Welcome Guest! The IOSH forums are a free resource to both members and non-members. Login or register to use them

Postings made by forum users are personal opinions. IOSH is not responsible for the content or accuracy of any of the information contained in forum postings. Please carefully consider any advice you receive.

Notification

Icon
Error

Options
Go to last post Go to first unread
Admin  
#1 Posted : 13 December 2002 11:00:00(UTC)
Rank: Guest
Admin

Posted By simon carrier I am looking for some information on incident rates for office work. I have checked the HSE page but all they give are accident rates, which is not relevant. We are an predominately office based software developer employing circa 600 people, if anyone has any information it would be gratefully accepted. Thanks
Admin  
#2 Posted : 03 January 2003 13:47:00(UTC)
Rank: Guest
Admin

Posted By Jason Weston Simon, I am not quite clear on exactly what you are after. The HSE publish incidence rates - the number of RIDDOR Reportable injuries per financial year, divided by the number of employees, multiplied by 100,000, but you are asking for incident rates. Is this different, and if so, what are you classifying as an incident? Although the terms accident and incident are used colloquially, I have found that each sector tends to use them in very specific ways. My organisation is of similar size to yours, but we work in social housing - when we talk of incidents, we are normally referring to violence and aggression, and those few RIDDOR reportable dangerous occurrences that we experience. If this data is any use to you, I am happy to share it, although I suspect we would have a higher number of such incidents. If I have completely missed the point, please let me know, Regards, Jason
Admin  
#3 Posted : 06 January 2003 19:36:00(UTC)
Rank: Guest
Admin

Posted By Ian Waldram Jason's reply captures many of the issues - in particular how definitions of 'incident' will vary depending on the sector you are in. Lots of organisations try to get data on non-injury 'incidents' of various types, using the Heinrich triangle principle for identifying similar causes so as to prevent more serious injuries/incidents before they happen. But how do you know whether or not you have 'good' level of reporting? One approach I've used is to divide the mumber of reports received & investigated in a period (say 1 year) by the number of 'serious' events - these could be all 'reportable events', or any other well-defined category you wish to use. The resulting ratio shows how many 'minor' events are being reported per serious one, and can be set as a target for improvement. In some organisations the ratio will be as low as 1 (ie they investigate only reportable events), but a good ratio in a major hazard industry is 15-20 reports per medical treatment injury.
Admin  
#4 Posted : 08 January 2003 13:51:00(UTC)
Rank: Guest
Admin

Posted By Martin I've always found it much safer to think of accidents and incidents as one and the same. Distinguishing the terms can lead to confusion and an assumption that an accident without injury is less serious (in terms of how seriously it is taken) than one with injury or loss. The definiton of accident as any unplanned or unforseen event (with or without damage or loss) should cover everything. You can then go on to study 'Near Miss' accidents in the workplace if they are reported. These would be available in HSE statistics as Reportable Dangerous Occurances, although I would assume these would be very rare in an office environment and probably why you aren't finding them. A good internal reporting mechanism which distinguishes between accidents suffering loss and those that don't, can be invaluable. Hope this helps.
Admin  
#5 Posted : 08 January 2003 14:00:00(UTC)
Rank: Guest
Admin

Posted By Dave Wilson Look in HSE publication Cost of Accidents at work!(I think) Most people in industry use the formulas so you can benchmark against them knowing you are using the same.
Admin  
#6 Posted : 08 January 2003 14:31:00(UTC)
Rank: Guest
Admin

Posted By Robert K Lewis I have to take issue with Martin over the statement that the HSE defined DOs are Near Misses - My view is that they are not in any real sense of the word. The term has more subtlety in its definition and can include a wide range of situations aring from the acts or omissions of persons which have a potential to cause injury. If a worn or loose step is noted this could be termed a Near Miss, what about the fire extinguisher removed from its rack to wedge a door open? Also think laterally about a telephone being temporarily borrowed and the cable trailing. The problem with the statistical calculations for "accidents" the factor is so large, 100,000, that a single accident gives a major movement unless a large number of hours are worked. With 600 staff you will probably only work a total of just over 100,000 hours in a year. You will need to use some form of Near Miss analysis to make sense but do this in a positive manner, making it a plus point to report the NMs rather than a cause of self , or other, immolation.
Users browsing this topic
Guest
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.