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Accidents and Emergencies
Reporting of accidents and dangerous occurrences:
- All injuries should be recorded in an accident book.
- If there is an accident connected with work and
- Your employee, or a self-employed person working on your premises is killed or suffers a major injury or,
- A member of the public is killed or taken to hospital
You must notify the enforcing authority without delay (eg. telephone). They will ask details about your business, the injured person and the accident; and:
- Within ten days you must follow this up with a completed accident report form (NI2508). Accident Reporting Form
- Investigate all accidents or near misses to see how you can make sure they don't happen again.
- Plan for things that might go wrong - explosions, fires, floods, electrocutions. If it can go wrong, it will. Put someone in charge of emergencies.
- Train employees. Tell them what might happen, who will be in charge, what to do and where to go.
- Make sure all access/escape routes are clear. Make sure all important items like shut-off valves, electrical isolators and fire-fighting equipment are clearly labelled.
- If you need to evacuate the building, make sure you can account for everyone - staff and visitors.
- You must have a first-aid box containing enough of the right materials. Put first-aiders' names on the box.
- If you've done everything above, you've made a good start. But keep it up. Get advice when you need it; keep in touch with your trade association, your chamber of commerce and your inspector. Keep up to date - and keep your business safe and sound.
What is a reportable dangerous occurrence?
- Collapse, overturning or failure of load-bearing parts of lifts and lifting equipment.
- Explosion, collapse or bursting of any closed vessel or associated pipework;
- Failure of any freight container in any of its load-bearing parts;
- Plant or equipment coming into contact with overhead power lines;
- Electrical short circuit or overload causing fire or explosion;
- Any unintentional explosion, misfire, failure of demolition to cause the intended collapse, projection of material beyond a site boundary, injury caused by an explosion;
- Accidental release of a biological agent likely to cause severe human illness;
- Failure of industrial radiography or irradiation equipment to de-energise or return to its safe position after the intended exposure period;
- Malfunction of breathing apparatus while in use or during testing immediately before use;
- Failure or endangering of diving equipment, the trapping of a diver, an explosion near a diver, or an uncontrolled ascent;
- Collapse or partial collapse of a scaffold over five metres high, or erected near water where there could be a risk of drowning after a fall;
- Unintended collision of a train with any vehicle;
- Dangerous occurrence at a well (other than a water well);
- Dangerous occurrence at a pipeline;
- Failure of any load-bearing fairground equipment, or derailment or unintended collision of cars or trains;
- A road tanker carrying a dangerous substance overturns, suffers serious damage, catches fire or the substance is release;
- A dangerous substance being conveyed by road is involved in a fire or released;
The following dangerous occurrences are reportable except in relation to offshore workplaces.
- Unintended collapse of : any building or structure under construction, alteration or demolition where over five tonnes of material falls; a wall or floor in a place of work; any false-work;
- Explosion or fire causing suspension of normal work for over 24 hours;
- Sudden, uncontrolled release in a building of; 100kg or more of flammable liquid; 10kg of flammable liquid above its boiling point; 10kg or more of flammable gas; or 500kg of these substances if the release is in the open air;
- Accidental release of any substance which may damage health.
Note: additional categories of dangerous occurrences apply to mines, quarries, railways and offshore workplaces.
What are major injuries, dangerous occurrences and diseases?
- Reportable major injuries are:
- Fracture other than 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 an electric shock or electrical burn leading to unconsciousness or requiring resuscitation or admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours;
- Unconsciousness caused by asphyxia or exposure to harmful substance or biological agent;
- Acute illness requiring medical treatment, or loss of consciousness arising from absorption of any substance by inhalation, ingestion or through the skin;
- Acute illness requiring medical treatment where there is reason to believe that this resulted from exposure to a biological agent or its toxins or infected material.
