Posted By Alison Melrose Helen, Accident statistics would be useful as it would allow you to target certain areas (for example, if there were lots of back injuries then you could look at manual handling training / lifting equipment provided in that particular area). Sickness absence is something else that could be looked at. Is there any trends (the last Friday in the month, Monday mornings etc..). Is there one department that seems to have more sickness that another (and if so, what reasons do people give..). You could conduct a survey of the company (focusing on specific issues for example, stress in the workplace, upper limb discomfort). This would take time but would give you a good indication of the prevalence of different issues that concern the staff. You could also ask the finance department to give you a breakdown of the equipment purchased over the last year (for example PPE - this again would let you know what areas could be looked at in the future). E.g. is the company constantly replacing eye wash bottles? If so, there may be an issue with regards to training or you might want to consider enclosing the work to prevent splashes and offer eye protection... Hope these ideas help...good luck!

Posted By Ron Hunter Suggestions for 'active' monitoring: Evaluation of levels of conformance with H&S rules,systems & Procedures, efficacy of risk assessment process, etc. by audit/inspection (in the same way as you evaluate quality systems). Do you use contractors? Do you evaluate their levels of conformance? These may help you gauge behavioural factors influencing near miss/accident trends