Responding to a co-worker

After a critical incident at work: the first 72 hours

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After a critical incident at work, such as a serious injury, a death or an act of violence, the first 72 hours set the tone for everything that follows. What to do comes down to three jobs done at the same time: make the scene safe and get help, meet your legal duties to report, and look after the people who saw it or responded to it. This guide covers each stage up to day three, and where the Responder stream for responding to co-workers in distress fits in.

What counts as a critical incident

There is no single legal definition, but two Ontario definitions are useful markers.

  • Critical injury. Under Ontario Regulation 420/21 under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, “critically injured” means “an injury of a serious nature” that does one of the following: places life in jeopardy, produces unconsciousness, results in substantial loss of blood, involves a fracture of a leg or arm (not a finger or toe), involves amputation of a leg, arm, hand or foot (not a finger or toe), consists of burns to a major portion of the body, or causes the loss of sight in an eye.
  • Traumatic events. The WSIB’s traumatic mental stress policy gives examples that include witnessing a fatality or a horrific accident, witnessing or being the object of an armed robbery, being the object of physical violence, and being the object of death threats.

Witnesses count. The WSIB policy covers workers who “suffered or witnessed” the event first hand, or heard it first hand, for example on the phone or radio as it happened. Plan for everyone who was there, not only the person who was hurt.

Critical incident at work: what to do in the first hour

  1. Make it safe and call for help. Stop the hazard if you can do so safely, call 9-1-1, and get first aid to the injured person.
  2. Protect the scene. If someone was killed or critically injured, subsection 51(2) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) says no one may disturb, alter or carry away anything at the scene until an inspector gives permission. The exceptions are narrow, such as saving life or relieving human suffering.
  3. Split the roles. One person meets emergency services. One person handles notifications. One person looks after the people.
  4. Move people somewhere quiet, and keep witnesses apart. Take people away from the scene to somewhere quiet and private. Where you can, keep witnesses apart until they have been interviewed, so each account stays their own, and have someone stay with each person who is very shaken. Offer water, a seat and a phone to call family.

The 4C Pathway taught in the course gives the person looking after people a simple order: Check the scene, yourself and the person; Connect privately and calmly, and listen; Care by sharing what helps and agreeing one next step; Close the loop later with follow-up.

Reporting deadlines and the investigation

If someone is killed or critically injured

Under OHSA subsection 51(1), the employer (and the constructor, on a project) must notify an inspector, and the joint health and safety committee, health and safety representative and trade union if any, “immediately” by telephone or other direct means. Within 48 hours, the employer must send a written report of the circumstances to a Director and to the committee, representative and union.

Subsection 9(31) requires the worker members of the committee to designate one or more of their members to investigate cases where a worker is killed or critically injured. The designated member may inspect the place where it happened, subject to the rule on protecting the scene, and reports findings to a Director and to the committee. Where there is a health and safety representative instead of a committee, subsection 8(14) lets the representative inspect, subject to the same scene rule, and requires a written report to a Director.

If someone is hurt but not critically

Under OHSA subsection 52(1), if a person is disabled from their usual work or needs medical attention (under O. Reg. 420/21, treatment from a legally qualified medical practitioner or a registered nurse in the extended class) because of an accident, explosion, fire or incident of workplace violence, and no one died or was critically injured, the employer must give written notice to the committee, health and safety representative and trade union within four days. A Director must also be notified if an inspector requires it.

Reporting to the WSIB

The WSIB’s accident-reporting policy requires employers to report a work-related accident when they learn that a worker needs health care, or is absent from regular work or earns less than regular pay, among other cases. The WSIB must receive the complete report within three business days after the employer learns of the obligation. First aid alone does not trigger a report. The worker must get a copy of the report. The triggers are not limited to the person who was hurt: if a witness needs health care, or misses regular work, because of what happened, check whether a report is required.

A witness who develops a diagnosed mental stress injury may have a traumatic mental stress claim; our guide to WSIB traumatic mental stress claims explains how they work.

After a death or catastrophic injury. The WSIB’s fatality reporting page asks employers to call it 24/7 at 1-800-387-0750 to report a fatality, and says that once a fatality is reported “a crisis intervention counsellor is assigned” who contacts the impacted people, business and family members within 48 hours. The ministry can be called any time at 1-877-202-0008. Employers are also responsible for transporting injured or ill employees to a health professional on the day of the injury, or paying for it, and this “can include witnesses to the injury who may also need health care and/or psychological support.” Federally regulated businesses report a fatality to Employment and Social Development Canada (1-800-641-4049) instead of the ministry.

