Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences at Work

Transcription

1 Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences at Work Guidance for University Departments and Functions November 1996 Safety Services Office

2 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 This publication gives guidance on the University's arrangements for reporting accidents, injuries and dangerous occurrences. It is supplemented by the official Report Form. 1.2 The University, like all employers, has a statutory duty to report certain kinds of accidental injuries, certain health conditions and cases of violence at work, to what are termed the 'enforcing authorities' - in this case the Health & Safety Executive for the main campus, and the local authority in respect of the Oadby Halls of Residence. 1.3 Certain categories of incident are reportable to the enforcing authorities 'forthwith', which means immediately the incident comes to the University's attention. The official report form lists these, and they are also reproduced as Schedules to these Guidance Notes. Failure to report the listed incidents is a criminal offence under the Regulations, for which there are severe penalties. These may fall on the University as employer, or on individual employees who knowingly breach the Regulations. 1.4 Although students are not 'employees' nor are they 'at work' within the strictly legal meaning of the Regulations, the University's policy and arrangements regard them as if they were, and make no distinction for reporting or any other health and safety related purpose. The official Report Form (see below) makes this clear. 2. THE REPORT FORM 2.1 The report form has been designed to 'stand alone'. However, there are bound to be cases where the circumstances make it unclear, for example, whether a particular incident should be reported 'forthwith' - that is, by telephone, or only by means of the form. The golden rule is, when in doubt - report by telephone to Safety Services and seek expert advice. Nothing is lost by so doing, and most problems can be clarified in a few minutes. 2.2 There are no hard and fast rules concerning who should actually complete the form. This is because the circumstances surrounding accidents vary greatly, and it would defeat the object to require that, for example, the injured person should do so. When an injured person has been taken to hospital, for instance, completion by him/her would be difficult if not impossible. 2.3 Experience over many years has shown that, in the great majority of cases, the Report Form is best completed by an appropriate authority within the injured person's own department, office, unit etc. This might be the Head of Department in a small or isolated function, the Departmental Superintendent or Chief Technician, Office Manager or a Section Leader. 2.4 This is because satisfactory completion depends on a number of factors, including: knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the incident; acquaintance with the injured person, his/her family or personal circumstances;

3 2.4.3 identity and location of witnesses to gain accurate information; familiarity with buildings, equipment, work routines, systems etc. 3. COMPLETING THE FORM 3.1 It is important to keep in mind that the form is designed essentially to provide information. Firstly, to tell the enforcing authorities in appropriate cases what happened and, secondly, to provide information to the University so that accidents and injuries can be prevented. 3.2 The form has been designed, as far as possible, to be self-explanatory and, in the modern jargon 'user-friendly'. Even so, few of us relish the task of form filling and are understandably apprehensive about putting our names to an 'official' report. 3.3 For this reason, the form carries a formal declaration to the effect that: 'Completing and signing this form does not constitute an admission of liability of any kind, either by the person making the report or any other person'. 3.4 The purpose of the declaration is to reassure those who may feel uncertain about the legal position. Please remember the stated purpose of the form and give as factual and objective a report as possible. Unless, as the reporter, you actually witnessed the incident at first hand, it is impossible to say this or that actually happened. It is much better - and very much more accurate - to say something like 'the injured person states that...' or 'it is reported that...' or something similar. 3.5 While conciseness is a virtue, please do not be inhibited from expressing the facts freely and in colloquial language. The examples below will show how stiff and unhelpful quasi-legal jargon can be. The 'interpretation' on the other hand, shows that plain language is always much more graphic and informative. Example: 'As Mr... was proceeding in an easterly direction conveying a rubbish receptacle to the disposal point, a sharp object (disposed of in an unauthorised manner by a person or persons unknown) protruded from the receptacle, penetrating his left lower leg'. Translation: 'Mr... was carrying a black plastic rubbish bag to the skip when a needle in the rubbish stuck into his left lower leg'. 4. THE INCIDENT 4.1 The form asks you to say what kind of incident is being reported, and the classes of incident are: Box 1 - Fatality: Where someone is killed at work.

4 Such incidents are mercifully very rare indeed and so generate their own publicity. However, any case of sudden death may involve the police, fire, ambulance, coroner, Health & Safety Executive, University officers and services, not to mention the victim's family and colleagues. A telephone call to Safety Services on internal 2426 will ensure that the necessary legal notification is made to the authorities. Box 2 - Major injury: A list of 'major injuries' is given on the Report Form. As soon as the normal first aid action has been taken and/or the injured person has been given or taken for appropriate treatment, injuries on this list must be reported immediately to the Safety Services Office (internal 2426). The Safety Services Office then has to telephone the enforcing authority so that, in appropriate cases, an official investigation can take place. The enforcing authorities take a very serious view of failure - whether on the part of the employer or any individual - to report major injuries promptly. Do not wait for exhaustive details before making the call to Safety Services. If necessary, these can be sent later; the important factor is promptness. Box 3 - 'Dangerous occurrence': Oddly enough, these are not simple incidents that are dangerous - all accidents have the potential to cause injury or damage to property. 'Dangerous occurrences' is a phrase used by the enforcing authorities to specify certain kinds of incident which experience has shown to be particularly problematic. It is for this reason that the events listed in Part 8 of the report form must be reported by telephone to the Safety Services Office (internal 2426) so that they in turn can tell the enforcing authorities. Box 4 - 'Violence at work': This is a new requirement. The actual phrase used in the Regulations being 'an act of non-consensual violence done to a person at work'. This means, for example, that an injury sustained by an employee as the result of an assault in one of the University's catering outlets would be reportable to the enforcing authorities. On the other hand, an injury sustained by a student during a rugby match would not be reportable since: (a) (b) The student is not 'at work' within the meaning of the Regulations, and, Taking part in contact sports implies acceptance of a degree of violence from which common sense tells us that injury is possible - in some sports very probable. That said, there are sports-related incidents which would be reportable to the enforcing authorities. An example would be, where a match was being refereed by a professional sports coach, employed by the University. An assault on such a person by a player or a spectator because of a disputed decision would be reportable since: (i) (ii) (iii) the person assaulted was an employee; he/she was doing something within the parameters of his/her contract of employment; the assault was 'non-consensual' in that he/she presumably did not consent to being assaulted.

