How to Implement an Accident Reporting Procedure in Your Workplace [With template]

Step-by-step accident reporting procedure

To guarantee safety and consistency, it’s important to follow the correct process, as outlined in the six-step accident reporting procedure example below:

1. Ensure safety

The first step following an incident is to make sure that there is no immediate danger before approaching the situation. This will help to prevent any further accidents or injuries from taking place. Never put yourself or others in danger. If an individual has been injured, avoid moving them unless it’s necessary to avoid further injury.

Wherever possible, remove any immediate dangers. This could involve switching off vehicles and equipment, cutting the electricity or water supply, extinguishing fires, securing unstable structures, or using appropriate measures to contain spills.

2. Making sure those injured receive medical assistance

Assess the severity of any injuries sustained during the incident. If any injuries are severe or life threatening, call 999 immediately and provide detailed information. Ensure that all injured people receive appropriate first aid care until the emergency services arrive.

Whether for less serious injuries, or while waiting for an ambulance, medical assistance should only be administered by the appropriate responsible person. This is usually an employee with up-to-date medical or first aid training, or the person in charge of the accident reporting procedure.

3. Log in the accident book 

Logging the incident is one of the most critical steps of the accident reporting procedure in the workplace. This ensures that a record is kept of what happened, and will provide evidence in the case of any insurance claims or legal action.

As an employer, you have a legal obligation to record incidents that occur in the workplace. This is usually done in an accident book, and carried out by the person in charge of the accident reporting procedure or a health and safety officer.

The information that you need to record includes:

• Full name, address and occupation of the injured person
• Date and time of the accident
• Description of what happened, how, and where
• Cause and nature of the injury, and whether medical professionals were called to the scene
• Full name, address and occupation of the person recording the incident

Additionally, it can be helpful to include:

• Signature of the person recording the incident
• Signature of the injured person

Names and contact details of any witnesses, along with their accounts of the incident

4. Complete a formal investigation

A formal investigation is an essential step in the company accident reporting procedure, allowing you to find out the root cause of the incident, and whether it was caused by a breach of safety protocols. As well as supporting your legal responsibilities as an employer, this information will help to prevent similar accidents from occurring in the future.

The investigation should be carried out as quickly as possible following an accident to ensure that the details are still fresh in people’s minds. This also allows preventative measures to be put in place if required to avoid repeat occurrences.

You’ll need to put together a team for the investigation. For less severe incidents, it can be carried out by a line manager or supervisor, while more serious incidents should be investigated by a health and safety professional, and may even require external experts.

The investigation should gather all relevant information, including the accident book entry, statements from witnesses, and any physical evidence such as CCTV footage. The investigation team should then analyse the available information, and put it together in a formal report. This report should be evidence based, free from bias, and may include actionable recommendations to minimise risks in the future.

5. Submit report (if reportable)

While your company’s accident reporting procedure should always involve keeping a detailed record of any incidents, under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR), not all instances need to be formally reported to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). You should report the incident within the required timeframe, which is as soon as possible, and within 10 days of the incident, or within 15 days if the injured employee is away from work for seven days or more.

The responsible person in charge of your accident reporting procedure should undergo RIDDOR training to ensure that they fully understand what it means, and what needs to be reported. Under RIDDOR, the ‘responsible person’ generally refers to the employer, but this could also be various managers or the person in charge of the premises.

The following must be reported:

• Fatal injuries
• Specified non-fatal injuries
• Occupational diseases
• Dangerous occurrences (near misses)
• Incidents resulting in an employee being away from work for seven days or more
• Incidents involving injured members of the public being taken to hospital
• Incidents involving gases where people have been taken to hospital

You can find full information about reportable incidents on the HSE’s website, and download our accident reporting procedure template for use in your organisation.

6. Review risk assessments & safety procedures

Evaluating your organisation’s current health and safety and accident reporting procedures will help to reduce the occurrence of similar accidents in the future. Using the findings from your report, identify any risks and outline actionable steps or preventative measures that your organisation can take to increase workplace safety.

Examples of steps to take may include:

• Providing additional training
• Improving workplace signage
• Replacing or repairing equipment
• Adopting new technologies or safety devices
• Redesigning workspaces to eliminate hazards or improve ergonomics
• Creating new safety policies and procedures

Depending on the outcome of your report, you may also choose to terminate the employment of any individuals found to have been acting negligently.

How to improve your accident reporting procedure in the workplace

The accident reporting procedure example we’ve just explored is perhaps the most important part of this article in terms of understanding what’s expected of you as an employer. However, it’s also important to analyse your current accident reporting procedure, identifying areas for improvement and actionable steps to make the process easier and more efficient. This would usually be the responsibility of your organisation’s health and safety officer.

Let’s explore some top tips for improving your accident reporting procedure in the workplace.

1. Review & update regularly

You should review and update your accident reporting procedure regularly to ensure that it aligns with evolving standards and maintains the safety of your workers and environment. Make sure to involve key stakeholders in this process, analysing past accident reports to learn from previous incidents in your workplace. Maintaining a proactive approach of continuous improvement will allow you to effectively mitigate risks and avoid future incidents.

2. Feedback & follow up

Providing timely feedback to all involved parties after any incident is essential to encourage continued reporting and acknowledges their contributions to improving workplace safety. Make sure to implement effective corrective actions based on the findings of your investigation, and communicate them clearly with employees and key stakeholders. This will help to support the ongoing monitoring and improvement of safety and accident reporting procedures to prevent future incidents.

3. Include more use cases

Expanding the range of scenarios covered in the accident reporting procedure in your workplace will help you to ensure that it is better equipped to support various incidents and their unique contexts. Incorporating diverse use cases better prepares employees for different potential risks, and also also enhances their ability to respond effectively in diverse situations.

4. Accessible reporting tools

Easily accessible reporting tools streamline the company accident reporting procedure for employees, allowing them to report incidents promptly and accurately. For example, you might implement user-friendly incident reporting software, or provide physical paper forms that are readily available and straightforward to use. Whichever option you choose, ensuring that all employees are able to access these tools promotes efficient reporting and improving overall workplace safety.

5. Train employees effectively

Make sure to train your employees effectively on accident reporting procedures, ensuring that they not only have a clear understanding of what’s required, but that they’re also able to apply this knowledge practically. Equipping them with the necessary skills and information required to report incidents promptly and accurately will help to encourage a proactive safety culture in the workplace, and increase the effectiveness of your company’s accident reporting procedure.

Train employees on your company accident reporting procedure

The Access Group’s RIDDOR training module is the most effective way to train your employees on accident reporting. They’ll learn to identify the different kinds of incidents that need to be reported at work, what procedures to follow, how to collect data, and how to maintain proper RIDDOR records.

Get in touch with us to find out more about RIDDOR training, or any of our other Health and Safety training courses.