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Report serious incidents

Employers must call the 24-hour OHS Contact Centre as soon as possible to report serious workplace incidents:

Phone: 780-415-8690 (Edmonton)
Toll free: 1-866-415-8690
TTY: 780-427-9999 (Edmonton)
TTY: 1-866-232-7215

Overview

A potentially serious incident (PSI) is reportable when:

the incident had a likelihood of causing a serious injury or illness, and
there is reasonable cause to believe that corrective action may need to be taken to prevent recurrence.

A PSI is not limited to workers. If someone who isn’t a worker is involved, it’s only a potentially serious incident if it resulted from work activities at the work site or could have happened to a worker.

When determining whether an incident is a PSI, the following factors should be taken into consideration:

actual circumstances of the incident (person, place, time, work practices being followed)
hazards present at the time of the incident
appropriate controls in place at the time of the incident
slightly different circumstances (timing, distance, body position, etc.) that may have resulted in a serious injury

Resources

Reporting PSIs

Report a Potentially Serious Incident online

Use the online form to report PSIs. Submit PSI reports after an investigation is complete, as required by Section 33(6) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

To meet their obligations under the act, the employer or prime contractor (if there is one) must also:

carry out an investigation of the incident
prepare a report that outlines their investigation, including any corrective actions taken
ensure a copy of the report is readily available and given to an OHS officer on demand
provide a copy of the report to a Director, the joint health and safety committee or health and safety representative, if applicable. If there is no committee or representative, a copy must be made available to workers once the investigation is complete
retain a copy of the report for at least 2 years after the PSI

PSI reporting is the responsibility of the employer or prime contractor, if there is a prime contractor. If a worker wishes to report an incident, they will be directed to contact the OHS Contact Centre.

An employer is not required to secure the scene of a PSI.

PSI reports are not admissible as evidence for any purpose in a trial arising out of the injury or incident, except in a prosecution for perjury or for the giving of contradictory evidence.

Resources

PSI reports by industry sector

These reports provide statistical information on reported workplace PSIs. Information includes the type of incident, source of the incident, type of injuries and occupations of injured workers. Reports are provided by industry sectors, as defined by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and the Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB).