SAFed Health and Safety Passport Scheme Module 8 — Accident, First Aid and reporting procedures |
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8.1
Introduction This document
forms one of a series of modules on various health and safety subjects
that comprise the examinable material considered necessary for the award
of the SAFed Health and Safety Passport. When you have
studied this module you should have acquired sufficient knowledge to be
able to answer the questions detailed at the end of the module. Upon satisfactory completion of all modules, you will be
eligible to undertake the final assessment for the award of the SAFed
Health and Safety Passport. The SAFed
Health and Safety Passport is issued to Engineer Surveyors by the Health
and Safety Manager of their employing company upon satisfactory
completion of the Safety Passport final assessment. The award of the SAFed Health
and Safety Passport provides evidence that the holder of the Passport
has the appropriate knowledge and awareness in health and safety matters
considered necessary for an Engineer Surveyor to undertake the duties
for which they are authorised by their employing company. The passport is valid for a maximum of three years. |
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8.2
Key Objectives Having read this module you
should be aware of: ·
The legal requirement to report
accidents, however trivial, to your own company and if applicable, the
site at which you are working at the time.
This action will raise awareness of a potential problem and could
prevent a more serious accident occurring at a later date. ·
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and
Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) which covers certain types of
more serious accidents. ·
The first aid facilities which should
be in place at both your own and third party sites and the need to
inform visitors of these facilities when working on site. · The difference between a First-Aider and an appointed person. |
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8.3
Legal Commentary The health and safety laws,
which cover this module, are: ·
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and
Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR95) · Health & Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 |
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8.4
Discussion Most of the information in the
other modules has been mainly about prevention.
But sometimes things do go wrong.
If someone has an accident or falls ill at work, it is important
to take care of them straight away and make any dangerous condition that
may have caused the accident or illness safe. First aid means treating minor
injuries at work and giving immediate attention to more serious
casualties until professional help is available. Reporting accidents and ill health at work is a legal requirement. The enforcing authorities use the information to assess the big picture of where and what type of injuries, ill health and accidental losses are occurring, and to advise on preventative measures. It is important that the
guidelines for reporting of accidents are adhered to, to enable this the
accident can be reported by phone, fax, internet, e-mail or post. Workers who travel from site to
site or who are employed at third party sites are referred to, as
‘peripatetic’ by the H.S.E. Engineer Surveyors are classified in
this way. It is therefore extremely
important that they have adequate instruction on site-specific issues as
part of their induction on each site.
This should take place before they commence any inspection, as
they are statistically more likely to have an accident than another
person who is familiar with the site and its hazards. Whilst it is the responsibility
of the Third Party site occupier to inform all visitors of the hazards
that they may encounter, it is the Engineer Surveyors’ responsibility
to assess the risks which are present during the performance of their
particular task. To assist in the prevention of
accidents, the Engineer Surveyor must wear the correct personal
protection equipment as prescribed in both the site regulations and risk
assessments for the particular task. Companies should hold an investigation into any accident, incident or near miss that occurs on their site. It is the duty of the Engineer Surveyor to report to the site personnel any incident, which they consider unsafe whilst on the site. |
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8.5
Accidents Any employer, under Health &
Safety Law, is required to make the workplace safe and without risks to
health. Unfortunately, despite the most rigorous planning, accidents
still happen. In order to comply with legal obligations, we are all required to carry out certain actions when accidents occur. |
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8.5.1
Accident Reporting Any accidental injury you
receive while at work must be reported promptly to your supervisor or
line manager. If you are working on a
client’s premises you must inform the nominated person (this will
normally be the person acting as ‘chaperone/contact but Health &
Safety information provided upon entry to the clients promises may
specify otherwise). A written factual account of the
incident has to be made in an Accident Book (HSE Publication BI 510)
which must be maintained on each site. All injuries should be reported
because what may appear to be trivial can sometimes develop into more
serious conditions. Prompt,
accurate reporting is essential for deciding what action is necessary to
prevent a similar accident happening again. Under certain circumstances
details may need to be reported to the Health and Safety Executive via
the appropriate enforcing authority* under RIDDOR (See section 8.5.1.1
below). · All premises should have a list of contact telephone numbers for local Environmental Health departments or you can telephone the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 9923 (numbers will also be in phone directories). You can also send reports by e-mail to riddor@natbrit.com or via the RIDDOR website http://www.riddor.gov.uk |
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8.5.2
RIDDOR If you are an employer,
self-employed or in control of work premises you have duties under
RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences
Regulations 1995). What
needs to be reported? Under RIDDOR it is a legal requirement that you report some work-related accidents,
diseases and dangerous occurrences.
