Article: Safety - health and safety - accident reporting Article Body Preventing Accidents As far as possible accidents at work should be reduced by the use of safe systems of work, safe equipment and the proper training and supervision of staff, these are known as your general duties. When accidents do occur, the arrangements for first aid and summoning of medical assistance should be clear. Proper accident investigation should be carried out immediately in order to prevent similar accidents recurring. If investigation is to be successful it must avoid simply placing blame and look beyond the immediate causes to the underlying causes. Recording Accidents A good way of recording accidents that occur at work is in an accident book that complies with data protection requirements. The book must comply with these requirements because it contains information personal to the injured person. It is a legal requirement for any business that employs ten or more people to keep an accident book. It is good practice for all businesses to keep an accident book as it is also an important tool in the management of health and safety as managers can use the information contained to look for trends in types of injury or those resulting from particular activities, such as manual handling. This information can be used to introduce measures to remove or minimise the risk from these tasks. Health and Safety Inspectors and Safety Representatives appointed under the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 (as amended) are legally entitled to look at accident records. The personalised information contained in the accident book can only be shown to these people if the injured person gives their consent by ticking a box on the form in the book. To ensure the security of the records the pages of the book should be removed when completed and kept in a secure place. Reporting accidents, dangerous occurrences and occupational illness All injuries, dangerous occurrences and instances of work related ill health should be reported. Details about how to report, what must be reported and who must report them are detailed on the Health and Safety Executive's RIDDOR webpage. Barnsley Council Regulatory Services PO Box 602 Barnsley S70 9FB Our office hours are 8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Thursday and 8.30am to 4.30pm on Friday. Phone: 01226 772468 Fax: 01226 775699 email: regulatoryservices@barnsley.gov.uk