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Posted By Nigel Hammond
Does any one know of any clear guidance about what health & safety documents should be kept and for how long.
I am always conscious that people can put in a claim up to three years after an injury so I keep most records for at least three years.
With occupational health records, I believe there is a requirement to keep some records for 40 years. And of course asbestos can take that time to cause mesothelioma so I would tend to keep asbestos surveys and such like indefinitely.
Any advice on this would be useful.
Thanks
Nigel
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Posted By Gavin Gibson
Nigel
You are correct in that claims have to be registered within 3 years of the incident, but it is actually within 3 years of the victim becoming aware of the incident, rather than within 3 years of it happening. Thus, for noise, radiation, asbestos, or other survey data you are loooking at a 50 year archive. For incident investigations you are looking at 3 years - they are probably aware of when they were hit by the falling rock, etc. You could consider simply archiving on to an electronic medium, eg DVD or CD, but you must ensure that that the appropriate equipment is also stoored to retrieve it. How would you get to all your data from 20 years ago on 5" floppy discs? Remember that paper records dumped in a store room will probably be thrown away unless they are listed and an owner identified.
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Posted By Paul Leadbetter
Nigel
The short answer is - as long as possible! You are right; under COSHH, CAWR and CLAW, individual health records have to be kept for at least 40 years. All of the above Regs say that the retention period is 40 years from the date of the lat entry made in the record. Keeping records for that length of time is no mean feat if they are going to be readily accessible and in a useable condition. Electronic copies can be kept but beware the data loss monster!
Paul
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Posted By John Webster
Be aware that, in Scotland at least, the 3 year rule is not bindng, and courts are becoming increasingly lenient in allowing claims to proceed when the triennium has expired. I am now keeping all accident reports and associated documentation for at least 5 years.
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Posted By Nigel Hammond
Thanks for your help chaps
I now feel I have a clearer understanding about accident reports and health records. What about the more pro-active parts of the health & safety management systems such as inspections, audits and risk assessments?
How long would you generally keep those for?
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Posted By Dave Wilson
Nigel,
Forget the legal aspects of keeping records with regards to H&S. Why do we keep these?
In essence to fight any future claims as to what happened and what the circumstances were at the time - how were the company managing safety at the time?
If you ask an insurance company they will tell you never ever throw anything away as you do not know what it will be like in the future!
Problem then is how do you do this?
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Posted By Allan St.John Holt
And then there's the Data Protection Act (new bits) which may make the whole area a lot more interesting as to just what you can keep....
Anyone with a view on this?
Allan
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