All incidents and accidents that occur in must reported immediately to your supervisor. It is against the law to discourage or not report an injury or accident that has occurred in your workplace. This includes “close-calls” or “near-misses”, where someone didn’t sustain an actual injury, but was lucky and the events could have easily resulted in an injury on any other given day.
To report an accident/incident, the following steps must be taken1:
Ensure the person responsible for your workplace (i.e. your supervisor) is notified;
Injured/ill workers must go to the UBC CAIRS site and fill out an accident/incident form (Person Involved in Incident Report);
If you have seen a doctor or have missed time from work as a result of a work-related injury/illness, you can start a WCB claim by calling the WorkSafeBC Teleclaim Contact Centre at 1.888.WORKERS (1.888.967.5377).
Your preceptor may inform you of additional site-specific reporting procedures.
Common Injuries and Accidents
Handling sharps, sutures and needles is common in health care settings. As these instruments all have the potential to puncture or cut the skin, it is frequent that needle scratches, punctures and cuts occur in the workplace.
Sharps may be contaminated with a patient’s blood or body fluids and therefore present a risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens for workers. If this occurs while you are on clinical placements:
Report the incident to the nurse-in-charge or your preceptor. If working in a hospital, report to the nurse-in-charge. Remind him/her that you are covered by WorkSafeBC. Also, notify your preceptor of the exposure. If working in an office or clinic, notify the preceptor or supervisor of the exposure. You may be able to do this at the time of the exposure, or sometime later.
Go to the Emergency Room within 2 hours of exposure. THIS IS NOT OPTIONAL. Advise triage nurse of BBF exposure and that you are covered by WorkSafeBC (unless volunteering/shadowing).
Student and preceptor complete necessary forms by visiting cairs.ubc.ca WITHIN 24 HOURS.
Watch this short video for tips on suture safety to prevent cuts and needle sticks:
Click here to review the full Blood or Body Fluid (BBF) Exposure Protocol.