Online accident book
The Online accident book plays an extremely important role in the immediate aftermath of an accident, incident or near miss in the workplace and for several reasons can be equally important at a later date.
An accident book confirms all the details of an accident occurring on your employer's premises. This will include the date and time of the accident, who was injured, the nature of the injuries and the cause of the accident (how it happened).
All information in the Online accident book is kept confidential
An accident at work book has two main purposes :-
To record the details of an accident, to explain your time off work and to support your claim for compensation;
To record a list of accident types so that your employer can make changes to systems or processes to reduce these types of accidents.
The Online accident book forms a valuable source of evidence that can be used in a legal claim to prove that you are entitled to work accident compensation. It is also useful to the employer to help them prevent further accidents.
Many employers have to keep an accident book, but what are the exact requirements, and who is exempt?
All companies with ten or more employees are required by law to have a accident book to record injuries. Information in the Online accident book is legally required to be stored safely for three years.
Which Types Of Accident Must Be Reported?
Which sorts of accident need to be reported, and which do not need to be recorded within the accident book?
The legislation "Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995" (RIDDOR) states which types of accidents must be reported and includes the following:
Any injury that stops an employee doing their normal work for a period of 3 days or more.
Major injuries such as broken arms, ribs, legs, etc.
Death
Disease
Dangerous instance occurring at work such as machinery breaking, scaffolding collapsing and any other appliances defecting and causing damage.
However, it is worthwhile reporting all forms of accidents. This includes accidents such as slips and trips, cut fingers, and minor injuries caused by faulty office equipment. Reporting minor accidents can reveal larger risks waiting to happen.
Details of the accident can be entered into the Online accident book either by the injured party or by a colleague. Details of the date, name of the injured party, witnesses, full circumstances of the accident and resulting injuries must be entered into the accident book.
If a worker is incapacitated and unable to work for more than seven days as the result of an accident, the employer must report the details of the accident (as recorded within the Online accident book).
When does an accident need to be reported to the HSE?
In the case of more serious accidents or deaths in the workplace, it will be necessary for the employer to report the accident to the HSE under the RIDDOR regulations. Not all accidents have to be reported to HSE but there are specific accidents that must be reported as listed above.
Under GDPR, the first principle is to process all personal data lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner. Processing (including collection, recording, organisation, structuring and storage) must have a "lawful basis". At least one of the following must apply: Consent: the individual has given clear consent for you to process their data for a specific purpose; Contract: processing is necessary for a contract you have with the individual, or because they have asked you to take specific steps before entering into a contract; Legal obligation: processing is necessary for you to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations); Vital interests: processing is necessary to protect someone's life; Public task: processing is necessary for you to perform a task in the public interest or your official functions, the task or function having a clear basis in law; Legitimate interests: processing is necessary for legitimate interests (or those of a third party) unless there is good reason to protect the individual's data which overrides this. GDPR consent is not required as According to The Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979, details to be recorded in the accident book include: Full name, and occupation of injured person; Date and time of accident; Location of accident; Cause and nature of injury; Name and occupation of person giving notice, if other than the injured person. These requirements would satisfy the "legal obligation" basis and a specific statement of consent would not be required.