Health Upp What to Do in Case of an Accident?
Workplace Safety 101 – Who wants to be involved in an accident? Obviously, everyone wants to avoid such a situation.
But accidents happen. As much as you try to take precautions and ensure a safe and healthy environment, there is still a small chance of an accident. It is a harsh reality, but a fact nonetheless, which must be acknowledged to learn how to deal with this properly in case such an unfortunate event does happen. Only by realising the possibility and accepting the reality can you be truly prepared. For this reason, businesses from all industries must adhere to health and safety regulations.
In addition to ensuring workplace safety, any company should know what to do if an accident still happens and how to handle such a situation correctly and professionally. Responding appropriately and making sure everything is properly taken care of and the victim is immediately checked by medical professionals can significantly reduce the intensity or severity of an accident.
On the other hand, it is also crucial to mention that the employee is entitled to claim compensation for personal injury and hire a no win no fee solicitor to handle their case. Even if the company adheres to health and safety regulations, if an accident results in an employee’s injury and that employee was not responsible for the accident, then it is within their rights to file a compensation claim. As a business, it is vital to acknowledge this. But there are still things you need to do to ensure the process is well handled and your employee’s needs are considered.
This being said, this article will go through what you need to do to ensure workplace safety and what the employer should do in case of an accident at work.
Secure The Scene and Seek Medical Attention
Your employee will need a healthcare professional who can properly assess the injury and decide the next steps for the victim. Depending on the severity of the accident, you may need to call an emergency medical team. Alternatively, you can provide your employee transportation to the hospital or doctor’s office so that a professional medical provider can take a look at the injury.
Even if the employee has a minor injury, it is of the utmost importance to ensure it is correctly taken care of by a healthcare professional who can tell them the type of treatment necessary. For this reason, as an employer and business owner, you must immediately secure the scene where the accident took place and support your employee in seeking medical attention.
Report The Accident and Help the Employee Record It
Usually, companies have an accident book created explicitly in the event of such an unfortunate situation where an employee got involved in a workplace accident to no fault of their own, which resulted in a personal injury. This is to make sure all the details are recorded.
Apart from the fact that reporting and recording the accident is necessary for the employer if they want to claim compensation, it is also vital for the company. This will ensure that such an incident never happens.
Based on the details provided, the company can take the necessary actions and measures to ensure the dangers or hazards are eliminated and the risk of a workplace accident is significantly reduced. Therefore, you should ensure you have such an accident book where the employee can report the accident and details of the accident can be recorded.
Such necessary details are as follows:
- The date and time of the accident;
- Employee personal and professional information: name and job title;
- Place of the accident and how it happened;
- The type of injuries the employee sustained;
- Official required documentation: names and signatures of the people involved: first aider, employee, employer or HR worker.
- Using a crisis management software such as one from EcoOnline helps manage incidents with company defined scenarios that is easy to use for yourself and your employees.
Support Your Injured Employee’s Time Off Work
Depending on the injury sustained by the employee, it may be necessary to support their need to take some time off work in order to properly and fully recover. This time can vary, so it is crucial to know your employee’s situation and health condition to know how much time they may need to get back on their feet. This information will be decided by a healthcare professional who can issue a medical certification where it is clearly stated for how long the patient must rest and is unfit for work.
Such instances include hospital admission, if the patient is unable to travel to and from work and must focus on following a strict course of treatment rigorously, or if the work environment where the accident occurred is hazardous and poses a risk of harm.
As an employer, it is crucial to support your employee’s complete recovery. If the situation has been resolved, the risk of harm has been eliminated, and your employee has recovered entirely, you can – and should – discuss a return-to-work program with them. This should take their needs into consideration. So, if they cannot return to the role they had before the injury, it is essential to work together and allow your employee a gradual return to work.
For this to happen, keeping open and honest communication with the injured employee is a must.
See How You Can Improve the Work Environment
As unfortunate and unwanted as it is, an accident can also be an opportunity for improvement. Even if you already adhere to all the health and safety regulations, there is still a possibility for such an unfortunate incident to happen at your workplace. For this reason, constant learning, upgrades and improvements are highly necessary.
If an accident happens, it is a regrettable occurrence. So, it is of the utmost importance to assess the situation immediately and inspect your current health and safety measures to see where and how they can be improved. Doing this is a must as it can help you prevent any future similar incidents.
Therefore, once you have ensured your employee is well taken care of and have done everything in your power to support a quick recovery and help their situation, it is crucial to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again by taking the appropriate actions.