Environment, Health and Safety OARS Online Accident Reporting System A guide to the University of Calgary’s new web- based On-line Accident Reporting System (OARS). January 2009 Revised

Environment, Health and Safety Accident Reporting and Investigation The reporting and investigation of accidents and incidents is required by Alberta Occupational Health & Safety and Environmental legislation as well as University policies. Employees must report any accident or incident to their Supervisor as soon as possible. Students must report all accidents or incidents to their Supervisor, Instructor or University Representative as soon a possible. Contractors, Visitors or Volunteers must report any accident or incident to a University Representative as soon as possible. The Supervisor or University Representative is required to file a report within 24 hours of receiving notification of the accident or incident.

Environment, Health and Safety Before you start OARS does not replace Worker's Compensation Board (WCB) reporting requirements. All WCB reportable incidents require the completion of WCB forms and the University of Calgary's OARS incident report. A worksheet is available outlining the information necessary to complete the OARS report. You may print the worksheet and use it to collect the appropriate information about the accident and to assist in the investigation. Any student, staff, or faculty member can file an accident/ incident report. Just have your eID ready to file the report.

Environment, Health and Safety Two Ways to Access OARS 1.Environment, Health & Safety’s website at 2.MyUofC Portal In MyUofC, go to: Campus Services EHS Tools Online Accident Reporting System

Environment, Health and Safety Getting Started Click on Click here to enter through MyUofC

Environment, Health and Safety Sign On My UofC Enter your eID and Password. Add another UCID to your eID at Note: Some users may have more than one UCID. Users with more than one UCID must add their UCID’s to their eID.

Environment, Health and Safety Create New Incident Report On the OARS Home page, click Create New Incident Report. Complete the online form. For help completing each section, use the icon.

Environment, Health and Safety Page 1 - Person Involved Person Reporting Incident Indicate in what capacity you are reporting the incident. Click on the appropriate button, and select either Supervisor, University Representative or Self. The system will automatically fill in the required tracking information. Person Involved or Affected Select the status of the person injured or involved in the incident. For Faculty/Staff or Graduate Student click “Select Involved.” For Undergraduate Student, Contractor or Public, complete all text fields. Indicate the length of employment and time in occupational at time of incident.

Environment, Health and Safety Supervisor Selection If you are “Self” reporting and entering your own accident/incident report, you will have to provide your supervisor’s information. Click “Select Supervisor” and you will be able to select from a list and then the information will auto fill. If you are a “University Representative” reporting on behalf of an employee, graduate student, undergraduate student, contractor, visitor or volunteer and do not know the name of the Supervisor, click “Unknown Supervisor.” If the Supervisor is known, Click “Select Supervisor” and you will be able to select from a list and then the information will auto fill. You may enter one other person to be notified of the accident. Many Faculties, Departments and/or Units require additional management notification. Consult your Department/Unit about additional notification requirements. You must know this address as there is no select option. Click “NEXT” when finished with the page.

Environment, Health and Safety Page 2 - Description Enter the Date and Time of the incident. Select Campus and Incident Location. If the location cannot be selected from the list, enter the information in the space provided. Provide Incident Details – be as descriptive as possible. Attachments may be uploaded. Identify if Campus Security attended. Enter Witness and First Aid information. Click “NEXT” when finished with the page.

Environment, Health and Safety Page 3 - Classification Select which level of incident is being reported 1, 2 or 3. Classification determines the appropriate level of notification and management involvement in the investigation. Select all applicable boxes below the level selected. Click “NEXT” when finished with the page.

Environment, Health and Safety Page 4 - Details Identify the Body Part(s) Affected, Nature of Injury and Type of Contact – select all that apply. Click “NEXT” when finished with the page.

Environment, Health and Safety Submitting the Report If you are a “University Representative” or “Self” reporting you may now save a draft, view the PDF report, or submit the report. “Supervisors” are able to complete the report from start to finish (pages 1-6). If there are errors in completing the report, red error messages will appear at the top of the page, outlining what is required to be completed and on which page. Make these corrections and resubmit the report. Once submitted, a tracking number will be assigned to the incident and a message stating “Completed Report Submitted Successfully” will appear. A copy will automatically go to the Supervisor and any additional recipients whom you may have included on page 1. EH&S will receive notification if “Unknown Supervisor” is selected. The Supervisor will be required to complete Pages 5 and 6. Depending on the incident classification level, other Higher Authorities may also be required to complete the Management Review section on Page 6.

