Record all accidents
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or face prosecution
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1985 (RIDDOR) require that certain events are reported to the authorities. The idea is to allow the relevant safety enforcement authority to investigate an incident if they wish, and to compile statistical information about accidents at work.
Hauliers must submit reports if: A road tanker or tank container carrying a dangerous substance overturns or suffers serious damage; Such a tanker has an uncontrolled escape or release of a dangerous substance, or catches fire; El A dangerous substance is released or escapes from a package or container being carried; El A freight container fails; E An employee is killed at work; El Employees sustain fractures of the skull, spine, pelvis, arm, wrist, leg or ankle; An injury necessitates amputation of the hand, foot, finger, thumb or toe; An injury leads to loss of sight, or an employee suffers a penetrating injury or a burn to the eye; An electric shock injury is sustained that requires treatment or causes loss of consciousness; — Any other injury is sustained that requires hospital admission for more than 24 hours; An accident causes an employee to be off work for three or more days.
Any of these incidents must be reported immediately using the quickest practicable means (typically a phone). A report in the correct form must then be submitted within seven days.
The employer must also keep records of all notifiable matters for at least three years.
The Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979 also require records to be kept, but the Social Security and RIDDOR requirements can both be met by maintaining an accident book of the type published by HMSO (form BI 510).
Failure to keep records or to report an accident are criminal offences. If the occident book is used to record all accidents the employer should be able to sort out those which have to be reported.
An accident book also provides useful information to the safety conscious employer, and is a helpful record if the employee or anyone else later sues for damages. Remember to notify your insurers too: you can't inform them of a potential claim too early, but your claim may be rejected if you tell them too late.