People and Environment Incident Response and Investigation

At Orange Sky we have processes and systems to help you respond to incidents, issues and hazards.

This section explains the process for responding to a safety incident. Vehicle/asset issues have their own process.

How to Report an Incident

Safety and Vehicle/Asset reports can be made using the same form

Please report using the form in Volaby

If you need immediate assistance or advice contact service support:

Why Report an Incident or Issue

Reporting incidents and issues helps us to:

• Support anyone affected by the incident

• Learn and improve outcomes in the future

• Build culture through improved safety awareness

Remember, your prompt reporting helps us resolve incidents efficiently and maintain a positive impact on our community.

What to Report

Report physical and psychological issues including:

• Incidents that impact our service or people

• Incidents near our service

• Near misses

• Hazards or Issues that could cause harm

Some of the common incidents and issues reported include:

• injuries

• difficult conversations

• concerning behaviour

• violence between friends

• feeling unsafe

• a visit by emergency services

• processes that didn’t work as expected

• broken equipment

Please report no later than the next day after they incident/issue. Remember if in doubt, report.

What to Include in a Safety Report

Even if you don’t have all the details, complete the report. We’ll work together to fill in any gaps. Keep your report factual and avoid interpreting others’ motivations. You’ll be asked:

• What happened

• Where and when the incident happened

• Type of incident (choose from the system’s predefined list)

• Severity or impact of the incident

Incident Severity

When you enter an incident you will be asked to select one of our severity classifications.

Green - is a 'good to know' with no urgent follow-up action required. Includes an event that resulted in no injury or first aid only.

Amber - something more serious happened, or threatened to happen. Includes behaviours or events that caused real concern to the team.

Red - an emergency situation that has compromised volunteer safety or asset integrity. Includes event that caused significant harm or had the potential for significant harm.

Serious and Notifiable Incidents

At Orange Sky HQ, we take all reports seriously. In some cases, incidents, illnesses, and events must be reported to Health and Safety Regulators. These include fatalities, serious bodily injuries, work-caused illnesses (from body substances), and dangerous events (e.g. explosions, electric shock, structure collapse). Our PANDA team at HQ is responsible for notifying the regulator. Contact Service Support if there is a significant incident or near miss, they will be able to get advice on what to do.

Where there is a potential for the incident or near miss event to be a notifiable incident we have a responsibility to make sure the scene is undisturbed to preserve all evidence and allow an investigation to occur, however a serious incident scene may be disturbed to:

• save life, relieve suffering or prevent injury or property damage; or

• allow an authorised person to remove a deceased person.

The scene is to remain undisturbed until otherwise advised by the regulator or police.

Incident Triage

The Orange Sky WHS Advisor and Senior Manager Impact triage all incoming incident reports and:

• Review rating and classification

• Complete any missing drop down incident fields (some will prepopulate with the introduction of MyOS in October 2024)

• Month Opened

• Country

• Location

• Severity

• People Incident Category

• Who

• Emergency Services Involvement

• Abandoned Shift

• Review collaborators - some sensitive incidents may need less collaborators to ensure the confidentiality/safety of those involved

• Determine what type of investigation is required

• Escalate incident with senior managers as required

Incident Response

If you are a VL, VC or SC you will be added to relevant incidents in Asana. You and your team and RC should work together to make sure our volunteer team are ok, physically and psychologically. Orange Sky aims to support all persons impacted by an incident.

Immediate actions after an incident can include:

• A message or call to the team

• A reminder about VESP

• Support for injured team member to visit GP or hospital

• Assist injured volunteers to access Orange Sky insurance (the Orange Sky PANDA team will assist with this)

• Assist injured employees to access workers compensation (the Orange Sky PANDA team will assist with this)

• Fill information gaps, e.g. get further information from those involved

Remember many of our green incidents are lodged to give others a heads up about issues on shift and usually require limited investigation or response. The HQ team are always on hand to support this process and will step in to help out or ask for more information if they see the need.

Incident Investigation/Response

The Orange Sky WHS Advisor will review if an investigation is needed and will add the required actions to the incident in Asana. Options include a full investigation, a quick check or filling in some of the information gaps. The severity of the incident will indicate who is responsible for leading the incident response and the actions needed (as shown in the table below).

Lessons we learn from our investigations are shared with the wider team, through emails, WhatsApp or updates to our processes. Of course, what is personal or confidential will not be shared.

Response Timeframes

Respond to reports in the following timeframes:

1. Green - within 72hrs

2. Amber - within 48 Hours

3. Red -  within 24 hours

Quick Check Investigation

What to think about when leading an incident response/investigation

• Why did the incident happen? Keep asking why until the root cause is found (e.g. the 5 Whys technique)

• Is a response needed? e.g.

  • Pre start huddle sharing

  • Instruction, training or support

  • Update to the shift risk assessment

  • Changes to processes

  • Conversation with a friend or service provider

  • Do volunteers still feel safe on shift?

Full Investigation

Full investigations will be completed by appropriately qualified/trained people. Generally the Orange Sky WHS Advisor or an external investigator will complete this investigation. See Asana task (RESOURCE - Incident Investigation Template) for template.

Personal Medical Incidents

Personal medical incidents of people attending our service are one of Orange Sky’s more common emergency or red incidents. Personal medical incidents are not due to our service and generally do not require a full investigation; exceptions that warrant investigation may include suspicion of inadequate or inappropriate response.

Corrective Actions

Actions may be needed after an incident and are tracked within Asana by Regional Coordinators and the WHS Advisor in cooperation with Volunteer Leaders. These actions could include:

• Communication with volunteers (emails, WhatsApp, huddles)

• Liaising with partners or service providers

• Training

• Changes to processes

• Repair/replacement of equipment

Personal details will never be shared except in exceptional circumstances and only with approval from the Orange Sky PANDA team.

Each of us is responsible for ensuring that any changes do not worsen the situation. If you assess that changes may or do make things less safe, please inform your supervisor.

People Incident Class

Before closing the incident WHS Advisor will review the People Incident Class in the incident report to make sure it reflects the impact on people. This includes physical and psychological treatments. This metric is important for Orange Sky WHS reporting.

Incident Close Out

Only mark an incident as complete when actions have been implemented or are tracked elsewhere.