INCIDENT REPORTING PROCEDURE
1. Purpose
To provide clear and consistent procedure for the reporting and management of incidents. The information of this form will be the base details used for the Incident Management Flow.
2. Definitions
Incidents includes but is not limited to:
- Accidents when a person is injured or hurt in any way whilst in Nations Church premises.
- Near-misses any event(s) that potentially and likely to result in some serious consequences / injury.
- Disclosure - disclosure of information that indicates potentially a plannned serious event or patterns of unacceptable behavior
3. Introduction
Nations Church acknowledges Gods love for all people and our responsibility as a Christian community to extend our love in Gods name to all who come into contact with our church.
An important expression of that love is to provide a safe and secure environment for all people who are involved in our church. These procedural guidelines for the management of incidents are part of an important strategy towards ensuring a safe Nations Church.
4. Reporting Obligations
When a staff member, leader or volunteer are involved, witnessed or observed an incident, they must respond promptly and calmly in a supportive manner, providing the necessary support (eg first-aid) and situational control where appropriate.
Staff members, leaders and volunteers may become aware of information concerning potential 'events', either through their own observations or information provided by others (e.g. parents, friends or other external sources). In some cases this may be information or observations that clearly indicate that a planned event has or may occur. Staff members, leaders and volunteers have an overriding obligation to protect the safety of everyone wihtin Nations Church premises, and are therefore required to report the information immediately, whether it is based on actual knowledge or suspicion.
5. Management Procedures
- Information concerning actual or potential incidents must be reported immediately to a staff member/team leader at the event. The staff member / team leader should then take immediate actions to ensure that
- the person involved in the incident is attended to immediately, whether via first-aid administration and/or an amubulance called if required, or providing pastoral care.
- the known source of danger removed or isolated from everyone else
- the event discontinued and the situation brought under-control.
- Details of the event including the information on which the knowledge or suspicion of actual or potential incident is based should be recorded in the Incident Report form. The form may be completed by the staff member, leader or volunteer.
- Staff members, leaders and volunteers should treat information concerning the incident as confidential.
- When the incident is reported to a Pastor, then it is the responsibility of the Pastor to take any immediate action to ensure safety (e.g. in the context of reported incident during a Church event or activity). The Pastor should also provide the details of the incident to all the relevant people according to the Incident Management Escalation Table.