Serious Injury/Illness Reporting Procedures

Regulatory background

Per Cal/OSHA regulation, employers shall report any work-related serious injury, illness, or death to Cal/OSHA as soon as practically possible, but not longer than eight hours after the incident. Cal/OSHA defines an injury or illness as serious if it:

• Requires inpatient hospitalization for a period longer than 24 hours, for reasons other than medical observation
• An employee suffers a loss of any limb of the body
• An employee suffers any serious degree of permanent disfigurement

Stanford reporting procedure

In the event of serious injury, illness, or death:

1. Call the EH&S Emergency Hotline at (650) 725-9999 immediately. (During non-business hours, this number will reach a University operator, who will collect incident information and contact EH&S.)
2. The Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Program staff will take the facts about the incident and the status of the injured employee(s) from the supervisor and/ or the employee(s).
3. The OHS Program staff will report the incident to the Cal/OSHA district office.
4. The supervisor must complete the requisite forms (refer to the table below or contact Risk Management at (650) 723-7400).
5. The supervisor must follow up on the incident and document corrective actions (using the Incident Investigation Report). EH&S will review all forms and contact supervisors as needed for follow up. The goal of incident investigations is to prevent incidents from recurring, not to assign culpability.

Who calls Cal/OSHA?

• EH&S is the designated University authority to report serious incidents to Cal/OSHA. The EH&S emergency reporting number (5-9999) is monitored 24 hours a day.
• Supervisors and co-workers must not contact Cal/OSHA directly to report serious incidents.

What are the time limits for reporting?

• EH&S shall report all serious incidents, injuries, and illnesses to the nearest District Office of Cal/OSHA as soon as practically possible, but not longer than eight hours after the incident.
• Failure to immediately report serious incidents and injuries to EH&S can result in Cal/OSHA citations and fines. Note that regulatory violations are paid by the operating unit responsible for the citations.

Additional information on incident reporting at Stanford University

• See the table below for Stanford University work-related incident/injury/illness reporting forms.
• If necessary, contact EH&S at (650) 723-0448 or visit the IIPP website.
• If necessary, contact the Office of Risk Management at (650) 723-7400.
• Review the Stanford University Administrative Guide:
  • Emergency/Accident Procedures (25.2)
  • Accident and Incident Reporting (25.6)

Stanford University work-related incident/injury/illness report forms

Supervisors are responsible for reporting all work-related incidents, injuries, and illnesses to the Office of Risk Management by completing the necessary forms. Forms can be obtained online or by calling Risk Management at (650) 723-7400.