5 Where any doubt exists as to whether a violence-related injury, or indeed a 'major injury' or a 'dangerous occurrence' is reportable or not, a telephone call should be made immediately to the Safety Services office (internal 2426) to clarify the situation. As stated earlier, the whole point of reporting is firstly to comply with the law, and secondly, to provide a free flow of information to be used in preventing accidents and injuries at work. Box 5 - 'Over 3 day' injuries. Some injuries - particularly those affecting mobility - may result in the injured person being absent from work. If this is the case, the Safety Services Office must be informed so that a report can be sent to the enforcing authority. Obviously, whether the injured person will in fact be away from work for more than 3 days (excluding the day of the incident) cannot be assessed until that time has elapsed. Having sent in the Report Form, a phone call to Safety Services confirming absence on the morning of the fourth day is quite sufficient. Box 6 - 'Other' injury The majority of work-related injuries sustained fall into this category - minor cuts, grazes, scalds, burns etc. They are, however, important indications of things going wrong - of unsafe acts and unsafe conditions which the University's health and safety programme seeks to eliminate or minimise. It is important, therefore, that all injuries, however minor, are reported using the official form. To dismiss accidental injuries as trivial, allowing them to go unreported, is to discard vital clues in the overall effort to foster a positive and effective health and safety environment. 5. OTHER INCIDENTS WHICH MUST BE REPORTED There are two other types of incident which must be reported under the Regulations. These are what are called 'Scheduled Occupational Diseases' and 'Flammable Gas Incidents'. 5.1 Scheduled occupational diseases There are 72 listed diseases, ranging from asthma to tuberculosis, and covering a wide range of work activities, some of which are regularly undertaken at the University. The essential test as to whether a particular conditions is reportable to the enforcing authorities is that it: is an occupational disease listed in Schedule 3 of the Regulations, and; has been certified by a registered medical practitioner as arising, or as being likely to have arisen, from the person's occupation. It is only in these circumstances that Safety Services have to report onwards to the enforcing authorities, and the decision is triggered by the criteria given above. It would be prudent, therefore, to contact the Safety Services office on (252) 2426 for advice whenever the question of occupational ill-health arises, and it is particularly important to do so if a sick note is received which attributes absence to occupational causes. A full list of these Scheduled Diseases, together with notes of the kinds of work activity known or thought to be connected with their occurrence, is available from the Safety Services Office.

6 5.2 Flammable gas incidents The trigger for reporting gas incidents to the enforcing authorities is the receipt by the University (which means any department, office, unit, function etc. and also any associated function such as the Students' Union) of a report of any incident involving flammable gas or a gas fitting One of the important aims of this Regulation is to prevent tragedies such as those involving badly maintained gas appliances, whether in University or private accommodation. Therefore, a 'report' within the meaning of the Regulations could be by word of mouth, letter, telephone call or whatever. Again, the safer course for any person with knowledge of a hazard associated with the use (or misuse) of flammable gas or appliances must contact Safety Services immediately It is also worth noting that the Regulations apply equally to transportable gas appliances and containers (e.g. LPG gas fires and cylinders) as they do to fixed equipment and pipe-work. 6. KEEPING OF RECORDS 6.1 Knowledge of when, how and where accidents and injuries occur is a valuable tool in the ongoing task of monitoring and reviewing the University's safety programme, and reports made to the Safety Services Office are used to prepare statistics for the Safety Committee and its Specialist Sub-Committees. On behalf of the University, the Safety Services Office also has a statutory duty to maintain the records required by law, and to make information available to the Health & Safety Executive and other enforcing authorities if required. 6.2 In addition to making reports to the centre, Departments may also wish to keep their own records in order to have to hand information which will enable Departmental Self-Inspections to be carried out on an informed basis, and for the guidance of those carrying out internal investigations designed to prevent a recurrence. 6.3 The Health & Safety Executive has indicated that the revised University Report Form would constitute an acceptable record under the Regulations; it follows, therefore, that photocopies kept in the Department would likewise satisfy both the legal and practical record-keeping requirements. 6.4 Copies of the Report Form kept in Departments should be numbered consecutively to ensure that the record can be readily seen to be complete. November 12, 1996

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