Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

Introduction to Health and Safety at Work
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Witnesses will be more willing to speak the truth and 
help with the investigation.
8.2.4 What managers need to do
Managers need to:
➤
communicate the type of accident and incident that 
needs to be reported
➤
provide a system for reporting and recording
➤
check that the proper reports are being made
➤
make appropriate records of accidents and 
incidents
➤
investigate all incidents and accidents reported
➤
analyse the events routinely to check for trends in 
performance and the prevalence of types of incident 
or injury
➤
monitor the system to make sure that it is working 
satisfactorily.
8.3 
Which incidents/accidents should 
be investigated?
8.3.1 Injury 
accident
Should every accident be investigated or only those that 
lead to serious injury? In fact the main determinant is the 
potential of the accident to cause harm rather than the 
actual harm resulting. For example, a slip can result in an 
embarrassing fl ailing of arms or, just as easily, a broken 
leg. The frequency of occurrence of the accident type 
is also important – a stream of minor cuts from paper 
needs looking into.
As it is not possible to determine the potential for 
harm simply from the resulting injury, the only really 
sensible solution is to investigate all accidents. The 
amount of time and effort spent on the investigation 
should, however, vary depending on the level of risk 
(severity of potential harm, frequency of occurrence). 
The most effort should be focused on signifi cant events 
involving serious injury, ill-health or losses and events 
which have the potential for multiple or serious harm 
to people or substantial losses. These factors should 
become clear during the accident investigation and be 
used to guide how much time should be taken.
The following table has been developed by the 
HSE to help to determine the level of investigation 
which is appropriate. The worst case scenario for the 
consequences should be considered in using the table. A