Hello Again,
Apologies for not fully explaining in my earlier post ‘accident reporting’

Recently I have had a run of accidents /injuries in the workplace that it could be argued are not accidents in the true sense of an accident. More likely to be described as sustaining an injury at work whilst carrying out their normal duties.
e.g. An employee bend over to pick up a dropped pen that resulted in he/she having a bad back and could not do their work and having to go home.

I am just seeking the opinion of my peers and wonder how you would report such events. Many thanks.

If you think of an accident as being an "unplanned unwanted occurrence" then if the injury sustained was not planned then it must have been an accident?
Not all accidents are reportable but should be recorded by you for trending etc.

David

Thanks Lee,
I would always record the incident; but log them as an injury sustained at work and not an accident at work. Am I splitting hairs?

On the basis of the very limited information available you are less splitting hairs than misunderstanding the nature of an accident.

An accident is a non-standard event with adverse effects on the individual involved and possibly damage or loss of property.

More complex questions arise about causability and liability. For example, in the event of the employee with a back injury after dropping a pen, unless you have provided him with appropriate information and trainnig about the biomechanics of manual handling and how to control the risks involved, your employer may be open to a claim for damages. If need be, read the relevant ergonomic research about sources of such occupational injuries.

I would say that if this was an over 3 day injury it's reportable to the HSE. In any case an accident book report. It would be worth watching this one as the employee could have a back injury that will affect their work in future, may not be as a result of work. A lot of injuries occur at home or liesure only to manifest at work (not necessarily maliciously).

RayRapp I come from a construction backround and remember in my foolish youth competing with other workers to see who could carry the most, usually things like 3cwt of cement, 8 concrete blocks or a granite quoin stone and all of this abuse with no manual handling injuries, only to hurt my back several times doing mundane things like sneezing, picking up a piece of wood weighing half a kilo, picking up video casett and bending to tie my boots. Perhaps the MH regs should be rewritten so that training is needed for picking up pens and sneezing and not for heavier lifting.

Ray

When you take the trouble to read the relevant expert ergonomic research e.g Bodyspace, even you may perhaps learn a little.

Just perhaps