Posted By Dave Richardson We recently held an "it's a knockout" competition at a venue away from the work site during a weekend. During the course of the competition one of the competitors had an accident when he was thrown into a swimming pool. He id now complaining of a bad back. My question is, should this go into the accident book and how would the company stand in cases of a potential employment disability claim. The venue was held at a fully licenced sports centre. Should I have done a risk assessment beforehand or would that be going overboard slightly (no pun intended)or maybe an assessment or a method statement should have been received from the sports centre. I suppose the simple solution is not to hold a sports day. Any advice for future reference would be appreciated. Regards Dave

Posted By Dave Wilson Was this person 'at work?' and working inside the scope of their employment? if no then no action required. Is a person who breaks his leg playing footie for the works team on a Sat Afternoon at work? Suggest not. Who was in control of the 'premises', did you get a brief from the leisure centre etc on what is and is not allowed. I know this is about the accident book but how far do yoy take this scenario? Any suggestions from the ambulance chasing world appreciated.

Posted By Ken Taylor If in doubt, I'd put it in the book too - on the basis that it's better to record/report something you needn't than not record/report something you should. If the event was organised by the employer as an employer following the Event Safety Guide (HSG195) risk assessments would have been done and various plans produced.

Posted By Steve Sedgwick Question to the group. If someone from the enforcement agency turned up and saw something they considered as an imminent risk of serious injury, would they issue a Prohibition Notice on the Sports Centre or the company holding the event?

Posted By Roger Smith One site in an organisation I worked for organised a treasure hunt. It turned into a pub crawl and on returning to the workplace in order to tot up the scores and tidy up, one unfortunate individual broke his arm while doing the twist on some grass under a tree on company grounds. It went into the accident book and was investigated to ensure that there was no "foul play". I also took the precaution of contacting my friendly HSE Enforcement Officer who advised me that it was not reportable. So my advice... Record every accident connected to work, no matter how or where caused. If only to prove that it wasn't your fault. Report every incident to the HSE / EHO that you are unsure of. If they are not interested, they will tell you. Roj