Investigating HASAW accidents and complaints

Certain types of accidents have to be notified by law to the enforcing authority for the premises where the accident occurred.

The types of accidents that need notifying can be quite complicated but broadly fall into five distinct categories.

• Fatalities or major injuries (broken bones) 
• Any incident which results in a member of staff being off work for more than 7 days. 
• Any accident to a member of public that necessitates a visit to hospital direct from the scene. 
• Certain notifiable diseases 
• Certain dangerous occurrences (for example, failure of a lift or a gas explosion)

The above accidents need to be notified to the Incident Contact Centre by the quickest practicable means and you may contact them on 0345 300 9923 or at RIDDOR - Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995.

When accident notifications are received by the Council we make a determination as to whether to investigate the causes of the accident or not. This decision is based on HSE guidance. If we do investigate accidents we do so to assess if any statutory obligations have been breached and what, if any, further steps are needed to prevent recurrence.

Complaints

We also investigate complaints that are made to us about health and safety conditions at work. These range from requests for help or advice to comply with the law through to complaints about serious risks to health arising from dangerous practices.

We investigate these in accordance with our quality procedures and always maintain the confidentiality of our clients.

As in the case of accidents we assess if any statutory obligations have been breached and what, if any, further steps are needed to prevent recurrence. In the case of requests for assistance or guidance we employ many different methods including provision of literature in simple cases and site visits for the more complicated requests.

For premises that are dealt with by the Health and Safety Executive you should contact them on 0300 790 6787or via the Health and Safety Executive website.