Greater control over sensitive incident reporting with Prime Systems (accidents and incidents)
Good incident management relies on having the right information available to the right people.
Most of the time, established reporting and notification routes make that straightforward. An incident is recorded, the appropriate managers are informed, and the organisation can investigate, act and learn from what happened.
Some incidents, however, involve information that needs to be handled more carefully.
Prime Systems has expanded its Accident & Incident Management functionality to give organisations greater control over these situations with Sensitive Incident reporting.
The update allows any configured incident type to follow a restricted reporting process, keeping the information within the central Prime Systems platform while controlling who can see and receive it.
New: Sensitive Incident reporting
Previously, sensitive reporting within Prime Systems was available for specific customer and staff accidents. The new functionality extends this capability so that any configured incident type can be treated as sensitive.
- Once a sensitive incident is submitted, access is automatically restricted to a predetermined group of authorised users.
- People outside that group won’t see the incident on screen or within their on-demand reports.
- Email notifications also follow the sensitive incident process. Instead of being sent through the organisation’s usual routing – for example, automatically notifying a site or area manager – information is sent to the authorised group.
It gives organisations greater control over sensitive information without moving the incident into a separate system or process.
Building the right process in from the start
One of the most important parts of the update is that the person reporting an incident doesn’t need to decide whether it should be marked as sensitive – in the new update, the organisation determines that in advance.
- Relevant incident types are configured within Prime Systems so the system knows which reporting process to follow.
- When a sensitive incident type is submitted, Prime Systems automatically applies the appropriate visibility and email routing.
This helps organisations apply their chosen reporting protocols consistently and means users can concentrate on accurately recording what has happened rather than deciding who should have access to the information.
It’s another example of configuring the technology around the organisation rather than asking the organisation to work around the technology.
Protecting information while supporting better incident management
Accident and incident reporting has an important role beyond creating a record of what happened. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) highlights the value of investigating accidents, incidents, near misses and dangerous occurrences. Effective investigation can help organisations understand why existing controls didn’t prevent an event, identify improvements and reduce the likelihood of something similar happening again.
Industry guidance and coverage also continue to emphasise the value of timely and consistent reporting, particularly where organisations can bring information together to identify patterns and improve their approach.
That makes good information important. But so is appropriate access to it.
HSE guidance recognises that incident records can include personal information and information provided in confidence. For organisations handling sensitive reports, there therefore needs to be a balance between capturing the information required to manage an incident effectively and making sure it is shared appropriately.
Greater control for multi-site organisations
Managing Director Paul Ramsell explains why this can be particularly relevant to large and multi-site businesses.
“A leisure venue, retailer, hospitality business, property operator or facilities management organisation may have established reporting routes that automatically give managers visibility of incidents within their location or region, and this works well for everyday incident management.
But there may be circumstances where an incident contains information that doesn’t need to follow the normal management route. Sensitive Incident reporting allows the organisation to establish those rules in advance; the incident remains within Prime Systems, providing a central and consistent record, while access and notifications are restricted to the authorised people responsible for managing it.”
With more complex environments, sensitive and exception incident reporting is becoming more common and without a way to report exceptions, they can be missed or become overly time-consuming for staff to process.
Changing when circumstances change
Sensitive doesn’t necessarily mean sensitive forever. If circumstances change and the report no longer needs restricted access, an authorised member of the sensitive incident group can return it to general circulation.
From that point, it becomes visible to other users with the relevant Prime Systems permissions.
This keeps the complete incident within one system throughout its lifecycle and gives organisations the flexibility to change access when appropriate.
The right information. The right people. One system.
Prime Systems is built to help organisations capture, store and share vital health and safety information more effectively.
- Sometimes improving transparency means making information easier to see across an organisation.
- Sometimes good information management means being much more precise about who can see it.
Sensitive Incident reporting gives health and safety teams that additional control while keeping incident management within the same central system.
- For the person making the report, the process is clear.
- For authorised teams, the information they need is available.
- For the wider organisation, sensitive information is managed according to the rules it has put in place.
- And for health and safety teams, there is still one consistent system for recording and managing incidents.
It’s a considered improvement designed around the realities of managing health and safety information in complex organisations – and another way we’re helping our customers create simpler, more effective safety processes.
To find out more about Sensitive Incident reporting, Accident & Incident Management or how Prime Systems can be configured around your organisation, speak to our team.
