There are defined procedures for dealing with accidents in the workplace, and you must ensure that you follow these precisely in your business. Failing to do so can cause you many problems further down the line and may even lead to your employee taking legal action against you.
Image Source: Pixabay
If you have never dealt with a situation like this before, below is how to deal with an employee getting injured at work, to make sure they are safe, and the company does everything it is responsible for doing.
Focus On Injuries
When someone has an accident and gets injured in the workplace, your priority is the welfare of the person that got hurt above everything else. You will need to ensure they get treated by your company`s first aider and that if further medical assistance is required, it is provided.
The damage caused or the disruption to your business is secondary. You should not focus on anything else until you have ensured the safety of your employees, including any that are injured, and documented the accident. That is why companies hire health and safety consultancy service in the UK, for example, to take care of these types of situations.
Report & Document The Incident
No matter how big or small the accident was, or how major or minor the injuries, it all needs to be documented and reported. You need to ensure that the accident is reported to other colleagues and management; if there is a continuing hazard, everyone should be aware of it. You will also need to ensure that the accident is logged and reported in the accident book, which every place of employment should have. You need to include the basic details of the incident and what happened, and you must keep these on record. If an employer refuses to log the incident in the accident book, the employee should ensure they send an email or letter to their employer, so a paper trail is created.
Gather Evidence
As an employer, you will also want to gather evidence about the accident to document what happened so you can go through it later to find a way to prevent it from happening again. If the incident was captured on CCTV, save the video, and ensure you do not delete it. You may also want to take pictures and video to document what happened and take statements from witnesses of the incident. If you think the company is partly culpable for the incident, you may wish to call a health and safety support hotline for employers and get some professional advice.
Ensure The Employee Seeks Medical Treatment
Whether the incident was small or significant, you will want to encourage the employee involved to seek medical treatment and ensure they are okay. They may feel okay initially, and then it starts to catch up with them later, and if they banged their head at all, they could cause a concussion, which can be dangerous.
Image Source: Pexels
We must learn from our mistakes to grow, and accidents happen occasionally, but we need to find a way to minimise them and their consequences. Ensure your employees remain vigilant, provide them with excellent training, and immediately address any issues you find. You can also get more information about dealing with accidents in the workplace by reading related articles available online.
