Table 1.

The criteria used to determine the severity of incidents

		Consequences
Score	Descriptor	Objective	Cost	Physical harm	People affected	Schedule	Reputation
1 (Green)	Negligible	Minimal impact, no service disruption	Minimal financial loss (<10 K)	No obvious harm or injury	None	Minimal	No interest to press. Internal
2 (Green)	Minor	Minimal impact on service provision	Moderate financial loss 10-50 K	First aid treatment. Non-permanent harm of up to 1 month	1-2	Increased level of care. Increased length of stay 1–7 days	Some public embarrassment. No damage to reputation or standing in the community
3 (Amber)	Moderate	Service objective partially achievable	Significant financial loss (50-100 K)	Medical treatment required. Semi- permanent harm up to 1 year	3-15	8-15 days. Pressure on service provision	Local adverse public embarrassment, leading to limited damage. Local MP interested on ME legal implication.
4 (Red)	Major	Significant impact on service provision	Major financial loss 100 K-1 million	Extensive injury with possible permanent harm	16-50	>15 days. Temporary service closure	National adverse publicity. May have caused loss of confidence in the organisation
5 (Red)	Catastrophic	Unable to function inability to fulfil corporate obligations	Significant financial loss (>1 million)	Death	>50	Extended service closure	Highly damaging international adverse publicity. Severe loss of public confidence. Court enforcement. Public accounts committee enquiry.