Adverse Event Reporting

When things go wrong it's important that we record what happened, not only to fulfil our legal requirements under Health and Safety Law, but to permit us an opportunity to review what happened and identify opportunities to reduce the likelihood of emergencies reoccuring.

Here at your Students' Union, we consider all accidents, mental health incidents, first aid treatment and near misses to be Adverse Events.

Adverse Events must be reported online as soon as possible, normally within 24 hours. The automated process will notify relevant key staff members of significant incidents and you'll recieve an instant PDF copy of your report when you submit it.

The Employability and HR Team review all Adverse Event reports, ensuring that appropriate action is taken, including referral to the University, investigation and follow-up.

Where incidents involve student misconduct and a temporary suspension is required, managers should also use the Adverse Event Form.

Useful Contact Numbers

Campus Control Emergency

University Safeguarding Referral Team

Student Wellbeing Team

NHS Crisis Team (Stoke on Trent)

NHS Crisis Team (Stafford and Shrewsbury)

NHS Crisis Team (London)

Physical Health Emergencies

No matter how well we plan, it's inevitable that occasionally things will go wrong. To keep our community safe, we train a range of our team in First Aid.

First Aiders can provide support in the event of a medical emergency, preserving life whilst emergency help arrives. All Students' Union staff should make themselves aware of who their nearest First Aider is.

Action on being made aware of an injury, illness or physical health emergency:

• Identify whether the injury or conditon seems life-threatening or whether there are any life-threatening dangers, if so dial 999 for an Ambulance
• Contact your nearest First Aider, a list of SU first aiders can be found below or contact Campus Control Emergency
• Provide reassurance to the casualty and support the first aider

Mental Health Emergencies

Mental Health is an everyday part of each of our lives and here at your Students' Union we recognise that sometimes we each need a little extra support.

We train all of our team in the awareness of mental health, and many of our team are qualified as Mental Health First Aiders.

Mental Health First Aiders can offer conversational support and information in the event of mental ill health, signposting to professional and emergency services.

However, we expect every Students' Union staff member to live our value of being friendly and supportive of anyone in distress. By being kind and supportive we can make a big difference.

Fire Emergencies

Action on discovering a fire or suspected fire, no matter how small

• Sound the alarm at the nearest manual call point
• Call 999 and provide details for the Fire Service - remember if using most university landlines, you will need to dial 9 initially to get an outside line
• Then follow the action on the fire alarm activating
• Call the Security emergency number when safe to do so on 01782 294444 or ext. 4444

Action on the fire alarm activating

• Do not stop to collect personal belongings
• Do not tackle the fire unless trained to do so and it is does not put you or others at risk
• Close all doors and windows behind you if safe to do so
• Do not use the lifts
• Leave the building via the nearest and safest exit
• Gather at the allocated Assembly Point for your building (this is displayed in all buildings)
• Do not re-enter the building until told it is safe to do so either by a member of the Fire Service or the Estates Incident Control team at the premises you are located

Assembly Points

Fire assembly points are indicated in each building across campus.  Please make sure you are aware of the individual instructions for the buildings you are in.

Sexual Violence Emergencies

Anyone can experience Sexual misconduct and/or violence or abuse, regardless of their age, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, class or other personal characteristics

Members of our community who have experienced sexual violence are encouraged to contact the University’s Sexual Violence Liaison Officer (SVLO) team.

The team has been created to provide a caring, holistic ‘wrap-around’ service for survivors of Sexual Misconduct and/or Violence and the wider University community. The team are in place to provide the following services:

• Immediate and ongoing care and support: referrals to mental health, wellbeing and medical services; safety planning; academic and workplace adjustments; self-care resources; advocacy; navigating resources, Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC).
• Assistance with reporting and complaints: assistance in making an informed decision about next steps should an individual choose to report to authorities within the university or to the police.
• Provision of information: provision of up-to-date community resource information.
• Education: delivery of education, prevention, training, and awareness activities with campus partners.

The important thing to remember if you or someone else has experienced sexual violence, no matter where you were, what you were doing, what you were wearing, what you were saying, if you were drunk or under the influence of drugs, it was not your fault; you are not to blame.

If you or someone else is in danger, call 999 for emergency services

For more information or to engage a member of our community with the SVLO team, please email via the link below.

Post-Event Care

As a committed Students' Union team, we often go above and beyond to support our Students when things go wrong. 

It is important that we are similarly committed to looking after ourselves and each other following these events.

Remember to always discuss adverse events with your colleagues and managers, respecting confidentiality, but ensuring that we talk about the impact on us.

Following certain events, our Employability and HR Team along with your managers will work to bring people together for a more thorough debrief - including specialist services like wellbeing support, occupational health and our University colleagues to support our team.