Incident Reporting

Updated January 25, 2025

Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) tracks and investigates work-related incidents to help prevent injuries and illnesses, and to maintain safe and healthy workplaces.
Workplace injury and incident reporting is required by federal and state regulatory and funding agencies.

UW Medicine personnel use a separate system to track work-related injuries and illnesses.

If an incident occurs:

Follow the EH&S exposure response procedures if potentially exposed to hazardous materials.

STEP 1

Complete any immediate first aid/medical care measures.

STEP 2

Report the incident to a supervisor.

STEP 3

Submit an incident report via the Online Accident Reporting System (OARS) to EH&S within 24 hours or immediately if the below applies.

Incidents that require immediate notification

Notify EH&S immediately (after first aid/medical care/emergency services) if the workplace incident involves any of the following.

In-patient hospitalization, amputation, loss of an eye, or fatality
Recombinant/synthetic DNA/RNA exposure or spill
Radioactive material spill, exposure, accidental exposure from a radiation producing device or laser
Fires

During EH&S business hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday) call (206) 543-7262.

Outside of EH&S business hours, call the UW Police Department at (206) 685-8973 to reach EH&S on-call staff.

These workplace incidents require EH&S reporting to regulatory and funding agencies.

Reporting instructions

UW personnel are required to submit an incident report to EH&S for any work-related event that results in an injury, illness, exposure to hazardous materials, property damage, or fire, regardless of the work location. UW personnel are highly encouraged to submit work-related near-miss events.

The reporting requirement includes workplace incidents involving or impacting UW personnel, including student workers, and volunteers. The work setting may be a University-owned and operated location, a field site, and an off-campus location where University activities are occurring.

Incident reports can only be submitted by the injured person, their supervisor, or anyone with a UW NetID.

When an incident occurs that is not work-related, please use the Report a Concern form.

Types of work-related events to report

1. Injury events are defined as any harm to a person, including physical injury, that may or may not require first aid (e.g., use of medication, band-aids, ice packs, etc.).

2. Illness events are workplace illnesses that can result from exposures to infectious agents, communicable diseases, and heat.

3. Exposure events are workplace contact with a hazardous material such as a chemical, biological, or radiological agent; contact could be with the eyes, nose (inhalation), mouth (ingestions), or skin (absorption or injection).

4. Property damage-events are work-related events involving property where there was potential for personal injury.

5. Fire events include flames and/or smoke, even if the fire goes out by itself.

6. Near-miss events identify a potentially unsafe condition or behavior at work where no injury, illness, or property damage occurred, but where, given a slight shift in time or position, they could have occurred. For example, if a worker tripped while walking, but was not injured, this would be considered a near-miss event. Near-misses are valuable opportunities to correct potential hazards.

How to report safety concerns

Safety concerns are defined as any condition, practice, or violation that has the potential to result in physical harm, property loss, and/or environmental impacts.

Safety concerns can be reported to EH&S using the Report A Concern Form.

Keep in mind that some concerns are managed by the impacted department or UW Facilities and their reporting processes:

Damage to UW vehicles - UW Facilities Fleet Services
Concerns with a facility, parking lot, or grounds on the Seattle campus –UW Facilities
Building related concerns on the Seattle campus - building coordinator

Assistance

For assistance with completing an incident report, contact EH&S at injury@uw.edu.

If you will be working at a location without internet access, download and save or print the Incident Report Form (PDF) prior to leaving internet service. Complete the PDF after an incident occurs and type the information into the UW’s Online Accident Reporting System when you return to internet service.

Responsibilities

When personnel initiate a report using the UW’s Online Accident Reporting System (OARS), the supervisor is contacted by the system and asked to add information, including the result of their root cause analysis and suggested corrective actions to prevent future incidents. Supervisors are encouraged to review the online course, Five Whys Root Cause Analysis, to better understand how to conduct a root cause analysis.

EH&S oversees workplace health and safety. EH&S reviews reports and follows up as needed with the supervisors. Some incidents require a separate EH&S root cause analysis investigation. EH&S redacts personally identifiable information and posts information for review by the appropriate health and safety committee. EH&S tracks incident trends and addresses them through campus safety efforts, which can include communications and resources, policy, programs, and safety tools.

University units and departments are responsible for providing a safe and healthy workplace. Units and departments should encourage personnel to report safety concerns to their supervisor or EH&S, support incident prevention measures, and require reporting of work-related injuries, illnesses, exposures, and near-miss events using the UW’s Online Accident Reporting System (OARS).

Download an Incident Reporting Poster and place it where personnel can view it as a reminder of the importance of timely reporting.

Frequently asked questions

If you are a UW employee injured at work or believe you have a work-related illness, you can file a worker's compensation claim with the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I). Completing an OARS report will not initiate a worker's compensation claim. The OARS reporting requirement is independent and separate from filing a workers' compensation claim for a work-related injury.
More information, instructions, and assistance regarding Workers’ Compensation is available at the UW Compliance and Risk Services website.

Workplace violence: Report workplace violence concerns or events to SafeCampus or call 206.685.SAFE.

Motor vehicle accidents: Visit the UW Facilities Transportation Services or the Tacoma Motor Pool website for specific procedures following a collision or vehicular accident involving a UW vehicle.

Building concerns: Report facilities-related concerns on the Seattle campus to UW Facilities or email the Customer Care Team (careteam@uw.edu) or submit a work order using their online form.