Witness interviews

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) advises interviewing witnesses separately and as soon as possible, and notes they may be “under severe emotional stress.” It also says to put the witness at ease and to explain that the purpose is to find out what happened so it does not happen again. Interview in a quiet room, keep it about facts, and stop if the person is overwhelmed.

The first 24 hours: looking after people

  • Get people home safely. Someone badly shaken may not be fit to drive; arrange a ride or call family.
  • Tell the wider team what happened, briefly. Share the facts you can confirm, protect the privacy of the injured person and their family, and say when the next update will come. After a death, do not name the person to staff until you know their family has been told.
  • Give everyone the same support information. Your employee assistance program (EAP), if you have one, and the 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline, which people can call or text 24/7. In an emergency, 9-1-1.
  • Do not push for the story. Let people talk if they want to. Do not ask anyone to describe graphic details, and keep any group meeting voluntary.
  • Keep a list. Write down who was directly involved, who witnessed it and who responded, so no one is missed on follow-up. Under O. Reg. 420/21, the section 51 report and section 52 notice must include “the names and addresses or other contact information of any witnesses” and “the steps taken to prevent a recurrence”.

Days 2 and 3: follow-up

By the second and third days the urgent tasks are done, and follow-up is easy to let slip.

Check in with each person

Contact everyone on your list one to one. A short, private conversation is enough: how are you, and what would help this week? CCOHS notes that “no one who sees a traumatic event is untouched by it” and that common reactions include grief, anger, sadness and anxiety. It adds that PTSD symptoms often begin within 1 to 3 months of an event and can appear much later, so one check-in is not enough.

The four zones (green, yellow, orange, red) give these check-ins a shared language. If someone says they are in the red zone, or you are worried about their safety, ask directly whether they are thinking about suicide, and connect them with help now: 9-8-8 by call or text, or 9-1-1 if they are in immediate danger.

Ease the way back to work

CCOHS suggests workplaces provide access to support such as an EAP, “as well as the time needed to attend such support,” and notes that people returning to work after an event “may need to transition back through less demanding tasks.” Ask before you assign someone back to the spot where it happened.

Plan the team conversation

If the team meets to share facts and agree next steps, see our guide to running a team debrief after a critical incident.

Look after the helpers

First aiders, the supervisor who made the calls and the co-worker who stayed with the injured person often get forgotten because they handled it well. Check on them too. Our article on supporting the person who stepped in covers what they may need.

If the death was a suicide

A death by suicide calls for a specific, careful response, including how you share the news and how you support close colleagues. Read our guide to supporting a team after a suicide loss, and keep 9-8-8 information visible for everyone.

Report the hazard, not the person

When the investigation finds causes, record them as workplace hazards: a guard, a procedure, staffing, a security gap. Keep personal information about people’s reactions out of the hazard record.

A 72-hour checklist

  1. Scene safe, 9-1-1 called, first aid given.
  2. Scene protected if anyone was killed or critically injured.
  3. Inspector, committee or representative, and union notified immediately for a death or critical injury; written report within 48 hours to a Director and to the committee or representative and union.
  4. Written notice within four days for other injuries covered by OHSA section 52.
  5. WSIB report received within three business days of learning of the obligation.
  6. Witnesses moved somewhere quiet and kept apart until interviewed, sent home safely, and given EAP and 9-8-8 information.
  7. Factual update to the team, with the next update time.
  8. One-to-one check-ins with everyone on the list by day three, helpers included.
  9. Return-to-work steps and the team meeting planned.

Day three is not the end. Keep checking in over the following weeks. If someone’s reactions are not easing, or are getting in the way of work or home life, encourage them to contact the EAP or a health care professional; CCOHS says “it is important to take these feelings seriously and to talk to a health care professional.”

Prepare before it happens

CCOHS’s advice to workplaces is direct: “Have a critical event response plan which will facilitate employee assistance or other support when an event occurs.” It also recommends a process for workers to report concerns or incidents. Then rehearse it, so it is not only a document.

The Responder stream’s online modules include critical events and the 4C Pathway, and the in-person practical day includes scored scenarios with a crisis and a tabletop exercise on a critical event. The Champion stream, for the supervisors, HR staff and JHSC members who own the response plan, covers finding hazards, building the plan and measuring results, and ends with a written 90-day plan for their own organization. The course builds skills and supports your program; it does not replace your legal reporting duties or professional mental health care.

Give your people a plan they have practised

Bedrock Minds combines online modules with one practical day where staff and leaders rehearse the conversations this article describes. Tell us about your team and we reply within one business day.

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This article is general information, not legal advice.

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