10.4 Injury Reporting

Overview

It is important to report even minor job-related injuries or illness. There are five reasons that employees must promptly report any injury or illness which has occurred at work or where work may have contributed to the injury or illness.

  1. Reporting injuries and illnesses can trigger additional investigation to identify and remediate root causes and prevent future injuries.
  2. Provides your safety committee with data to identify trends and gain support for remediation efforts.
  3. Employer notification is required should the injury result in medical treatment and require worker's compensation payment.
  4. The Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) requires that any injury incurred while working on a project approved by the IBC be reported to the IBC (as per National Institutes of Health guidelines and UMN Regents Policy)
  5. OSHA requires an injury log be maintained and reported annually.

Reporting Procedure

The University of Minnesota Office of Risk Management and Insurance oversees the University of Minnesota Administrative Policy "Reporting Workers Compensation Related Injuries", which describes the injury reporting procedure in detail. This procedure is summarized below:

Employee Responsibilities

  • If you require immediate medical attention, call 911 and seek medical treatment immediately.
  • In the event of a needlestick, immediately contact the HealthPartners 24-hour CareLine at (612) 339-3663 or 800-551-0859 (TTY 952-883-5474) to receive counseling on appropriate treatment. HealthPartners Occupational and Environmental Medicine Clinics and Urgent Care, and the Emergency Room at Fairview University Medical Center stock the drugs currently recommended for treatment within 1-2 hours of accidental exposures to HIV.
  • Notify your supervisor as soon as practicable. Your supervisor will assess the situation, assist with arranging proper medical care and begin the injury reporting process.
  • Work with your supervisor to complete relevant documents.

Supervisor Responsibilities

Immediately assess the incident and assist the Employee in seeking appropriate medical care or necessary treatment for any work-related injury. If the employee requires immediate medical attention, call 911.

As soon as possible, provide the Employee with the following forms:

Within 8 business hours, complete the online First Report of Injury (eFROI) form.

Information Provided to Physician

The employee's supervisor or department will collect and transmit the following information to the examining physician:

  • Identification of the hazardous substance(s) to which the employee may have been exposed;
  • A description of the conditions under which the exposure occurred including quantitative exposure data, if available; and
  • A description of the signs and symptoms of exposure that the employee is experiencing, if any.

Additional Reporting – Exposures to Biological Agents

In addition to the procedure outlined above, there are specific reporting requirements for any injuries or illnesses that occur while working on an IBC-approved protocol. The IBC injury report form and instructions can be found on the IBC website.

To summarize, send IBC Incident Report Form to the IBC for all incidents involving biohazardous agents. Any accident involving recombinant or synthetic DNA must be reported to the IBC office within 24 hours to meet institutional requirements prescribed by the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules.

Reporting Procedure for UNPAID Students, Guests, and Visitors

The following form should be filled out and emailed or faxed to the Risk Management Office for reporting property damage or injury to UNPAID students, guests, and visitors:

Workers' Compensation Procedures and Forms

It is very important that even minor job-related injuries or illness are reported. These statistics help the Health, Safety, and Risk Management track trends that may indicate occupational hazards that need evaluation. To report an illness or injury, go to the Workers' Compensation website.

University of Minnesota's Policy for Reporting Workers' Compensation Related Injuries is also available on the web. This policy explains the procedures and provides the necessary reporting forms. Please note that there are additional reporting requirements for any injuries or illnesses that occur while working on an IBC-approved protocol. The IBC injury report form can be found on the IBC website.

For more information, visit the Occupational Health and Safety website regarding injury reporting.

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