

The new online Incident Investigating Tool has user-friendly features that make investigating incidents easier and faster.  It also allows you to start your investigation immediately in the event your employee has not yet reported to the Provincial Workplace Health Contact Centre.

To access the new incident investigation tool from within your Health Authority network click the link below:

• BCCSS Investigation Tool
• IHA Investigation Tool
• FHA Investigation Tool
• NHA Investigation Tool
• PHC Investigation Tool
• PHSA Investigation Tool
• VCH Investigation Tool
• VIHA Investigation Tool

How do I Conduct an Investigation?

To learn more about how to complete an investigation for a workplace incident or event, please ensure you complete the online Incident Investigation training course available for your health authority:

For PHC, VCH, FHA, VIHA, NHA, BCCSS the course is called "Incident Investigation (Online)" course code #12189 and can be found on LEARNING HUB.

For PHSA the course is called "Incident Investigation Tool - Provincial Course" course code #7366 and is available on LEARNING HUB.

For IHA there are two training packages to complete:

• I-Learn 1332-1335: Incident Investigation Tool (IIT) Provincial Course
• I-Learn 739-748: Incident Investigations

For any additional investigation support or if you have questions about your responsibilities regarding workplace incidents, contact your local Safety Advisor.