IRIS incident reporting volumes – addressing the misconceptions

14 May 2025

Whenever a new system is introduced, a slow initial uptake can be expected. Change management recognises that users typically require time to adapt to new processes, and as their usage grows, so does their confidence in the system.

In this article, I'll explore this journey on the Incident Reporting and Investigation System (IRIS), including how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted its early adoption. I'll also address a persistent, yet outdated, misconception that IRIS underperforms compared to the previous system.

The Data

IRIS, the University's incident reporting and investigation system, was launched in June 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, footfall on our sites over this period was greatly reduced and subsequently fewer incidents were reported. This slowed user engagement with the system and extended the time needed for staff to become familiar with the system. The slow user uptake led to early concerns that fewer incidents were being reported on IRIS when compared to the old paper-based process.

It's acknowledged that at the time, these concerns were valid, as shown in the graph below. It is worth pointing out that had we still been using a paper-based system at this time, it's likely that even fewer incidents would have been able to be reported due to users not being on site and being unable to access paper reporting forms.

Bar chart showing a drop off in incident reporting the first year IRIS was introduced

To provide context:

  • In the final two full academic years of the paper-based system (2017–18 and 2018–19), 1,034 and 1,055 incidents were reported respectively
  • In IRIS’s first full academic year (2020–21), only 722 incidents were reported - during a year still heavily impacted by the pandemic
  • However, in 2021–22, the first full year of IRIS reporting largely unaffected by COVID, incident reporting levels returned to those seen under the paper-based system and have since continued to grow annually (1,030 incidents reported)

  • By 2023–24, the last full academic year, reporting levels were 60% higher than during the paper-based years, as shown in the graph below (1,655 incidents reported)

Bar chart showing incident reporting increasing over the course of 4 years since IRIS was introduced

Addressing the misconception about under-reporting on IRIS

As the University's approved system for recording health, safety and environmental incidents, IRIS is delivering clear benefits in data collection and incident investigation. The data clearly shows that incident reporting, both accidents and near-misses, is equivalent to reporting levels seen before IRIS was introduced, which contradicts the common misconceptions about the use of IRIS. This data is important to highlight as misinformation risks undermining trust in the system and could lead to a future decline in reporting.

Since its launch, the IRIS Product Ownership Group (POG) has actively listened to concerns and responded with improvements. IRIS must operate as a legally compliant solution within a complex, diverse and devolved environment. With representation from users across the University, the IRIS POG has delivered over 40 system enhancements in the past three years.

The increase in reporting, illustrated in the graphs above, reflects the group’s strong commitment and collaboration with an ongoing focus on the effectiveness of incident response and investigation.

What now?

As safety professionals, it's important that people have confidence in our systems - both IT-related and as a general concept of the arrangements we help put in place. We should use our evidence to challenge and address misconceptions about not only IRIS and its usage, but all aspects of health and safety. Please consider sharing the graphs above with your stakeholders in departmental safety advisory committees or other relevant meetings.

The IRIS POG will continue to drive improvements on the system, with several enhancements already planned for the coming year. Your feedback remains crucial, please continue to share it with POG members so we can investigate continuous improvements with IRIS and related processes.

Thank you.

Chris Sanders, Business Change Analyst – HR Systems – People Department