Report it
Report every injury, illness, incident and near miss to your supervisor or the person your employer has designated, as soon as you can. A near miss is an event that didn't cause harm but could have. Near misses are warnings: investigating them can prevent the next incident from hurting someone.
The goal of an investigation is to find the root causes and fix them, not to blame people. Be honest and specific about what happened.
The first step in any investigation is reporting the incident to the designated person, and getting first aid and medical care for anyone who's hurt. Follow your employer's reporting procedure.
First aid basics
Every jurisdiction in Canada requires workplaces to have first aid. What's required (first aid kits, trained first aiders, a first aid room) depends on things like the number of workers, the hazards and how far the site is from a hospital.
- On your first day, find out who the first aiders are and where the first aid kit is.
- Find out how to call for emergency help from your site.
This lesson isn't a first aid course. Real first aid and CPR certification comes from an approved provider; see First Aid/CPR in the tickets guide.
Key takeaways
- Report every injury, incident and near miss to your supervisor right away.
- Investigations look for root causes, not someone to blame.
- Every jurisdiction requires workplace first aid; know your first aiders and kit.
- This lesson is not a first aid certificate.