This guidance tells workers what to report and who to, which events go to the enforcing authority, and how events are investigated and corrected.
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Accident and Incident Reporting Guidance
A general guidance document on accident and incident reporting, for all workers and the managers who investigate. It explains making the situation safe, reporting accidents, near misses and work-related ill health, which events must be reported to the enforcing authority, and how events are investigated and corrective action taken.
Topics Covered
- Making it safe first - containing the situation, giving first aid and deciding whether work or the site should stop, before any investigation starts
- Reporting everything - every accident, incident, near miss, dangerous occurrence and case of work-related ill health is reported, even if no one was injured
- Reporting to the authorities - serious accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences that the person responsible must report to the enforcing authority within set timescales
- Typical reportable events - deaths, specified serious injuries, enclosed space injuries, longer absences from work and members of the public taken to hospital
- Investigating events - an investigation started straight away by the health and safety lead or a delegated person, gathering all the evidence
- Corrective action and sharing - actions logged on the issues and actions register, with the outcome and any changed procedures shared with relevant workers
Who Is It For?
All workers, who must report every accident, incident and near miss, and the line managers and health and safety lead who receive reports and investigate them.
Included in the ISO 45001 Toolkit
This guidance is supplied with the TT-7-04 Accident and Incident Reporting training talk, which is part of the ISO 45001 Toolkit and the integrated toolkits that include it.
Using the Guidance
Issue it at induction so everyone knows what to report and who to report it to, and keep it with your accident and near miss reporting forms. Record who has received it, for example on the training matrix.
Events Reportable to the Enforcing Authority
The guidance lists the kinds of event that typically must be reported to the enforcing authority, including work-related deaths, specified serious injuries such as amputations and serious burns, certain injuries in enclosed spaces, and members of the public taken to hospital. It explains the UK rule for injuries that keep a worker off for more than seven days, and notes that shorter absences may still need recording.
Adapting the Guidance
Edit the guidance to match your own arrangements - who receives reports, the name of your health and safety lead, the accident and near miss forms you use, and where corrective actions are logged.
Related Documents
Other documents that work alongside this guidance:
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