When should an incident report be filed in OR safety?

• A. For exposures, injuries, near-misses, or equipment failures; promptly per policy and with root-cause analysis.
• B. Only for exposures that require treatment.
• C. Only for equipment failures that cause delays.
• D. Only when a patient files a complaint.

Answer: (C)

In OR safety, reporting should be broad and proactive to catch any safety event that could affect patient or staff well-being. The best practice is to file incident reports for exposures, injuries, near-misses, or equipment failures promptly according to policy and with root-cause analysis. This approach ensures timely investigation, helps identify patterns or systemic issues, and drives corrective actions to prevent recurrence. Near-misses are especially important to report because they reveal vulnerabilities before harm occurs, and prompt reporting keeps information accurate while details are fresh. Root-cause analysis moves beyond blame to uncover underlying factors such as process gaps, communication failures, or maintenance needs, guiding effective improvements. Limiting reports to only those that require treatment would miss near-misses and other meaningful safety signals, and restricting reporting to equipment failures that cause delays ignores other failures or near-misses that can still pose risk. Patient complaints are important, but safety reporting should be proactive and staff-initiated to catch issues before they reach the patient.