An accident is an unplanned event (or sequence of events) that causes injury, illness, or property damage.

Your supervisor and/or SEM will investigate the who, what, when, why, where, and how an accident occurred. The focus of any accident investigation is fact-finding, not faultfinding. It's NEVER to assign blame. The goal of an accident investigation is to find the cause(s) so that your supervisor can develop solutions to prevent recurrence.

Those events that don't cause injury or property damage are referred to as a "near miss". An event still happened, and you and your supervisor should investigate them to determine the cause. A near miss is equally important to investigate because it indicates that something went wrong. It may only be pure luck that someone wasn't injured - this time. You may have been a few seconds or centimeters away from a serious injury. If you find yourself saying "Whew, that was close!" then you should determine why.

Emergency Medical Attention:

Call 911 or 581-4040 for an ambulance to transport the employee to the hospital for medical treatment. (Note: Supervisor or other UMaine Employees should NOT transport injured employee's in personal vehicles)

Non-Emergency Medical Attention:

For injuries/illnesses that require non-emergency medical attention, contact Cutler Health Center at 581-4010 to arrange an appointment. Generally your supervisor should make this call.

Overnight Admission to a Hospital or a Fatality: Immedicately contact the University of Maine Public Safety at 581-4040 to initiate further response.

Workplace Injuries/Illness sustained by employees:

All work related injuries/illnesses (whether they result in medical attention or not) are reported to Cannon Cochran Management Services, Inc (CCMSI), the administrator of the UMaine's Workers' Compensation/employee injuries and illness claims. For information regarding this service, contact UMaine Human Resources (Employee Health and Benefits Office) at 581-2360.

Injury reports must be submitted as soon as possible on the On-line Injury/Illness Reporting System (iCE). If the supervisor does not have access to the iCE system he/she should contact HR for assistance or complete the Workers' Compensation Employee Injury/Illness Incident Report Form and fax it to Human Resources Employee Benefits office at 581-1615.

If you or someone else requires emergency medical attention, call your emergency number. Provide first aid to the victim ONLY if you are properly trained and have the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment.

If you encounter what you suspect to be blood or other bodily fluids, DO NOT CLEAN IT UP unless you have proper training and PPE (keep others away).

In all cases, promptly notify your supervisor and aid them in completion of the workplace injury report.

If you have received fire extinguisher training, you can extinguish a small fire. However, it is critical that you still activate the local alarm system and call 911. The fire may not be out and could re-ignite. The Fire Department will evaluate the scene and clear the building.

Not reporting these fires limits our ability to review fire scenes and help prevent future occurrences. If you find evidence of fire damage or faulty equipment please contact your supervisor so they can investigate the scene and activate other campus resources such as SEM or Public Safety.