Effective from September 2022
Approved by: Chief Executive Officer
At a Glance
Five Good Friends and The Lookout Way are committed to ensuring safe and effective service provision for Members and a safe working environment for workers. This policy outlines the expectations of the workforce of Five Good Friends and The Lookout Way for incident management.
Scope
All workers (employees, Helpers, and contractors), third party partners, and Members within Five Good Friends (FGF) and The Lookout Way (TLW).
Objective
To provide workers and stakeholders with an approach to incident management that encourages fast reporting and effective investigation incorporating analysis, corrective actions and continuous improvement. This will enable FGF and TLW to manage risks to Members and workers, improve the quality of care and services delivered, and ensure a safe working environment.
Definitions
- Incident – an event or set of circumstances which could have resulted or did result in harm, illness, loss, property damage, or disruption to normal services.
- Near Miss – is when an occurrence, event or omission happens that does not result in harm but had the potential to do so.
- Open Disclosure – means having an open discussion with our workers and Members and includes:
- identifying when things go wrong
- acknowledging and expressing regret
- providing support to those affected
- finding out and explaining what happened, and
- learning from the experience.
- Reportable Incidents – are specified types of serious incidents that are required to be reported to external agencies (e.g. WorkSafe, NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, Aged Care Quality & Safety Commission).
Policy Statements
- FGF and TLW are committed to effective incident management focused on promoting the safety of workers and Members, provision of quality supports and services, and continuous improvement.
- This includes our responsibility to prevent, manage, respond effectively to, and minimise the risk of incidents.
- We expect and value the identification and reporting of incidents. This includes a blame-free culture that encourages workers to report errors or near misses without fear of reprimand. We encourage workers to report incidents, to learn from them, collaborate, and build solutions when things go wrong.