Incident Reports Reminders

I thought I would post some reminders about Incident Reports.

• When do I write an incident report? Incident reports should be written any time something causes a disturbance to library property, staff or customers, Library rules are broken, or any illegal activities occur. You should do an incident report any time you suspend any customer, whether adult or juvenile, from the building or when children are left unattended after hours.


• Who should write an incident report? Any staff member who witnesses or deals with an issue or disturbance should write an incident report. If several staff members witness something, then all staff members involved should write an account. All incident reports should be written as soon as possible after an incident, within 24 hours. If it is a major emergency, please call your Team Leader and/or NL Office (32707).


• Where can I find the incident report form? Incident Report Forms are found on the Intranet under Forms and Facilities


• What information should I include? Incident Reports are legal documents and should include all the facts about the incident. Who is involved, what happened, any witnesses (staff and customers), contact information, and what you did. The Action Taken space on the form is where you put how you responded to the situation. Please include any information about police or ambulance being called. If you have updates to the report later, please add them and resend with “Revised” as part of the file name.


• What do I name it? Incident reports should all be named with the date, location, initials of staff, brief description of the incident, and name of person involved. EXAMPLE: 073011_COL_JD_Theft_Smith.doc


• Where do I send it? Send incident reports to HPL – NL Incidents and copy your supervisor. Incident reports are also saved on the G Drive.


• What is a Trespass Warning and where do I find it? Trespass Warnings and Suspension Notices are also found on the Intranet under Forms and Facilities. These are documents that assist us to fully identify customers that have been suspended from the building for any period of time. They should be kept on file so that the Police can use them if the customer returns before the suspension is over. Fax trespass warnings and suspension notices to GSD Security at 713-837-7602.

For more information about Security and Emergencies check out the How to Guide on the Resources page of the NL Blog and the Policies and Procedures about Security on the Intranet.

Thanks,

Laurie