Accident reporting and emergency procedures

Section 1: Reporting Accidents in Land-Based Industries

RIDDOR (1995): This stands for Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations. RIDDOR requires employers, or a responsible person, to report certain types of incidents or illnesses that occur in the workplace.
Record keeping is an important part of accident reporting. Employers should keep an accident book to record injuries, even if they don’t need to report them. This enables the identification of patterns and problem areas.
To be reportable under RIDDOR, an incident should result in either an over-seven-day incapacitation of a worker, a non-fatal accident to a non-worker (such as a customer or visitor) requiring hospital treatment, certain types of injury such as fractures or amputations, or a fatality.

Section 2: Emergency Procedures in Land-Based Industries

An emergency plan should be in place and all staff should be aware of this. It typically includes information on who should respond to the emergency, how to evacuate, where to muster, and how to report the emergency.
Fire safety: All workplaces need to have fire safety measures in place. This includes clear evacuation routes that are well signposted, regularly tested fire alarms, and appropriate fire extinguishers.
First aid: Employers should provide adequate and appropriate first aid equipment, facilities, and personnel. Workers should be trained, either as first aiders or in what to do in an emergency if a first aider isn’t on site.

Section 3: The Importance of Adequate Training

Training is fundamental for safe and efficient working practices in land-based industries. Effective training helps prevent accidents and injuries, assures workers are competent in first aid and using hazardous machinery, and ensures compliance with the relevant legislation.
Inadequate training isn’t only a statutory offence, it can also lead to accidents and injuries, potentially resulting in prosecutions and fines for the company.

Section 4: The Role of Health and Safety Executive (HSE)

The HSE is the UK government agency responsible for enforcing health and safety at work legislation. The HSE also provides guidance to help businesses understand their responsibilities better.
If an employer isn’t fulfilling their health and safety responsibilities, employees can report them to the HSE. The HSE can then investigate and, if necessary, prosecute.
The HSE also publishes accident and incident statistics on its website, offering a perspective of industry-wide safety performance.