Help! I have had a staff member who has had an accident – what do I do?
Depending on the severity of the situation – possibly call 999 for medical assistance and call your company First Aiders to carry out their procedures.
You will also need to get your accident book and enter the following information:
- Name of casualty
- Address
- Date of birth
- Department/work role
- Description of what happened (who, what, where, how, when)
- Date
- Time
- Any witness statements
- Take picture of the area/s
- What First Aid procedures were carried out
- Possible reasons for the accident
- Information on the surroundings
The following will need to be documented as a part of the accident investigation:
- Information on the tools and equipment used
- Preventative suggestions to stop a recurrence
- Does it need to be reported as a RIDDOR accident? – some accidents and incidents need to be reported by phone and/or email to the enforcing authorities if they are classified as such. Here are some examples
- If a member of staff is absent from work because of an accident caused by a work activity and is off work for 10 days
- Certain injuries such as broken bones
- If there is a death
- Gas explosion
- Customers leaving premises via an ambulance etc.
More information on RIDDOR https://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/
Look at risk assessments and update as necessary to ensure this does not happen again
Contact Chestnut Associates Health & Safety Consultants – we can guide you through the RIDDOR legislation – RIDDOR puts duties on employers, the self-employed and people in control of work premises (the Responsible Person) to report certain serious workplace accidents, occupational diseases and specified dangerous occurrences (near misses).