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Our First Lesson Learned: Turning an incident into insight
27 April 2026
Launched last month, UCL’s new Health and Safety Lessons Learned Library now has its first submission. Based on a flood and power outage, it shows how sharing experience helps prevent repeat issues and supports safer ways of working across UCL.
In March, UCL launched the Health and Safety Lessons Learned Library – a new space to share learning from incidents, accidents and near misses. The purpose of the Lessons Learned Library is not to assign blame. It’s about capturing what happened, what worked well, what could be stronger next time and – most importantly – what can be done to prevent similar incidents elsewhere.
Our first submission
The first lesson added to the Library relates to a flood and power outage at the Anatomy Building in December 2025, and it’s a great example of how local experience can create wider value when it’s shared.
This is just the start. The Health and Safety Lessons Learned Library is there for everyone, and we’re keen for it to grow. Lessons can come from incidents, near misses or situations where you thought, “we were lucky this time”.
What UCL departments need to do
One of the key messages from this first Lesson Learned is the importance of being prepared – particularly during holiday and closure periods. Departments are encouraged to:
- Check that out‑of‑hours contact details are current, especially ahead of staff leave and holiday closures.
- Make sure escalation routes are clear, including who should be contacted first and when issues need to be escalated.
- Confirm key contacts are shared with relevant central services, such as Security and Estates, where appropriate.
Taking a few simple steps in advance can make a real difference when things happen unexpectedly.
Why this matters
Most incidents aren’t one‑offs. The Lessons Learned Library gives us a way to:
- Share practical learning across departments.
- Spot patterns and risks earlier.
- Reduce repeat incidents.
- Build a more open, learning‑focused safety culture.
Submit a Lesson Learned
If your team has learning that others could benefit from, we’d really like to hear from you. You don’t need to prepare a detailed report, our submission form uses structured fields to ensure we receive consistent, clear Lessons Learned from across UCL.
View the Lessons Learned Library and submit a Lessons Learned (UCL login required)
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