Incident Management Policy

Policy

Keto Australia is committed to implementing an incident management system to ensure that all participants are safeguarded. Incidents are acknowledged, responded to, well-managed and learned from.

Keto Australia will:

identify
assess
manage
resolve incidents that:
have, or could have, caused harm to a person with a disability receiving supports or services; and
acts by a person with a disability that happen in connection with the provision of supports or services and that have caused severe harm, or a risk of serious harm, to another person; and
reportable incidents alleged to have occurred in connection with the provision of supports or services.

Also, it ensures:

relevant records and information about incidents are maintained appropriately
the people to whom incidents must be reported are specified
the system is established to determine how people with disability affected by an incident will be supported and involved in resolving the incident and when an action is required
copies of the documented system are made available to workers, participants and their family/support network

Procedure

Keto Australia has established an incident management system to be followed in identifying, managing and resolving incidents.

Incidents may be identified through direct observation, discussion with participants and support network, practitioner self-reflection, complaints, audits and reviews. Incidents may be identified when they occur or any time after the event.

All incidents are recorded and reported on time through the ‘Incident Report Form ’.

Details of reportable incidents are notified to the Commissioner within 24 hours, while other incidents are notified within 5 business days. Once the form is completed, an automated notification will be sent to the team to ensure the timeframes above are met.

Reportable Incidents

Certain incidents are notified to the NDIS Commission as reportable incidents.

The following incidents (including allegations) arising in the context of NDIS supports or services will be reported to the NDIS Commission:

the death of an NDIS participant
serious injury of an NDIS participant
abuse or neglect of an NDIS participant
unlawful sexual or physical contact with, or assault of, an NDIS participant
sexual misconduct committed against, or in the presence of, an NDIS participant, including grooming of the NDIS participant for sexual activity
the unauthorised use of restrictive practice in relation to an NDIS participant

Reporting Timeframe

Reportable Incident	Required Timeframe
Death of a person with a disability	24 hours
Serious injury of a person with a disability	24 hours
Abuse or neglect of a person with a disability	24 hours
Unlawful sexual or physical contact with, or assault of, a person with a disability	24 hours
Sexual misconduct committed against, or in the presence of, a person with disability, including grooming of the person for sexual activity	24 hours
Use of restrictive practice in relation to a person with a disability if the use is not in accordance with a required state or territory authorisation and/or not in accordance with a behaviour support plan.	5 business days

Notifying the Commissioner

The Commissioner will be notified of ‘Reportable Incidents’ of the following information within 24 hours (maybe given by telephone or in writing):

the name and contact details of Keto Australia
a description of the reportable incident
a description of the impact on or harm caused to the person with a disability (except for ‘the death of a person’)
the immediate actions are taken in response to the reportable incident
the name and contact details of the person making the notification
if known the time, date and place at which the reportable incident occurred
the names and contact details of the persons involved in the reportable incident
any other information required by the Commissioner
The following information will be provided to the Commissioner within 5 business days after Keto Australia became aware that the incident occurred (in writing):
the names and contact details of any witnesses to the reportable incident
any further actions proposed to be taken in response to the reportable incident

The Commissioner will be notified of other incidents that are not listed as ‘Reportable Incidents ’ of the following information within 5 business days (in writing):

the name and contact details of Keto Australia
a description of the impact on or harm caused to the person with a disability
if known the time, date and place at which the incident occurred
the names and contact details of the persons involved in the incident
the names and contact details of any witnesses to the incident
immediate actions are taken in response to the incident
any further actions proposed to be taken in response to the incident
the name and contact details of the person making the notification
any other information required by the Commissioner

The Commissioner is NOT required to be notified if obtaining the information would or could reasonably be expected to:

prejudice the conduct of a criminal investigation or
expose a person with a disability to a risk of harm

The Commissioner will be kept updated and provided with a final report.

Managing the Incident

The following actions are considered to reduce the harmful consequences of the incident, including, but not limited to:

provide immediate care to individuals involved in the incident
make the environment safe to prevent the immediate recurrence of the incident
remove malfunctioning equipment
notify emergency personnel if required
complete the ‘Incident Report Form’ and update the ‘Incident Register’ as soon as practical
notify the Commissioner as per the above instruction
notify the participant and their family/support network with the details of the incident and what actions have been taken as early as possible
notify other authorities as required

Review and Risk Assessment

All incidents will be reviewed and investigated. Investigation information is collected from the ‘Incident Report Form’.

The root cause of the incident will be analysed to understand how and why the incident occurred and to identify ways of improving the provision of care and preventing a recurrence.

Required actions are determined and implemented per recommendations from the investigation and review in developing and ensuring improved practice.

A suitable time frame for implementing recommendations will be documented in action plans and the ‘Incident Report Form’. Information also includes who will be accountable for the implementation.

Incidents and associated corrective/preventive actions, along with other information relating to incidents, will be collected and registered in the ‘Incident Register’ to track specific incidents and to review the efficiency and effectiveness of the Incident Management process to make sure that they do not recur or occur elsewhere, and also, identifying and eliminating any systematic issue.

Ongoing monitoring is required to ensure recommendations are addressed promptly and to evaluate the success of any action taken to achieve improvement.

If applicable, risk assessment is undertaken to ensure all aspects of the services and activities are managed and controlled safely. The ‘Risk Assessment Register’ will be updated accordingly.

Keto Australia will collect statistics and other information relating to incidents to review the efficiency and effectiveness of the Incident Management process to ensure that they do not recur or occur elsewhere and identify and eliminate any systematic issues.

Record Keeping

Keto Australia will maintain all records relevant to the incident for 7 years from the day that notification of the reportable incident is given.

Keto Australia will ensure all employees/workers are aware of the following information (from the NDIS Quality and Safeguard Commission website):

Identifying and responding to incidents: 6-step guide for workers

Incident response: Is everyone safe?

Expectations of workers providing services in incident management and reporting incidents

Resources

National Disability Insurance Scheme (Quality Indicators for NDIS Practice Standards) Guidelines 2018

National Disability Insurance Scheme (Incident Management and Reportable Incidents) Rules 2018

Work Health and Safety Act 2011

Identifying and responding to incidents: 6-step guide for workers

Incident response: Is everyone safe?