Posted By Ian Stone WE are having a HSE inspector come in to investigate an accident to one of our staff this week, I reckon we can prove that we did everything right before and following the incident. How do these meetings go? Thanks Ian

Posted By Gavin Barr Ian, what Gavin says is very true. But you must also be aware that they may investigate your business as a whole, I am talking from experience here. The HSE inspector came to investigate a reportable skin ailment and ended up investigating everything from what we are doing to reduce HAVS to investigating all our COSHH activities. So be aware for anything.

Posted By Chris Abbott Yes, John has a good point. It's the same for an FDA, MCA or HSE inspection - They will usually tell you what they want to see. It is always an advantage to have all relevant documentation ready and at hand - but again, offer nothing, let them do the asking. In the case of an HSE visit, generally they like to see the area where the incident/accident occurred. And in my experience of HSE visits, they like to interview people around the areas being investigated. Chris

Posted By Philip McAleenan Ian, ask yourself this question, "If everything was done right, how then did an accident take place?" Workplace safety is about ensuring that accidents do not take place by assesing the hazards and putting in place all the necessary control measures. If an accident occured, then some control was missing. Your task is to discover what that was and remedy the situation, otherwise the accident will be repeated. All your proofs are negated by the fact of the accident itself and any investigator worth their salt will pick up on this. Re-investigate the accident before the inspector arrives. Regards, Philip

Posted By Linda Crossland-Clarke Hi If you get into the process of saying something that could be considered incriminating, then the inspector should be able to see this and he has a duty to caution you (like the police do). Then if you are giving a documentated statement, you are doing it under caution, so have to tell the whole truth etc... I'm not sure if wanted to know that or not. sorry. Linda

Posted By Ian Stone Thanks to all the people who have given me advice on this posting. On investigation between ourselves, Trade Union and insureres it was found that this accident could not have been forseen, I cant go into too much details but it involved a person in a highly emotional state suddenly trying to self harm (with no previous history, they have been assessed by staff for many years) and a staff member trying to help, the girl jumped back and the knife sliced the hand of the staff member. We have all documentation available for the inspector, just cant wait to get it over! Ian

Posted By Karen Todd Hi Ian, I had a H&S Inspector come to see me and I was absolutely peeing myself. When he arrived, I had everything to hand (risk assessments, etc.). He did not caution me or anything like that but he did tell me what things he wanted done. He didn't issue a PN or IN, or even follow up his recommendations in writing - I thought he would at least write me a letter detailing what we had agreed upon, etc. He did say that he would be back for a followup visit and we agreed a timescale for things to be done in. I found his visit very helpful, as there were a lot of other things I was able to ask his opinion on. He also said that the HSE (NI) were very much in "advise & guide" mode at the minute but that would inevitably have to change. I found him very reasonable. I think how the visit goes very much depends on your attitude. If you have a good attitude and have good systems in place and take on board what he says, then hopefully your visit will go OK. Ask him for his suggestions and recommendations. Good luck, Karen

Posted By Philip McAleenan Ian, I beg to disagree. Violence, in its broadest sense, is a well-documented occurrence in workplaces, including academic environments. Self-harm, particularly amongst students at times of great stress, is also well documented. Thus the likelihood that someone at sometime would attempt to self-harm was foreseeable and this should have prompted the development of appropriate procedures and guidance to staff in advance of any particular incident occurring. An inspector is likely to ask whether such procedures and guidance existed in the past, and more particularly, in light of the recent occurrence, whether they now exist. Regards, Philip

Posted By angela westwood Ian Reducing violence and agression, particularly in the health sector is one of the HSE's key target areas and atlhough I can only hazard a guess at the details of the incident and do not know your industry I think the HSE will be keen to see how you manage violence and agression towards employees from others, this includes self harmers. Be prepared to establish,if you are working in a field where violence/agression in any form is likely to happen, that your risk assessments also assess and control the risks to employees, patients/clients, visitors.

Posted By Dave Wilson In normal circumstances any Enforcement Officer would carry out an investigation under PACE if they believed that a person they are going to interview had committed an offence, otherwise any evidence gathered could not be used in a court of law. If during the course of their enquiries it becomes evident that an offence has been committed then the person must then be cautioned and the PACE will apply. However this is very rare.