Accident Reporting and Investigation

This blog is based on Judicium’s Health and Safety ‘Sofa Session’ from the 8th of January, with our resident expert Jim Liddy, CMIOSH. This session focused on: the practical guidance on accident reporting including what, when, and how; a step-by-step approach to effective accident investigation; and real-world examples to improve your procedures.

Poll 1

Practical Guidance on Accident Reporting: What, When, and How

What do you need to report?

You should report any incident that causes injury, illness, property damage, or near-misses.

There are legal requirements regarding reportable injuries, diseases, dangerous occurrences and gas incidents under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR). A RIDDOR report is only required when the accident is work related, and it results in a reportable injury. These are the types of injuries that must be reported to RIDDOR:

1. The death of any person
   • Excluding suicides, the death of any person must be reported if it resulted from a work-related accident.
   • If a person suffers a reportable work-related injury and dies due to that injury within one year (365 days), this must be reported as a work-related fatality.
2. Regulation 4 of RIDDOR lists ‘specified injuries’ which must be reported including: fractures (other than to fingers, thumbs, and toes); amputation of an arm, hand, finger, thumb, leg, foot or toe; any injury likely to cause permanent blinding or reduction in sight in one or both eyes; any crush injury to the head or torso causing damage to the brain or internal organs in the chest or abdomen; serious burns (including scalding) which covers more than 10% of the body or causes significant damage to the eyes, respiratory system, or other vital organs; any scalping requiring hospital treatment; any loss of consciousness caused by head injury or asphyxia; any other injury arising from working in an enclosed space which leads to hypothermia or heat-induced illness or requires resuscitation or admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours.
3. Work-related accidents must be reported where they result in an employee (or self-employed person) being away from work, or unable to do their normal work duties, for more than 7 consecutive days as the result of their injury.
   •  This period doesn’t include the day of the accident, but does include weekends and rest days.
   • The report must be made within 15 days of the accident.
4. Accidents to others who are not at work must be reported if they involve work activity, they result in an injury, or the person is taken directly from the scene of the accident to hospital for treatment to that injury.
5. Employers must report diagnoses of certain occupational diseases, where these are likely to have been caused or made worse by their work. 

You must include who was involved, what happened, and where it occurred in your report.

When do you need to report?

You must provide immediate notification for serious incidents, e.g., fatalities or major injuries.

There are legal deadlines for reporting (e.g., RIDDOR requires certain incidents to be reported within 10 days). 

However, we recommend utilising internal policies for timely reporting such as ensuring reports are made within 24 hours.

How do you report?

Standardised forms (e.g., incident report forms) are available on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website.

You can make a report online via the HSE portal or manual submissions (ensure records are clear and complete).

For fatal accidents or accidents resulting in specified injuries to workers only, can be reported by phone.

Judicium recommends escalating serious incidents to higher management and external authorities as required.

What key information should you include?

1. Date, time, and location of the incident.
2. Detailed description of the event.
3. Names and contact details of those involved and witnesses.
4. Any immediate actions taken (e.g., first aid, evacuation, etc).

Poll 2

A Step-by-Step Approach to Effective Accident Investigation

Poll 3

Real-World Scenarios to Improve Procedures

Top Tips

1. Ensure all staff know when and how to report incidents.
2. Involve the right people in investigations and focus on root causes.
3. Keep documentation thorough but concise - this can save time and resources later.

Helpful Links:

Judicium Education’s Health and Safety Advisory Service is designed to support schools, firstly, in ensuring a safe working and learning environment, secondly, in complying with the legal requirements imposed on them as employers under the various Health & Safety laws and regulations. For more information, please visit here.

If you require any support in any of these steps, or would like to talk to someone surrounding some support for your school please do not hesitate to call us on 0207 336 8403 or email Georgina.decosta@judicium.com.

The Health and Safety Service is also providing accredited training courses, including eLearning with specific modules ranging from courses designed for premises managers and SLT to all staff offerings and fire warden training: https://www.judiciumeducation.co.uk/elearning

We also offer live, exclusive training options: https://www.judiciumeducation.co.uk/training

To review Judicium’s forthcoming sofa sessions please click here.

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