department of biomedical...

Department of Biomedical Engineering

Title:

Incident / Accident Reporting and Investigation Issue date:

11.10.2013 Rev-2

Page: 1 of 6

Name Approved By: Date

Dinah Tan A/Prof Li Jun 11.10.2013

1.0 OBJECTIVE

The objective of this document is to provide guidance on reporting and investigation procedure

for all incidents and accident arising within the premises and laboratories of Department of

Biomedical Engineering.

2.0 SCOPE

This procedure applies to all staff, student, visitors and contractors in Department of Biomedical

Engineering.

3.0 RESPONSIBILITIES

3.1 Principal Investigator

Principal Investigator (PI) shall be responsible for ensuring that this SOP is disseminated to all

laboratory personnel and that they are aware of the procedures for reporting of incidents or

accidents. PI shall conduct their initial preliminary investigation to identify the necessary

corrective and/or preventive actions. The PI should implement corrective and/or prevention

actions suggested by Head of Department, OSHE or Faculty Safety Unit.

3.2 Staff and Students

Staff and students involved in an incident or accident arising from research or teaching activities

shall report the details of the incident or accident to their immediate supervisor and submit the

Online Reporting Report to Office of Safety, Health & Environment (OSHE).

3.3 Visitors and Contractors

Visitors and contractors involved in an incident or accident arising from work or visit to the

Department of Biomedical Engineering, shall immediately report the details of the incident or

accident to the staff in charge, who would in-turn report the incident or accident to the Office of

Safety, Health & Environment (OSHE).


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11.10.2013 Rev-2

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4.0 Definition

Incident: Any undesired event or emergency that resulted or could have resulted in any harm to

human, property or environment.

Accident: An incident which has given rise to injury, ill-health or fatality

Near-miss: An incident where no injury, ill-health or fatality occurs

Reportable Accidents: Accidents that are reportable to the Ministry of Manpower as stipulated

under the Workplace Safety & Health Act or other regulators. Refer to:

https://staffweb.nus.edu.sg/oshe/category.htm for a list of Reportable Accidents

Dangerous Occurrence: Incidents or accidents that are deemed as a “Dangerous Occurrence”

under Workplace Safety & Health Act. Refer to https://staffweb.nus.edu.sg/oshe/category.htm

for a list of incidents or accidents considered as “Dangerous Occurrences”.

Occupation Disease: Means any disease specified in the Workplace Safety & Health Act, Third

Schedule. Refer to: https://staffweb.nus.edu.sg/oshe/category.htm for a list of occupational

diseases.

First Aid Cases: Incidents or accidents that require only first aid attention.

Minor Injury Cases: Any out-patient treatment without or with medical certificate up to 3 days.

Spillage: Any unplanned escape of material, solid or liquid, from its primary container, vessel,

tank, or drum.

Commissioner: MOM’s Commissioner of Workplace Safety and Health.

CRPNS: Centre for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Science, Government Agency under NEA

who is in-charge of radiation safety in Singapore

NEA: National Environment Agency

Regulator: Government Agencies who has the legal power or enforcement of law in Singapore

Contractor: Contractor is defined as any person engaged by staff or students to provide a

service to the department

https://staffweb.nus.edu.sg/oshe/category.htm




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11.10.2013 Rev-2

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5.0 PROCEDURES

5.1 Reporting Procedure for Incidents and Accidents

a. All occupational safety & health related accidents / incidents (within and outside

campus) are required to be reported centrally to OSHE. See Annex 1 on more details on

types of accident/incident

b. Near misses, unsafe conditions or unsafe acts should also be reported to OSHE

c. All incidents or accidents occurring in the laboratory are to be reported to the lab

supervisor and staff-in-charge immediately

d. All incidents or accidents are required to be reported to OSHE within 24 hours via online

reporting – “Accident/Incident Reporting System” (AIRS)

https://wws.nus.edu.sg/airs/report.aspx

e. Reporting person need not be the Principal Investigator, Manager or Head of

Department and can be submitted by either:

The injured staff/student

Staff-in-charge of visitor or contractor

Lab Supervisor if staff or student is unfit/unable to do the initial report

f. Upon receipt of online AIRS Report, OSHE will re-route the on-line report to the Faculty

Safety Officer for follow up within the next working day.

