What to do After an Accident at Work
Correctly reporting and documenting accidents in the work place is an important part of your health and safety procedure. In this article you can find a step by step guide on what to do and how it may affect your employers liability insurance.
5 stages of an accident investigation
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Reporting – It is important that an accident is recorded and reported as quickly as possible. Usually an accident only needs to be reported internally, but there are certain types of accidents that need to be reported, within 24 hours, by law, to the HSE or your local authority. These are listed on www.hse.gov.uk/riddor
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Gathering information – It is essential that you collect statements and evidence from the parties involved in an accident. Details of whom or how they were involved can lead to a better understanding of what happened. Photographs are a good way of recording the scene of an accident.
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Analysing information – This is the stage in which you can start to piece together the evidence & information that you have and begin to understand what happened and more importantly, the underlying reasons for the accident. You will need to establish the cause(s) of the accident, which can be classed as immediate, underlying and root causes.
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Identifying risk control measures – The fact that an event has occurred suggests the existing risk control measures were inadequate. After the accident has been examined and the causes have been identified, control measures can be put into place. Using a risk management tool ensures that risks can be identified, monitored and managed whilst improvements to the service can be made through learning from events, incidents, errors and near misses.
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Action planning & implementing – Finally, a plan needs to be put in place for implementing the control measures that have been identified. This should include checking and reviewing risk assessments, reviewing staff training and providing feedback to all parties involved.