Incident

Incident refers to an event, condition, or situation that arises during the course of work that could have or did lead to illnesses, injuries, damage, or fatalities. Incidents can be minor or major and can occur in any setting, including healthcare facilities, workplaces, and public spaces.

Definition

An Incident is an event that could lead to loss or disruption of an organization's operations, services or functions. If not managed, an incident can escalate into an emergency, crisis or a disaster. Incident management is therefore the process of limiting the potential disruption caused by such an event, followed by a return to business as usual.

Types of Incidents

There are several types of incidents that can occur, including:

• Accident - An unplanned event that results in injury, illness, death, or property damage.
• Near Miss - An incident where no property was damaged and no personal injury sustained, but where, given a slight shift in time or position, damage and/or injury easily could have occurred.
• Occupational Illness - Any abnormal condition or disorder caused by exposure to environmental factors associated with employment.
• Hazardous Condition - A circumstance that increases the likelihood of an incident occurring.

Incident Management

Incident Management is a term describing the activities of an organization to identify, analyze, and correct hazards to prevent a future re-occurrence. These incidents within a structured organization are normally dealt with by either an Incident Response Team, or an Incident Management Team.

Incident Reporting

Incident Reporting is an important part of incident management. It involves the documentation of incidents, including what happened, how it happened, why it happened, and what can be done to prevent it from happening again.

See Also

• Risk Management
• Emergency Management
• Disaster Recovery

Incident Resources
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