5.2 Investigation of Incidents / Accidents

a. The Faculty Safety Unit and Department Safety Committee will conduct an investigation

of incident/accident at the earliest possible time.

b. Interview will be conducted with the affected staff/student and the Incident/Accident

Report Form will need to be complete. See Annex 2 for the Incident/Accident Report

Form

c. Forward the completed Incident/Accident Report Form, together with the relevant SOP

and risk assessment to the Faculty Safety Officer, who would in turn forward these to

OSHE within 7 days.

d. All incidents and accidents shall be reviewed and communicated within the Department

to prevent re-occurrence in future.

https://wws.nus.edu.sg/airs/report.aspx


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5.3 Investigation for Reportable Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences

a. The Head of Department shall appoint an investigating team comprising of the following

personnel:

Representative from Departmental Safety and Health Committee and/or Faculty

Safety & Health Committee. A senior member of the safety & health committee

shall be appointed as the Chairperson of the investigating committee

Safety and Health Officer

Assigned case officer from OSHE, if necessary

Other members if certain expertise is needed

All documentary, photographic, video or other forms of evidence that may aid in

the investigation shall be made accessible to the investigating team.

Staff members, students, contractors or visitors who are witness to the incident

or accident or hold information they may assist in the investigation shall

cooperate fully with the investigation team and present all information in an

accurate and truthful manner. Interviews may be held and the respective

departmental administration shall allow their staff members or students time

off to attend the interview if required by the investigating team.

The conduct of the internal investigation shall not interfere with any external

investigation by the ministries, police or civil defense force.

The interim investigation report should be completed within 7 days from the

date of the reported incident or accident. The report shall be submitted to OSHE.

The completed final investigation report should be completed within fourteen

days from the date of the reported incident or accident. The report shall be

submitted to OSHE.

5.4 Investigation for First Aid cases and Near Misses

a. For first aid cases and near misses, the supervisor or PI shall conduct his/her own

internal investigation.

b. OSHE and Faculty Safety Unit reserve the right to conduct a separate internal

investigation for first aid cases and near misses


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5.5 Medical Management of Work-related Injuries or Diseases

Work-related injuries or diseases will be referred to University Health Centre

(UHC) during office hours. The UHC will initiate treatment for the case and may

also refer to the OSHE OH Physician for follow up.

Casualty should be brought to the Emergency Department at National

University Hospital if the injury is severe or the work-related injuries or diseases

occur after office hour.

The injured person may be contacted by OSHE OH Physician/Nurse to obtain

updates on the treatment and provide assistance. This is especially so if the

patient has been referred to the hospital or have prolonged medical leave of

more than 3 days.

OSHE will also notify the Ministry of Manpower as part of the regulatory

requirements:

1. Staff – for medical leave of more than 3 days or hospitalization or

occupational disease

2. Students – when referred to the hospital for treatment or for medical leave

more than 3 days or hospitalization or occupational disease

6.0 RECORDS

All incident/accident records are to be kept for 3 years.

7.0 Work Injury Compensation

OSHE will coordinate work-related injuries/diseases treatment claims for all staff and

students via the appropriate insurance claims. The OH Nurse will contact the affected

staff for more information in the event of medical claims for Workmen’s Compensation.

The medical claims will be reimbursed by the Office of Finance directly to the affected

person’s account.

