Morning All,

wonder if someone could help;

I'm looking at our document retention policy for risk assessments, COSHH, policies, medical records etc and am struggling to find anything definitive. I've seen various suggestions, from 3 years upwards. I understand where the 3 years comes from and for risk assessments etc for hazards that cause very immediate effects then that is fine, but what about longer term injuries / ill health, date of diagnosis could be ten years (or more) hence?

We are quite a small company and don't produce a huge volume of material, is it lawful (data protection etc) to say that we will keep all records indefinitely?

Also, what happens if a company ceases to trade for any reason, who's responsibility is it to then keep the records?

Regards
Steve.

Medical/health records need to be kept for 40 years. Financial records for 7 and contractual records nominally 4 years – unless stated by the contract. So where does that leave H&S? On a technicality you don't need to keep old risk assessments, SSOW, Method Statements, policies, etc but it's strongly recommended that you do for at least the last 3 years, that gives any auditor (and that could be HSE) a chance to see how you've managed your system and so confirm that you have done everything reasonable to prevent an accident. This is particularly important if you later have an accident. The same applies to maintenance records which may have a direct affect on H&S. However you don't need to keep paper. These days it's very easy to scan documents or simply keep the electronic version on file so indefinitely is fine provided they are secure and within the scope of the data protection act. HR records are different - most of these you can't keep for long after the staff member has left but I recommend that you ask an HR specialist for advice on that.
If you cease trading then no-one is expected to keep records if it’s not practical to – lets face it if the organisation isn’t there then there isn’t one to keep records!!
within the scope of the data protection act. HR records are different - mots of these you can't keep for long after the staff member has left but I recommend that you ask an HR specialist for advice on that.

CIPD has a good section on their website which covers some of what your asking about:

http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr...etention-hr-records.aspx