The prospect of a serious slip accident occurring within the workplace, is a nightmare not just for the injured party, but for responsible parties too. No matter how well trained your workers are or how many health and safety procedures you have in place, accidents can still happen. Post slip accident, employers will typically expect ‘the blame game’, mountains of forms and checklists to complete, potential legal proceedings, cost and time implications and difficult questions from other employees. In fact, dealing with an accident doesn’t need to involve as much stress as you might initially think. A calm and methodical approach, rather than panic, will benefit all involved. The following are crucial but simple steps you should take in the aftermath of an accident within your workplace.
- Assess the injured party
Calm and reassure the injured party. Assess the seriousness of the injury and locate first aiders to administer first aid. Call an ambulance and next of kin if necessary.
- Isolate the area
Secure the area as necessary to ensure others don’t get injured.
- Gather information and complete accident forms while the incident is fresh
An incident, regardless of how serious, should always be investigated. Establish who was involved and speak to any witnesses. How was your employee injured? What was the condition of the floor? What about the condition of footwear? Where there any contaminants present? What was the injured party doing at the time of the slip? Was the inured party doing anything unusual or were activities in accordance with standard practice? What treatment was required, if any?
Recording as much information as possible while the incident is still fresh will put you in a good position should you need to deal with the incident further. Whether responsibility for the accident is defensible from a legal standpoint or not, information from the time of the accident will help to make quicker decisions, saving time and expense down the line. We can and do attend sites in the immediate aftermath of slip accidents to provide an expert slip test report before vital information is lost, informing legal disputes at the earliest stage.
- Report the accident
As an employer you have a legal obligation to report specified injuries including burns, fractures and fatalities, and any injuries which result in a worker being off work for more than seven days. To learn more or to report an accident go to www.hse.gov.uk/riddor
- Keep in touch
Show you care and keep in touch with your employee to check on their progress. Formulate a return to work plan and conduct a return to work interview once your worker is officially back in the workplace.
- Conduct a risk assessment
You should be conducting regular risk assessments anyway as part of your health and safety procedure, but the aftermath of an accident is a good opportunity to review your risk assessment and record any new risks which may have become apparent in light of the accident. This accident may have highlighted the fact that some floors assumed to be safe do in fact pose a hazard in some circumstances. Our risk assessment service will tell you whether your floors pose an undue risk of slipping in the conditions of end use.
- Put measures in place to reduce reoccurrences
On completion of your risk assessment, put measures in place which could reduce accidents like this one reoccurring in the future. Measures may be as simple are altering the time of cleaning, or as complex as treating or deep cleaning the surface to improve grip to safe levels in wet conditions. The nature of our independent and impartial risk assessment service means we can recommend the best solutions for you and your environment, without being influenced by potential profit.
As an employer, it is easy to panic when a slip accident occurs within your workplace and the thought of dealing with the aftermath can be particularly daunting. However, following a simple step-by-step process like the one above will help you stay calm and logical in the aftermath of an accident occurring in your workplace, whilst ensuring you gather the required information to reduce the risk of future accidents and reduce exposure to litigation and associated expense.