Work Injury Compensation Form can be obtained from this link:

https://staffweb.nus.edu.sg/oshe/wkcomp.htm

https://staffweb.nus.edu.sg/oshe/wkcomp.htm


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8.0 Flowchart for Incident/Accident Reporting

9.0 Attachments

Annex 1 – Categories of Incident/Accident

Annex 2 – Incident / Accident Report Form

CATEGORIES OF ACCIDENT / INCIDENT

CATEGORY DETAILS

Work Accident / Incident *

(Reportable to Ministry of Manpower)

Employee was injured in accident and :

Died, or Hospitalized for more than 24 hours; or Given medical leave for more than 3 calendar days in a row

A member of public or self-employed contractor was injured and

Died, or Sent to hospital for treatment

*What is considered as a "work incident"?

It refers to incidents that

(i) happened at the workplace or in the course of work (ii) include those that are incidental to work e.g. going to toilet as well as slip and fall within

workplace.

Dangerous Occurrence


1. Bursting of a revolving vessel, wheel, grindstone or grinding wheel moved by mechanical power

2. Collapse or failure of lifting equipment: a. Lifting equipment refers to a crane, derrick, winch, hoist, piling frame or any appliance used

to raise/lower persons or goods b. The collapse or failure of any lifting equipment's load-bearing part(s), other than the

breakage of the chain or rope slings, is also deemed a dangerous occurrence c. In addition to the above, any instance of a crane overturning will also be

deemed a dangerous occurrence

3. Explosion or fire in a room/place in which persons are at work, resulting in damage to, the structure of the room/place; or any machine or plant in the room/place. The explosion or fire must have been caused by the ignition of dust, gas, vapour or any substance that is/contains celluloid. The incident must also have resulted in the complete suspension of normal work in the room/place or stoppage of machinery/plant for at least five hours

4. Electrical short circuit or failure of electrical machinery, plant or apparatus, resulting in explosion, fire or structural damage and causing its stoppage for at least five hours

5. Explosion or fire in a room in which persons are at work, resulting in the complete suspension of normal work in the room for at least 24 hours

6. Explosion or failure of the structure of a steam boiler, receiver or container used to store (At greater than atmospheric pressure): a. Any gas(es) including air; or b. Any liquid/solid resulting from the compression of gas(es)

7. Failure/collapse of formwork or its supports

8. Partial or complete collapse of:

a. A scaffold exceeding 15 metres in height b. A suspended or hanging scaffold from which a person may fall more than two metres

9. Accidental seepage or entry of seawater into a dry/floating dock, causing flooding.

Occupational Diseases


Where any person suffers an occupational disease as confirmed by the registered medical practitioner:

1. Aniline poisoning 2. Anthrax 3. Arsenical poisoning 4. Asbestosis 5. Barotrauma 6. Beryllium poisoning 7. Byssinosis 8. Cadmium poisoning 9. Carbarmate poisoning 10. Cataracts due to infra-red, ultraviolet or X-ray radiation 11. Compressed air illness or its sequelae, including dysbaric osteonecrosis 12. Cyanide poisoning 13. Diseases caused by excessive heat 14. Diseases caused by ionizing radiation 15. Glanders 16. Hydrogen sulphide poisoning 17. Lead poisoning 18. Leptospirosis or its sequelae 19. Liver angiosarcoma 20. Manganese poisoning 21. Mercurial poisoning 22. Mesothelioma 23. Musculoskeletal disorders of the upper limb 24. Noise-induced deafness 25. Occupational asthma 26. Occupational skin cancers 27. Occupational skin diseases 28. Organophosphate poisoning 29. Phosphorous poisoning 30. Poisoning by benzene or a homologue of benzene 31. Poisoning by carbon dioxide gas 32. Poisoning by carbon disulphide 33. Poisoning by carbon monoxide gas 34. Poisoning by oxides of nitrogen 35. Poisoning from halogen derivatives of hydrocarbon compounds 36. Silicosis 37. Toxic anaemia 38. Toxic hepatitis 39. Tuberculosis 40. Ulceration of the corneal surface of the eye from exposure to tar, pitch, bitumen, mineral oil

(including paraffin), soot

Laboratory Acquired Infections resulting

from working with BATA

agents

(Reportable to Ministry of

Health)

