How to deal with an accident

1. Act quickly and make any dangerous conditions safe if there is an accident or someone is injured or falls ill at work. Treat minor injuries and wait for proper medical help. By law, you must provide basic first aid equipment — such as sterile plasters and bandages.
2. Report any serious injuries, illnesses and incidents to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Incident Contact Centre in line with your obligations under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR).
3. Keep records of any serious injuries and incidents. This is a legal requirement and the information must include the time, date and brief description of what happened.
4. Implement a written health and safety policy and record the findings of your risk assessment. By law, all employers with five or more employees must have a written policy but a written policy can help you manage your health and safety if you have fewer than five employees. You can download risk assessment and policy templates from the HSE website.
5. Talk to your staff about safety issues. Their feedback will help make your workplace safer. Display health and safety information, provide any necessary training and promote a better workplace by getting everyone involved.
6. Stay up to date with legislation changes to remain compliant. Don’t forget to review your health and safety policy if you adopt new work practices or take on new people.

Cardinal Rules

Do:

• carry out a thorough health and safety risk assessment
• review health and safety regularly and whenever things change
• report serious injuries and incidents
• have a written health and safety policy if you employ five or more people

Don’t:

• ignore hazards
• forget to involve staff
• neglect new legislation

Popular content on managing health and safety:

• Health and safety: 27 FAQs
• Health and safety performance indicator
• How to manage health and safety

Find more articles, videos and tools on managing health and safety in the Resources box on the right.