This requirement covers all work activities, but not all
incidents. The following are reportable if
they arise ‘out of or in connection with work’: ·
Accidents which result in: i)
the death of an employee or a
self-employed person, or; ii)
an employee or a self-employed person
suffering a major injury, or; iii)
an employee or a self-employed person
being absent from work or unable to do their normal duties for more than
three days. ·
Accidents which result in a person not
at work suffering an injury and being taken to a hospital, or if the
accident happens at a hospital, suffers a major injury. ·
An employee or self-employed person
suffering one of the specified work-related diseases. ·
One of the specified ‘dangerous
occurrences’ — these do not necessary result in injury but have the
potential to do significant harm. Who
should report? Employers, the self-employed and those in control of work premises have duties under the Regulations. The duty to notify and report rests with the ‘responsible person’. This may be the employer of an injured person, a self-employed person, or someone in control of premises where work is carried out. Who this responsible person is depends upon the circumstances of the notifiable event as shown in table 1. |
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Table 1 — RIDDOR — Notifiable events |
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Reportable
major injuries include: ·
Fractures, except to fingers, thumbs or
toes. ·
Amputation. ·
Dislocation of the shoulder, hip, knee
or spine. ·
Loss of sight (temporary or permanent). ·
Chemical or hot metal burn to the eye,
or any penetrating injury to the eye. ·
Injury resulting from electric shock or
electrical burn, leading to unconsciousness or requiring resuscitation
or admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours. ·
Acute illness requiring medical
treatment, or loss of consciousness resulting from absorption of any
substance by inhalation, ingestion or through the skin or exposure to a
biological agent. ·
Any other injury which: i)
Leads to: hypothermia, heat-induced
illness or unconsciousness; ii)
Requires resuscitation or admittance to
hospital for more than 24 hours. Over-three-day
injuries You must report accidents
connected with work which result in an employee, or a self-employed
person working on your premises being away from work or unable to do
their normal duties for more than three days (including non-work days). Diseases You must report any case in
which a doctor notifies you in writing that one of your employees is
suffering from a disease specified in RIDDOR which is linked with the
corresponding activity. Self-employed people need to
make their own arrangements to notify any reportable diseases they
suffer. Reportable diseases include: ·
Some skin diseases, such as
occupational dermatitis. ·
Occupational asthma or respiratory
sensitisation. ·
Infections such as hepatitis,
tuberculosis, legionellosis and tetanus. ·
Any other infection reliably
attributable to work with biological agents, exposure to blood or body
fluids or any potentially infective material. · Other conditions, such as occupational cancer and certain musculoskeletal disorders. |
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Dangerous
occurrences Dangerous occurrences are
specified events, which may not result in a reportable injury, but have
the potential to do significant harm. Reportable dangerous occurrences
include the following: ·
The collapse, overturning or failure of
load-bearing parts of lifts and lifting equipment. ·
The accidental release of a biological
agent likely to cause severe human illness (a hazard group 3 or 4
pathogen). ·
The accidental release of any substance
which may damage health. ·
The explosion, collapse or bursting of
any closed vessel or associated pipe-work. ·
An
electrical short circuit or overload causing fire or explosion. · An explosion or fire causing suspension of normal work for over 24 hours. |
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Records Records must be kept of any
reportable injury, disease or dangerous occurrence. These records must include date
and method of reporting; the date, time and place of the event;
personal details of those involved, and a brief description of the
nature of the event or disease. The record must be kept for
three years from the date you record the details, and can be in any
form you wish (e.g. in hard copy or on a computer). 8.6
First Aid The Health and Safety
(First-Aid) Regulations 1981 sets out the essential aspects of first
aid that employers have to address. The Regulation requires the
provision of adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and
personnel to enable first aid to be given to employees if they are
injured or become ill at work. What is considered adequate and
appropriate will depend upon the circumstances in the workplace, and
the person in control of the premises is required to have carried out
an assessment of First Aid needs. This assessment will have
included: ·
The risks of injury and ill health
identified in a Risk Assessment. ·
Any specific risks (e.g. hazardous
substances, dangerous machinery/tools/loads). ·
Possible differing levels of risk in
parts of the establishment (e.g. laboratories within a university). ·
Record of any previous accidents or
cases of ill health. ·
Number of people employed. ·
Level of experience of workers, or
number of employees with disabilities or special health problems. ·
Layout of site (e.g. premises spread
out, number of floors etc.). ·
Work patterns (e.g. shiftwork or
out-of-hours working). ·
Remoteness (e.g. distance from nearest
medical services). ·
Number of employees that travel or work
alone. ·
If employees work at sites occupied by
other employers. ·
Number of trainees. ·
If members of the public have access to
the premises. [Note: The employer has no legal responsibilities for non-employees, but the HSE strongly recommend they include them in First Aid provision]. |
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8.6.1
Employers Duties The employer has several duties
under the Regulations but the main requirement is that if provision is
made for first aid, it must be adequate and appropriate in the
circumstances in which the employer operates. This means that the first aid
provided in a refinery or manufacturing plant would be vastly different
to an office or shop which employs three staff. The HSE recommendations on employers duties are shown in Table 2. |
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Table 2 — HSE recommendations on employers duties |
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8.6.2
Responsibilities of First Aiders An Appointed
Person is someone the employer chooses to: ·
Take charge when someone is injured or
falls ill, including calling an ambulance if required; ·
Look after the first-aid equipment,
e.g. restocking the first-aid box. Appointed Persons should not attempt to give
first aid for which they have not been trained (short emergency
first-aid courses are available). An Appointed Person should be available at
all times people are at work — this may mean appointing more than one. A First
Aider is someone who has undergone a training course in
administering first aid at work and holds a current first aid at work
certificate. A First Aider can undertake the duties of an
Appointed Person. When the assessment of first aid requirements has been completed, the employer should provide the materials, equipment and facilities needed to ensure that the level of cover identified as necessary will be available to employees at all relevant times. This will include that first aid equipment, suitably marked and easily accessible, is available in all places where working conditions require it. |
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8.6.3
The needs of travelling, remote and lone workers Employers are responsible for meeting the
first aid needs of their employees working away from the main site,
Engineer Surveyors would fit into this category. The assessment should determine whether those
who travel long distances or are continuously mobile should carry a
personal first aid kit. Organisation with employees working in remote areas should consider making special arrangements such as issuing personal mobile phones, providing special training and organising emergency assistance, this would also apply to lone workers. |
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8.7
End of module and next steps Well done!
By reaching this point you will have finished studying this
particular module. You
should now have sufficient knowledge to answer the questions contained
at the end of the module. Answers to
the questions should be forwarded to your Health and Safety Manager. Provided that you have answered the questions correctly, your Health and Safety Manager will forward to you your next self study module. |
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Click here to answer question on Module 8 |