Any suspected or confirmed infection relating from research activities involving schedule agents listed under the Biological Agents and Toxins Act as follow:

all confirmed or suspected infections or illnesses acquired by any member of the staff of the facility in the course of carrying out any activity involving biological agents or toxins in the facility;

all adverse incidents involving biological agents that may potentially cause transmission of any infectious disease;

all adverse incidents involving toxins; all loss, whether through theft or otherwise, of biological agents and toxins; and the destruction by the operator of the facility of any of the stocks of First Schedule (Part II)

biological agents, Second Schedule biological agents and Fifth Schedule toxins.

Radiation Exposure

(Reportable to National

Environment Agency)

Radiation exposure. Under Radiation Protection Act, the following have to be reported:

a) For Ionizing Radiation; A radiation accident shall be considered to have occurred in a non-medical application of ionizing radiation or radioactive material if – i. An unplanned or unexpected uncontrolled high level of ionizing radiation occurs as in

the case of loss, by damage of the radiation shielding, of a sealed radioactive source or of irradiating apparatus;

ii. An individual enters a high radiation field by accident; iii. There is loss of control of unsealed radioactive material causing a spillage or leakage

of the radioactive material; iv. The skin or clothing of an individual becomes contaminated; or v. Radioactive material is accidentally released into the environment in excess of the

discharge level permitted by the Chief Executive (CRPNS).

such that:- i. Any individual has, or could have, received an effective dose which is equal to

or in excess of one fifth of the dose limit as specified in the Second Schedule (Appendix A of NUS Ionizing Radiation Safety Manual)

ii. The skin or personal clothing of any radiation worker is contaminated in excess of 50 times (2.5 times for any other individual) the appropriate permitted contamination limits for skin or personal clothing as specified in the Fifth Schedule (Appendix D of NUS Ionizing Radiation Safety Manual)

iii. Any area in the premises where work with ionising radiation or radioactive material is conducted, is contaminated in excess of 50 times the permitted contamination limit for surfaces in such an area as specified in the Fifth Schedule (Appendix D of NUS Ionizing Radiation Safety Manual); or

iv. Any other area is contaminated in excess of 10 times the permitted contamination limit for surfaces in low level laboratories as specified in the Fifth Schedule (Appendix A of NUS Ionizing Radiation Safety Manual).

b) For Non Ionizing Radiation;

An occurrence which is liable to result in any person receiving a radiation level in excess of any of the exposure limits specified in the Third Schedule of the Radiation Protection (Non-Ionizing Radiation) Regulation. (Appendix B of NUS Laser Safety Manual)

The licensee or the Radiation Safety Officer shall inform the Chief Executive of the occurrence of the accident by means of a preliminary oral report within 24 hours, which is to be confirmed in writing within 48 hours and a final full written report within 10 days

Minor Accident / Incidents

All occupational safety & health related accidents/incidents (within and outside campus) that are not listed in the above categories for example (non-exhaustive):

Minor cuts and lacerations Slip, trip and fall Animal bites Needlestick injuries Chemical, biological spills Near misses Unsafe acts Unsafe conditions

Name of Injured Perso : Dept. Head / PI :

Staff/Student ID. : Date of Accident :

Designation : Time of Accident :

Location of Accident :

Faculty/Department :

Injury Type : No. of MC Days :

5M AnalysisS/N 5M

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AIRS Ref No. :

Accident / Incident Investigation Report

(I) Accident / Incident Information

(II) Description of Accident / Incident

(III) Investigation Findings

Event Causal Factor Description

(IV) Root Cause (s) of Accident / Incident

No. Root Cause Remarks

(V) Corrective / Preventive Measures

No. Person Responsible

(VI) Investigation Team

Investigation Lead :

Member :

Member :

Member :

Approved By:

Name / Signature / DateSignature

Prepared By:

Page 2 / 2

(Head of Dept or Nominee)(Investigation Lead)

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