Environment, Health and Safety Same Incident with Multiple Persons Affected In the event that multiple people are affected by one incident, a separate incident report is required to be completed for each person affected. This is easy to do in OARS. The information from a submitted report is copied into a new report. The additional person affected will need to be identified as well as some details may also be different. From the OARS Home Page. Select “View/Edit all Open Reports Submitted by Me” Select the appropriate incident and click “Same Incident ->New Person Involved” The new “copied” incident report will have the same tracking number as the original report, however there will be a letter added to the tracking number. For example: A copy of “ ” will be “ A”.

Environment, Health and Safety Page 5 – Investigative Details The Supervisor is required to identify the immediate cause of the incident. Immediate Causes are the hazards that existed immediately prior to the occurrence of the accident or incident. Select all boxes that apply. At least one must be selected from this section. If “Other” selected, use the “Root Cause” text field on the bottom of this page to describe.

Environment, Health and Safety Investigative Details - Root Cause The Supervisor is required to identify the root cause of the incident. Root Causes underlie all other causes and are the most important to identify in incident investigations. Select all the boxes that apply. At least one must be selected from this section. If “Other” selected, use the “Root Causes” text field to describe. Click “NEXT” when finished with the page.

Environment, Health and Safety Page 6 – Corrective Action Corrective Actions to Prevent Recurrence After identifying the causes of the incident, the Supervisor is required to identify (and implement) corrective actions to prevent the accident or incident from happening again. Select all boxes that apply. At least one must be selected. If “Other” selected, utilize the “Recommendations/Prevention Measures” open text field to describe in detail. Scroll down the page to the Management Review section.

Environment, Health and Safety Management Review Level 2 and 3 incidents require higher levels of management notification, review and sign-off. Higher Authorities must complete the Management Review section. Level 2 Incidents “Second Higher Authority” must approve the incident investigation to close the OARS report. Level 3 incidents “Second Higher Authority” must review and approved the investigation. “Third Higher Authority” must approve the incident investigation to close the OARS report.

Environment, Health and Safety Management Review - Supervisor Supervisor (for all incident classification levels) is required to: Identify the “Corrective Actions Target Date” and the “Corrective Actions Compete Date.” Approve the Investigation and Corrective Actions by selecting “Yes.” Confirm that the corrective actions have been implemented by selecting “Yes” to “Corrective Actions Complete." Include additional comments in the text field provided. Level 1 Incidents - Supervisor may now complete the investigation by selecting “Submit Completed Report.” Level 2 & 3 incidents – Supervisor must identify higher levels of management (higher authorities).

Environment, Health and Safety Management Review – Level 2 Incidents Supervisors are required to identify the “Second Higher Authority” for level 2 incidents. The “Second Higher Authority” is the person to whom the Supervisor reports. Click “Select” to be able to select from a list and the the information will auto fill. Second Higher Authority is required to: Approve the Investigation and Corrective Actions by selecting “Yes.” Confirm that the corrective actions have been implemented by selecting “Yes” to “Corrective Actions Complete." Include additional comments in the text field provided, if necessary. Complete the investigation by clicking “Submit Completed” report.

Environment, Health and Safety Management Review – Level 3 Incidents Supervisors are required to identify the Second and Third Higher Authorities for level 3 incidents. The Second Higher Authority is the person whom the Supervisor reports to and the “Third Higher Authority” Is the person whom the “Second Higher Authority” reports to. Click “Select” to be able to select from a list and the the information will auto fill. Third Higher Authority is required to: “Approve the Investigation and Corrective Actions” by selecting “Yes.” Confirm that the corrective actions have been implemented by selecting “Yes” to “Corrective Actions Complete." Include additional comments in the text field provided, if necessary. Complete the investigation by clicking “Submit Completed Report”.

Environment, Health and Safety Edit and View the Report You may edit a report until your Supervisor or any Higher Authority edits and completes the Management Review section. Supervisors are only able to edit a report until they have approved the investigation and corrective actions and have confirmed that the corrective actions have been completed. However, once a Higher Authority has edited the report it is no longer editable by the Supervisor (for Level 2 incidents) or the Second Higher Authority (for Level 3 incidents). Reports may be viewed at any time (unfinished, open, submitted or closed).

Environment, Health and Safety Nagging s reminders will be sent to the Supervisor (or Higher Authorities) when: there has been no follow up after 5 days of receiving the notification. the Corrective Action Target Date has not been specified. the Corrective Action Target Date has passed. Instructions are provided in the reminder outlining how to complete the required fields in OARS.

Environment, Health and Safety Training Site for Practice To practice using OARS, go to You can enter your own incident reports, or report in the capacity of the Supervisor, or the University Representative. For training purposes, no confirmation will be sent to the persons mentioned on the report in order to avoid unnecessary confusion.

Environment, Health and Safety Questions More information about reporting accidents and incidents at the University of Calgary and the new Online Accident Reporting System (OARS) can be found at Contact Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S) at –