Accident and incident reporting
Accident and incident reporting
Regardless of the severity, all accidents and incidents must be recorded and is a legal requirement for a company with more than 10 employees.
Anyone can record the accident or incident which can be in a handwritten ‘accident book’, in a company’s own record system, or online electronic reporting but must comply with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Keeping records helps to identify any patterns of accidents and injuries and to assess and manage risk in the workplace.
The information that should be recorded includes:
- The date, time and place of the incident
- Name and job of the injured or ill person
- Details of the injury/illness and what first aid was given
- What happened to the casualty immediately afterwards? For example, went back to work/home/to hospital
- Name and signature of the person reporting the incident
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013
Where the incident is of a severe nature the employer must comply with RIDDOR 2013.
RIDDOR is the law that requires employers and other people in control of work premises to report and keep records of:
- Work-related accidents which cause death
- Work-related accidents which cause certain serious injuries (reportable injuries)
- Diagnosed cases of certain industrial diseases
- Certain ‘dangerous occurrences’ (incidents with the potential to cause harm)
Reporting certain incidents is a legal requirement. The report informs the enforcing authorities about deaths, injuries, occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences so they can identify where and how risks arise, and whether they need to be investigated.
The HSE website www.hse.gov.uk/riddor gives further information.