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Accidents and incidents occur as a direct result of an unplanned event, which may or may not result in injury or damage. It is important to ensure that every accident is investigated to the extent necessary to determine the cause of it. Only by this means will it be possible to ensure appropriate control measures can be put in place to prevent a recurrence.
The Directors / Project Managers as part of their overall site responsibilities must ensure arrangements are in place, and that site staff are familiar with this procedure.
A member of the site team must ensure that the Safety Department is informed immediately of any accident or incident. See accident notification sequence below for a summary of actions to take.
In a case where a person has received a minor injury and has returned directly to work, then a copy of the accident book it to be scanned & emailed to the Safety Department. Site must immediately notify the H&S department for all accidents no matter how minor they are. ALL incidents are to be notified by telephone to the Contracts Manager and Safety Department immediately.
All accidents however small must be attended to by a qualified First Aider and recorded in the accident book. For the purposes of legibility and accuracy, it is recommended that all accident book entries are undertaken by a Manager or Foreman. This is located in site the main Project Office, and at Head Office, in the main reception. This book also contains the information on how and why accidents must be recorded.
The accident book must be completed immediately after an accident occurs. If an operative is reporting, or trying to report, an incident which occurred the previous day or earlier, then the site management team must consult with the H&S department before completing the accident book. It is a failure of the operative if they have not immediately reported the accident, as instructed during company induction.
All near misses must also be reported by phone to Contracts Manager and H&S Department as soon as possible by phone so that action can be taken to investigate the causes and to prevent recurrence with a record kept.
The information that will be required when completing the accident book is detailed below:
The date and time of the accident/incident
The site name and exact location of the incident
The full names and address of the person(s) affected.
The details of the person completing the entry.
The occupation of the person(s) affected.
Their age or Date of Birth
The nature of the injury or condition.
Details of First Aid treatment given.
A brief but clear description of the circumstances.
Supporting photographs of the scene and injury or damage.
Accident book completion guide
The accident book entry must be removed from the book and emailed to construction secretary email and H&S advisor/maanger. Once the details have been recorded, the records will be held in a secure file and will be retained for at least three years.
The accident book page must not remain on site but posted to Safety department.
Craig Moorcroft – H&S Director Mobile No: 07733 301 350 | Email: craigmoorcroft@coinford.co.uk |
Clarice Tune – H&S Manager Mobile No: 07483 066 591 | Email: claricetune@coinford.co.uk |
Tom Corn - H&S Advisor Mobile No: 07817 754895 | Email: tomcorn@coinford.co.uk |
In addition to an entry in the accident book, any accident or dangerous occurrence must be reported to the Safety Department and the Directors. Injuries, which occur whilst carrying out work duties off-site, must be reported in the same way and the relevant persons should be advised accordingly. H&S Manager and contracts manager must be notified immediately after the incident occurs. If the H&S Manager is not available, the notification must be completed to Construction secretary.
If an injury renders an employee unable to make an entry in the accident book, a witness or someone who is able to enter an account of the incident should complete the accident book. The employees' account must be entered as soon as possible after the event and usually within 24 hours. Employees must ensure that they are aware of the location of the accident book. Unless the Company is informed of these incidents, it will be unable to take remedial action.
A First Aider or an appointed person may deal with an injury. However, if an emergency arises an ambulance must be called at the earliest opportunity. Any incident involving an emergency must be reported to the Site Management immediately.
Employees who are absent from work as a result of an accident at work must keep the company informed of their progress, up to and including a return to normal duties.
If an injury is reported to a member of Management, that Manager should ensure that appropriate records are maintained.
The Manager must keep records of any developments to the injured person's health, up to and including a return to normal duties.
The Manager must check that self-certification forms submitted by an injured employee are completed to reflect that the absence was caused by a work accident.
The Manager is responsible for assisting contractors and visitors in complying with Company policy regarding accident reporting whilst on Company premises.
If the incident is a classified as a Specified reportable accident as defined by RIDDOR, the local enforcing authority must be informed via the incident reporting line as soon as possible usually by telephone within 24 hours for fatal accident, 10 days for specified and 15 days for ‘Over 7 day’ injuries. The Safety Department will carry out this procedure and ensure that copies of the report will be made available to the client.
In the event of a fatal accident, major injury, the senior person on site shall immediately contact the emergency services. They will also inform:
The police if the accident results in death or creates a danger to public safety.
The Safety Department
The Operations Director
The Managing Director
The senior person on site shall attend the scene of the incident to:
Co-ordinate services and assists in the control of the situation until the arrival of a relevant authority.
Ensure any relevant in-coming telephone calls are transferred to them immediately.
The following is a sequence to follow:
Get hold of the person in charge.
Find out what was planned.
Find out what everyone was doing BEFORE the accident.
Question all witnesses as to what happened.
Examine the scene.
Work out the point of deviation from the planned works.
Take photographs to show how things were directly after the accident, .
Always take measurements of everything that may have a bearing on the events.
Expert Advice: If the case involves any chemical process, or mechanical failure or fire, it is always wise to obtain expert advice.
All members of staff must comply with the following:
In order that the cause of an accident may be properly investigated, plant/equipment etc. directly connected with the accident should be left unmoved pending official inspection. Where this is impracticable the item should be placed in safe custody after a sketch of their position or a photograph has been taken to record the same. The scene of the incident, particularly where a fatality, major injury or dangerous occurrence has occurred, MUST BE LEFT UNDISTURBED until permission to do otherwise has been granted by the appropriate authority.
