Hi Matt

One of those "how long is a piece of string?" questions though you might have systems that dictate how long to retain such paperwork (whether hard copy or electronic).

You might want an audit trail that includes the actual risk assessment, you might want an audit trail to confirm that you have DONE a risk assessment.

You might also consider that the hard work that went into doing this particular risk assessment might be worth keeping as an example of how to do it and/or to give a steer to those doing a risk assessment for something which might not be identical but which is comparable for one or more reasons.

Not forgetting that children have longer to make a claim as the long term effect of an injury may not be know. From memory i think its 3 years after 18th birthday.

Originally Posted by: RVThompson

Hi Matt,

Adding to what Peter mentions, I’ve always kept copies of risk assessments for three years as this is the usual expiry date of injury claims from incident date. I know you said nothing happened in this instance but claims (in my humble experience) have a habit of turning up months or years later, and sometimes out of the blue without any obvious cause. Its easy to keep electronic copies, but not so easy trying to defend a claim without any evidence to back up your defence.

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I thought a person had to make a claim within 3 years of the point they know of / become aware of the injury, which could be some time after the incident.

Chris

Edited by user 24 February 2022 17:41:35(UTC)  | Reason: didn't add my comment

It was stressed to me by an insurance company many years ago the 3 years does not start at the date of accident as such it is the date the person first finds out they have a problem. Ie so they go to a medical professional with an issue and a conversation takes place that a year beforehand something happened at work, which the medical professional then states that was probably the cause of your current issue. The 3 years starts from the diagnosis.

The issue I had in a previous job around 13 years ago was a claim come into the company from an individual that claimed to have worked for the company in 1965. He claimed that he had difficulty picking up coins and playing the piano ( I kid you not) as we had made him use vibratory equipment. We were asked for our risk assessment and Safe working procedure etc by our insurance company. We barely knew he worked for us for less than a year back in 1965, never lone have a RA. The conversation with our insurance then stemmed from this issue.

So, unless things have changed since then, the 3 years for a claim starts from a diagnosis (the first time a claimant is aware of the issue exactly), not the accident / incident which could have been some considerable time in the past. Sometimes it is straight forward, if someone has their arm amputated it would be hard for them to claim they didn’t know.

Yes, keeping all dates and issues of note for everything is essential in my book.  Perhaps I’m paranoid but I consider every accident / incident / issue to be a claim in waiting.

Chris

Fair enough Chris.

Again, in my experience, most injuries that result from an accident are apparent fairly soon after. Health issues are obviously a different matter.

Re accidents, I must be paranoid too, then!