How To Report An Accident At Work

How To Go About Reporting An Accident At Work

Statistics show that the majority of accidents happen in the workplace. This may not be all that surprising as it seems that we spend such a large percentage of our waking hours in the workplace, anyway. However, it certainly points to the fact that we need to keep our wits about us whenever we are “on-the-job” and each one of us owes this not only to ourselves, but as a duty to help protect other employees around us.

As you go through your working life you may have been lucky enough not to be involved in some kind of incident in the workplace, but sadly it seems that by the law of averages many of us are destined to have some type of encounter, over time. Whilst in many cases such an accident is minor, understand that we simply cannot be stoic and turn the other cheek, as it were.

We should know that it’s a legal requirement to record and report any accidents and associated injuries in an accident book in the workplace. This is important not only to ensure that the reasons behind the accident are investigated by the employer, but that steps are taken to try and ensure that it does not happen again, affecting other individuals and maybe resulting in a far more serious outcome.

Remember that you, as an employee, must be the “eyes and ears” of the employer to a certain extent, in looking for and immediately reporting any situation that could pose an imminent threat to health and safety. Under the 1999 Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, this is now a legal responsibility.

That accident book we were talking about can be a very important legal document as well, should a claim for compensation be launched through the legal system. In that case, it would be a critical piece of evidence to back up such a claim.

Whilst many accidents at work may well be minor, sometimes this is not the case. The Health and Safety Executive requires that details of any major injuries must be reported to them under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations, colloquially known as RIDDOR. The employer is also directly responsible for notifying the HSE about any work-related diseases or illnesses which could come to light.

The Health and Safety Executive is very attentive to any major incidents in the workplace and the employer is generally required to notify them of any incident or work-related illness that affects employees for more than a space of three days.

It’s important for every employee to understand how to report an accident at work, not only to enable the employer to handle the situation correctly from both an internal and external perspective, but also to lay the foundation for any potential compensation-related suits. Remember that the employer has a legal duty of care over any employees and if an accident can be proven to be a result of poor safety, insufficient training or other negligent acts, perhaps even by fellow employees, then compensation can indeed be claimed.