These may fall on the University as employer, or on individual employees who knowingly breach the Regulations. Although students are not 'employees' nor are they 'at work' within the strictly legal meaning of the Regulations, the University's policy and arrangements regard them as if they were, and makes no distinction for reporting or any other health and safety related purpose. The report form has been designed to 'stand alone'. However, there are bound to be cases where the circumstances make it unclear, for example, whether a particular incident should be reported 'forthwith' - that is, by telephone, or only by means of the form. The golden rule is, when in doubt - report by telephone to Safety Services and seek expert advice.
Nothing is lost by so doing, and most problems can be clarified in a few minutes.
There are no hard and fast rules concerning who should actually complete the form. This is because the circumstances surrounding accidents vary greatly, and it would defeat the object to require that, for example, the injured person should do so. 2.3 Experience over many years has shown that, in the great majority of cases, the Report Form is best completed by an appropriate authority within the injured person's own department, office, unit etc. This might be the Head of Department in a small or isolated function, the Departmental Superintendent or Chief Technician, Office Manager or a Section Leader. It is important to keep in mind that the form is designed essentially to provide information .