NCS incident levels 2015 - criteria and examples

NCS incident levels 2015 - criteria and examples

Full details are shown on the attached document 

Level 1 criteria

  • Major incident resulting from an accident or other events that do not result in death or directly threaten life
  • Likely to attract adverse national social / media attention
  • Major incidents where negligence, fault or liability of The NCS RDP, its Partners or Local Delivery Partners assessed as unlikely
  • A significant near miss that could realistically have led to death or major injury whilst on the programme

Level 1 examples

  • Potentially life-changing injury/disability that requires emergency surgery
  • Multiple injured persons
  • Serious road traffic accident
  • Criminal activity involving programme staff
  • Serious safeguarding issue with immediate safety concerns
  • Safeguarding allegation against staff
  • Abandonment of any residential centre due to safety concerns
  • Commercial failure or any major infrastructure issue that will affect day-to-day operations
  • Missing young person for longer than one hour but less than 12 hours
  • Death when confirmed from natural causes
  • Serious young person on young person or staff non-sexual assault
  • Significant loss of data that has data protection implications for The NCS RDP or its partners

Level 2 criteria 

  • Major incident resulting from an accident or other events that do not result in death or directly threaten life
  • Likely to attract adverse national social / media attention
  • Major incidents where negligence, fault or liability of The NCS RDP, its Partners or Local Delivery Partners assessed as unlikely
  • A significant near miss that could realistically have led to death or major injury whilst on the programme


Level 2 examples

  • Potentially life-changing injury/disability that requires emergency surgery
  • Multiple injured persons
  • Serious road traffic accident
  • Criminal activity involving programme staff
  • Serious safeguarding issue with immediate safety concerns
  • Safeguarding allegation against staff
  • Abandonment of any residential centre due to safety concerns
  • Commercial failure or any major infrastructure issue that will affect day-to-day operations
  • Missing young person for longer than one hour but less than 12 hours
  • Death when confirmed from natural causes
  • Serious young person on young person or staff non-sexual assault
  • Significant loss of data that has data protection implications for The NCS RDP or its partners
Level 3 criteria

  • Medium level incident resulting from an accident, or other events, that causes non life changing injuries
  • Injuries that require hospital attendance for diagnosis or treatment 
  • Possibility of attracting local media attention 
  • Unlikely to result from any negligence of NCS RDP or its subcontractors
  • A near miss that could have led to a serious injury

Level 3 examples

  • Fractured limbs through no obvious fault of provider
  • Multiple minor injuries from the same incident
  • Temporarily lost/missing young person/s from programme for under one hour
  • Minor theft/criminal damage
  • Work-related accidents resulting in staff being off work for more than seven consecutive days
  • Serious pre-existing medical condition that causes YP to visit hospital during programme
  • Substance misuse on programme.  Consideration of drug classification for potential escalation to higher incident category
  • Possession of small quantities of drugs or alcohol on programme. Consideration of drug classification and quantity for potential escalation to higher incident category
Level 4 criteria

  • A minor incident resulting from an accident, or other events, that causes minor injuries only
  • Injuries that do not require hospital attendance for diagnosis or treatment during the programme
  • Other incidents that do not require the attendance of police or other external agencies
  • Safety equipment failure not resulting in injury  

Level 4 examples

  • Sprains, abrasions, brusing, minor cuts
  • Illegal activity on a programme by participant/service user when police or other agencies not in attendance
  • Psychological issues that occur during the programme, including minor self harm and eating disorders that do not represent an immediate risk to safety
  • Safeguarding disclosures not related to other NCS participants or staff
  • Young person on young person threats of violence
  • Behavioural issues or antisocial behaviour
  • Less serious pre-existing medical condition that interupts participant’s attendance on programme
  • Work-related accidents resulting in staff being off work for 3-7 consecutive days
  • Loss or damage to equipment, cash or property

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