When immediate first aid is needed because of injury or illness, please call Public Safety at 911. Public Safety will arrange for transport to Princeton Medical Center for persons with severe injuries or illnesses. Persons with less serious conditions should obtain treatment at Occupational Health Services for faculty and staff or Student Health for undergraduate and graduate students at McCosh Health Center.
An injury is an event that caused physical harm to an involved party. “Near Misses” are events that could have resulted in an injury but did not. EHS is responsible for investigating most injuries and near misses that occur on the Princeton University Campus.
To report an injury or near miss that occurred on campus, complete the Injury/Near Miss Form. Please note that while EHS attempts to investigate all reports as soon as possible, they may not be able to complete an investigation until several days after the injury or near miss occurred.
Once an investigation is initiated, the primary focus of EHS staff is to identify the causal factors surrounding the event and recommend corrective actions to prevent similar occurrences in the future. As an injured party, a witness, or a supervisor of an injured employee, you may be asked to complete an interview with an EHS staff member.
EHS has additional information about Injury and Near Miss Reporting as well as answers to commonly asked questions.
If you are a Princeton University employee, all accidents, injuries, or near-misses must be reported to your supervisor by the end of the next scheduled work shift, but preferably before your work shift ends on the day you are injured. You must also notify Occupational Health Services at 609-258-5035 of a work-related injury and make an appointment to be seen.
Injuries and near misses occur when hazards escape detection during preventive measures, such as a job or process safety analysis when hazards are not obvious, or as the result of combinations of circumstances that were difficult to foresee. A thorough investigation may identify previously overlooked physical, environmental, administrative, or process hazards, the need for new or more extensive safety training, or unsafe work practices.
While EHS has primary responsibility for investigation of most injuries and near misses that occur on campus, supervisors and managers are frequently aware of these events before EHS is notified and may be in the best position to gather early facts before the scene can be altered. Please take care to collect and document relevant information as soon as possible after the injury or near miss occurs.
If an employee is transported to the hospital due to a work-related injury, Occupational Health Services should be notified as soon as possible but no later than the next business day. Employees will need to make an appointment to be seen by Occupational Health Services and bring any paperwork they received at the emergency room (ER). Regardless of the ER discharge instructions, only Occupational Health can authorize time out of the workplace or return to work.
While it is recognized that not all injuries require medical attention, reporting to Occupational Health ensures prompt medical evaluation, compliance with University reporting procedures, and accurate injury reporting to EHS.
In some situations, injuries may not be immediately apparent. If an employee reports an incident or is seen to be involved in an incident but denies being injured, supervisors should use the Injury/Near Miss Report Form to gather and record important information about the near miss.