It is your duty to answer any questions, relevant to the investigation of any incident, put to you by the investigating authority e.g. HSE, Fire Brigade etc. However, NO ANSWER OR NO COMMENT SHOULD BE MADE TO ENQUIRIES FROM THE PRESS, TV, GENERAL PUBLIC ETC.
It most important to ensure that any person assisting at the scene of an accident/incident is protected from risk to their health and safety, AND MUST NOT ENTER THE INCIDENT AREA UNLESS ADEQUATELY PROTECTED OR SAFE TO DO SO.
Where it becomes known that, as a result of any reported injury accident, a person dies within one year you must immediately contact the Directors and Safety Department.
Upon receiving a report that a person is suffering from a disease linked to their work activity, the information must be immediately reported to the Safety Department who will in turn inform the Directors. The Safety Manager will determine whether or not the disease is ‘reportable’ within the terms of current legislation. If so, the Safety Department will follow the previously described procedures.
Fracture other than to fingers, thumbs or toes;
Amputation;
Loss of sight (temporary or permanent).
Any crush injury to the head or torso, causing damage to the brain or internal organs.
Any burn injury.
Any degree of scalping requiring hospital treatment.
Injury resulting from an electric shock or electrical burn leading to unconsciousness or requiring resuscitation; or requiring admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours.
Any other injury; leading to hypothermia, heat induced illness or unconsciousness; requiring resuscitation; or requiring admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours.
Unconsciousness caused by asphyxia or exposure to harmful substance or biological agent.
Any accident which results in the injured person being incapacitated for more than seven consecutive days (not counting the day of the accident but including weekends and rest days) must be reported. The report must be made within 15 days of the accident.
Regulation 3(2) (as amended) only applies to injuries resulting from accidents to people who are at work and to injuries which are not reportable under regulation 3(1).
An over seven-day injury is one which is not ‘specified’ but results in the injured person being away from work or unable to do the full range of their normal duties for more than seven days.
When calculating ‘more than seven consecutive days’ the day of the accident should not be counted, only the period after it. Any days the injured person would not normally have been expected to work, such as weekends, rest days or holidays, must be included.
Some situations will include days when the injured person would not normally have been expected to work. Determining whether they would have been unable to do their normal duties for ’more than seven consecutive days’ may therefore involve a degree of judgement. It may be necessary to ask the injured person if they would have been able to carry out all of their duties if they had been at work.
Reports must be made of an over seven-day injury within 15 days of the accident. However, where the incapacitation does not immediately follow the day of the accident, eg because the condition does not become apparent until sometime after the accident, the report should be made as soon as the injury or condition has incapacitated the worker for more than seven consecutive days.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: where the person’s work involves regular use of percussive or vibrating tools.
Cramp of the hand or forearm: where the person’s work involves prolonged periods of repetitive movement of the fingers, hand or arm.
Occupational dermatitis: where the person’s work involves significant or regular exposure to a known skin sensitiser or irritant.
Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome: where the person’s work involves regular use of percussive or vibrating tools, or holding materials subject to percussive processes, or processes causing vibration.
Occupational asthma: where the person’s work involves significant or regular exposure to a known respiratory sensitizer.
Tendonitis or tenosynovitis: in the hand or forearm, where the person’s work is physically demanding and involves frequent, repetitive movements.
Collapse, overturning or failure of a load bearing part of lifts or lifting equipment, other than an accessory for lifting.
Explosion, collapse or bursting of any closed vessel or associated pipe work.
Plant or equipment coming in to contact with overhead power lines which voltage exceeds 200 volts.
Electrical short circuit or overload causing fire or explosion
Any unintentional explosion, misfire, failure of demolition to cause the intended collapse, projection of material beyond the site boundary, injury caused by explosion.
Accidental release of a biological agent likely to cause severe human illness.
Malfunction of breathing apparatus while in use or during test immediately before use.
Collapse or partial collapse of a scaffold over 5 metres high, or erected near water where there could be a risk of drowning after the fall.
Unintended collapse of any building or structure under construction, alteration or demolition where over 5 tonnes of material falls, a wall or floor in a workplace, any Falsework.
Explosion or fire causing suspension of normal work for over 24 hours.
Sudden, uncontrolled release in a building of 100Kg or more of a flammable liquid, 10Kg of flammable liquid above its boiling point, 10Kg or more of a flammable gas, or of 500Kg of these substances if the release is in the open air.
Accidental release of any substance which may damage health
Accident Book entry
Foreman/Supervisor - Witness Statement Report HSF 603
Other - Witness Statement Report HSF 603
Safety Departments – Incident Accident Investigation Report HSF 601
RIDDOR Report to HSE form F2508 or online version
Method Statements and Risk Assessments
Plant Certification and inspection registers
Repair and Maintenance Records
Operator Certification
Induction Records HSF 101 for injured persons
Drawings / Plans
Photographs
Site Instructions
When property or underground/above ground services are damaged without injuries, the incident must be immediately reported by telephone to the Construction Director. A Property-Service Damage Report HSF 602 is then completed by the most senior person on the site.
By not reporting an incident or accident or by covering up the actual; events and circumstances, you are preventing a factual investigation. Thus the chances of preventing the incident reoccurring are greatly reduced and the chances of it happening to the next person are greatly increased!
If in doubt as to what to do: contact the Safety Department.
