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Recording accidents/injuries - are we going too far - Comments please
Rank: New forum user 
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We, our company, tend to record any visit to First Aid in the accident book, whether it is for a laceration, broken bone or something as small as a graze on a finger (in one case, even recorded two people bumping heads in the corridor). Are we going too far?
As an accident is any undesired circumstances which gives rise to ill health or injury, should we, strictly speaking, be recording all injurys (even grazes and bumps). As we work in a manufacturing environment, there will always be a number of bumps and knocks, and I would think those can be recorded as Unsafe Conditions and then investigated seperately as required. As we currently stand however, we are investigating all the knocks and bumps, which I think is a waste of resources.
Any comments welcome on this one, I'd really like some feedback on what others are doing and if we need to change out outlook on this, or if it's going to leave us vulnerable.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Brendan
I don’t think you are taking this too far as long as you distinguish between recording and investigating. Obviously any broken limbs, trips to A&E etc should be investigated but sometimes what starts off looking like a minor injury ends up growing, for example last year an employee of ours fell over and injured themselves and was off work for a day. This was recorded. Months later he went to his doctor and was diagnosed with a fractured hip which he says came from his fall. He put in a claim. The initial incident report is part of our evidence that we have sent to the lawyers. So yes record but don’t make a meal of it and try to investigate every single incident.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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I wouldn't say you are going too far, but that obviously depends on your work activity. Who is to say that the grazed finger an employee received could well have been an amputation save for a few millimetres. Recording of minor injuries may be a good idea to help identify larger trends, even minor injuries can have an affect on workflow, productivity etc.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Brendan,
I would imagine your forms have recomendations from the injured person and supervisor as to what can be done to prevent a re-occurrence and this may be suitable for most cases.
The problem with ignoring any accidents is that it allows people to start ignoring more and more. I have recently had a RIDDOR recorded major injury following a fall which required very little examination and no remedial action. I've had another that was recorded as a minor but had the potential to be very much worse.
Even some of the apparently trivial accidents can point to some nugget when trended as a whole.
I have everything from paper cuts upwards recorded. The trick is to spend the appropriate amount of time based on the severity of the accident or its potential severity.
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Rank: Forum user
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Brendan,
I dont think you are going to far as with most of the replies you need to make a decision as to wether the apparently minor accident could have been worse. I work in a factory and always determine along with the supervisors managers if a further investigation is required. Sometimes you need a fresh pair of eyes and thought porcess. One example I have was a person cut their finger which required no more than a plaster, i found out that the person worked on a cross cut wood saw yes you guessed it had not followed their training and used the push stick also the guard was incorrectly adjusted. Potential could have been lost fingers or worse. Moral of the story always ask and look never ignore.
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Rank: New forum user
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Originally Posted by: Brendan Steenkamp  We, our company, tend to record any visit to First Aid in the accident book, whether it is for a laceration, broken bone or something as small as a graze on a finger (in one case, even recorded two people bumping heads in the corridor). Are we going too far?
As an accident is any undesired circumstances which gives rise to ill health or injury, should we, strictly speaking, be recording all injurys (even grazes and bumps). As we work in a manufacturing environment, there will always be a number of bumps and knocks, and I would think those can be recorded as Unsafe Conditions and then investigated seperately as required. As we currently stand however, we are investigating all the knocks and bumps, which I think is a waste of resources.
Any comments welcome on this one, I'd really like some feedback on what others are doing and if we need to change out outlook on this, or if it's going to leave us vulnerable.
Your paperwork probably include suggestions for avoiding a recurrence of the injury from both the injured party and their supervisor. The difficulty with ignoring accidents is that it normalizes the practice of ignoring. After a recent fall, I had a significant injury that was reported to RIDDOR but was treated with minimal attention. Another one of mine was classified as mild but could have been much worse. When viewed in the context of larger trends, even seemingly little accidents might reveal useful information. I've kept meticulous records of every injury, from paper cuts on up. The key is to allocate sufficient time taking into account the degree or possible severity of the disaster.
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Rank: Super forum user
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“After a recent fall, I had a significant injury that was reported to RIDDOR but was treated with minimal attention. Another one of mine was classified as mild but could have been much worse. When viewed in the context of larger trends, even seemingly little accidents might reveal useful information. I've kept meticulous records of every injury, from paper cuts on up. The key is to allocate sufficient time taking into account the degree or possible severity of the disaster.” Didn’t know that chatbots can have falls and if they do have falls surely they don’t need to be reported under RIDDOR!
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 1 user thanked A Kurdziel for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user
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AK - not reported under RIDDOR but to RIDDOR. Possibly a typo by the author, or they might need to revisit the reporting requirements. To be honest I wasn't sure whether it was the author who seemed to be accident prone, or a reference to what was happening at the workplace.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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When I was H&S in a factory with lots of production lines there were many minor cuts and grazes happening and once reported to me by the Nurse I always went and investigated, spoke with the injured party and Supervisor, went through the process and exactly how the injury was caused and if we between us could see any imporovement to prevent a re-occurrence it was actioned. I did write a report on what we did and that was attached to the accident book page.
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1 user thanked firesafety101 for this useful post.
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Rank: Forum user
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Lets not forget the potential for any subsequent claim as a result of the injury/graze/bump. 'Most' of the online/telephone legal firms will ask very early on in any conversation if the event is recorded in the Accident Book, if not, the claimant is on less solid ground for a claim being taken up by the legal firm.(Unless of course it's a major/big thing) And as we know, a cut/graze can turn into tetanus, sceptacaemia, gangrene etc etc, so personally, I encourage everyone to record everything.
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