Hi guys, Unfortunately we have had an incident at work on the weekend, where one of our staff members was opening a crate with a crow\pry-bar, this is a standard job and he was in full PPE, working with a colleague and had an open area to work in. Unfortunately while operating the crow bar he either jerked back or he simply slipped from holding the bar (i believe he was wearing gloves) as he stepped back he went over his ankle. He was in a lot of pain and his colleague called an ambulance and he was taken to hospital. It turns out he has fractured his ankle in 3 places, but is otherwise in good health. I have spoken with my MD and we have ensured he is okay and is receiving correct care, however as i have never had to report an injury in a workplace (lucky me) i want to be sure i am informing the correct group. I assume i am to use the RIDDOR HSE reporting form, explaining what happened and all of the required information. I have confirmed it as a Major Injury (fracture) but just wondered what the process is after reporting, would it just be classed as a LTI automatically given the nature of it being a major injury, or will the HSE want to inspect the premises (we have left the work area as it was from the accident). We are pretty sure everything was being carried out as it should be and is a common job to be carried out and we used the appropriate tools and PPE, the staff member was experienced and knew how to operate around the work area. Can anyone give me some tips about what to expect as my MD wants to have a full report on what is involved with reporting etc. We recorded the incident on our internal Accident report form, and filled in a formal HSE accident book report as well, but yet to officially report, mainly as we were waiting to see if it was a fracture or just a sprain. As we would be waiting to see if he would be back before 7 days, but given what we now know obviously this will be an LTI straight away. Any info would be great Thanks all

You seem to be on the right track. Report as a major injury using the online facility as soon as you can. Don't write a novel though. You should get and e mail acknowledgement (if you put your correct address). I have never received a 'hard' copy. It is unlikely that you'll get any follow up from your enforcing authority, although LAs tend to follow up more often than HSE. Don't lose any sleep over it.

As above but I would also look at why you need to receive the items packaged like that. Is there another way of having the item packaged? Could other fasteners be used other than nails? Ask your supplier whether they can think of other ways of packaging (due to the accident) or whether they do something different for other suppliers. Try and design out the task, especially as it is a manual handling one. If you manage it then revisit the solution in a few weeks time to ensure that other issues have not been designed into the process.

Reporting is only a small part, I don't see any investigation "you think he was wearing gloves?" have you interviewed and recorded any witness statements, are you sure the IP 's account is accurate, I know it happens but a broken ankle in these circumstances will need thorough investigation to get to the cause and then you can start thinking about introducing change if necessary. I had an executive in a Board Room stand up and break her ankle as she did so, she was wearing moderate high heels but it transpired she has some form of brittle bone syndrome (you need to ask to find this out). I have also had weekend sports injuries carried into work and reproted by IP's as work related. I am not suggesting you become sceptical just thorough and careful it is best for all concerned.

Thanks for all the replies folks, i feel more confident now that i have been doing the correct thing. As for carrying out an investigation, we have been taking statements from witnesses on the day, and the boxes that we use for storing the parts are actually an improvement on these older style of boxes, to avoid this requirement of having to pry open the crate anyway. The IP did have his correct PPE on, however not all of our boots are tall ankle support type, but at this point i havent confirmed this yet as i am only speaking to him through his wife as she is allowed to see him, but he is chatting away and is in good spirits. All i am waiting for is official confirmation from the hospital that it is infact a fracture as all i have is a text from his wife on the day, but having official confirmation will let me fill in the form properly, my MD is also keen to make sure we are doing everything by the book. If anything comes out of this hopefully it will allow us to remove this risk entirely in the future. MD will talk to our insurer in due course to cover our bases regarding compensation etc, but that is out of my area, but the MD knows about it, as i say we are being a bit belt and braces as we want to do right.