Use the Report a Concern form to report safety concerns to EH&S. A safety concern is a condition, practice, or violation that causes a substantial probability of physical harm, property loss, and/or environmental impacts. A tree root sticking up through a sidewalk could pose a trip hazard and could be reported using this process.

Use the Online Accident Reporting System (OARS) if someone tripped on the tree root but was not injured, as this would be a near-miss event. If the person who tripped on the tree root was injured, you would still submit a report in OARS but clarify there was an injury.

Submittals in OARS allow us to collect detailed information about the incident so we can route this information to responsible parties for further review and corrective actions. These additional details and the reviews help us improve workplaces safety and prevent future incidents.

The Report a Concern form can be submitted anonymously. Please don’t use the Report a Concern form to report a work-related injury, illness (including COVID-19), exposure, fire, property damage, or near miss.

Log on to the Online Accident Reporting System (OARS) with your UWNetID.
Click once on the menu item Create New Incident Report. The system can be slow to respond and doesn’t respond to double-clicks like most applications.
Page 1 - Person Involved: Select Supervisor if you are the supervisor of the person affected, select Self if you are the person affected, or select University Representative if you are reporting on behalf of another person (and you are not their supervisor).
- If you selected Supervisor or University Representative, you will be asked to identify the affected person. In the Person Involved or Affected section, these buttons will appear: Faculty/staff, Graduate Student, Undergraduate Student, Contractor, Public, Volunteer
- If you select “Faculty/Staff” or “Graduate Student,” then click Select Involved.
- Enter the name or UWNetID of the person affected.
- Click Search UW Directory.
- Click on the button next to the person’s name and click Select Person at the bottom of the page.
- Click Select Supervisor and repeat the steps above.
- Click “Next” to continue.
Page 2 - Description: Enter the incident details.
- Select a date and time.
- Select a campus from the dropdown menu.
- Click Select to search a list of most known locations on each campus.
- Enter the building name or parking lot code in the Building/Parking Lot field.
- Click Search for Location.
- Click the button next to the location and click Select Location at the bottom of the list.

Tips:

When searching for Magnusson Health Sciences, enter “MAG” in the Building/Parking lot field (not to be confused with the new Health Sciences Education Building).
If you are unable to find the location in the list, click Back to Report and type the location in the Other field.

Add details of the incident in the Incident Details box.
Click Next.

5. Page 3 - Classification: Select the type of incident.

Select Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3 by clicking the button next to the Level heading.
Select the best description of the incident type within the level you selected.
Select at least one item under Injury Description, Body Parts Affected, and Cause or Potential Cause of Injury/Damage.
Click “Next” to continue.

6. Page 4 – Details: Provide additional details and contributing factors

Complete the top of page 4 only if the injury or near miss involved a slip, trip, or fall.
In the Contributing Factors section, select at least one item from any of the four categories.
The Suggested Corrective Actions section is an opportunity for you to contribute suggestions regarding the root cause(s) of the incident and recommendations to improve workplace safety. This section is optional; however, it is an important step in helping prevent future incidents.

7. Click Save Progress and Submit Initial Report.

If any required fields were not completed, you’ll see a red error message.

Contact injury@uw.edu if you need assistance.

When the initial report is submitted, the affected person and supervisor will receive an email with the report attached. The supervisor will be asked to complete pages 5 and 6.

Log on to the Online Accident Reporting System (OARS) with your UWNetID.
Click once on the menu item Supervisors: Finish Reports Involving me as Supervisor.
Review the incident details in pages 1-4 before completing pages 5 and 6.
Enter your root cause analysis and recommendations/preventive measures on pages 5. (If you need a refresher on root cause analysis, refer the free online course “Five Whys Root Cause Analysis.”)
Click “Save Progress” and “Next”.
On the top left of page 6, enter a corrective action target date. Indicate that yes, you approve the investigative and corrective actions planned.
When corrective actions are complete (which may take days or weeks), return to the top right of page 6 to fill in the corrective action completion date (which cannot be in the future) and indicate yes, you confirm the action(s) are complete. You can make additional comments as needed.
Click “Save Progress” and “Submit Final Report.”

OSHA 300A Injury and Illness Reports

The OSHA 300A Injury and Illness Reports for the University of Washington are available on the Work-Related Incident Reports page.

Contact

Environmental Health & Safety Contact

(206) 543-7262

ehsdept@uw.edu

Reference Files

Exposure Response Poster

95.49KB (.pdf)

Spill Response Poster

126.63KB (.pdf)

Incident Reporting Poster

558.25KB (.pdf)

Reference Links

UW Online Accident Reporting System (OARS)

Incident Reporting

If an incident occurs:

STEP 1

STEP 2

STEP 3

Incidents that require immediate notification

Reporting instructions

Types of work-related events to report

How to report safety concerns

Assistance

Responsibilities

Personnel

Supervisors

Environmental Health & Safety

Health and safety committees

Units and departments

Frequently asked questions

How does incident reporting relate to Workers’ Compensation?

What other types of incidents have reporting requirements?

When do I submit a Report of Concern instead of an OARS report?

How do I submit an OARS report?

How do I add supervisor comments to an incident report?

Can I anonymously report safety concerns?

How do I report an incident involving non-UW personnel?

OSHA 300A Injury and Illness Reports

Contact

Environmental Health & Safety Contact