The Case for Reporting Workplace Injuries
Many people hurt themselves at work and never tell anyone. They fear that they will get into trouble or upset their employer and perhaps get the sack. Nothing could be further from the truth. In Britain, the law provides that every workplace keep an accident book. Any accident or incident resulting in an injury to anyone on the premises must be entered into the Accident book. The Health and Safety inspectorate when inspecting the workplace always ask to see the Accident Book.
Most workplaces also have a written health and safety policy. These usually provide that not only must all workplace accidents, or incidents, be entered into the accident book but that the victim should also fill out a separate accident form. In this way, employers can pick up health and safety hazards and put any dangerous things right, lessen the risk of it happening again to someone else or change procedures to ensure that the dangerous thing does not happen again. Most employers do not want their workers to work in a hazardous or dangerous workplace or workers harming themselves. It is not in the employer’s interests for workers to be injured at work. In Britain, the Health and Safety inspectorate will prosecute employers for dangerous practices, but more than that if workers are injuring themselves they may have to take time off work sick.
Always report any injury in the proper manner, however slight the injury. Often when an injury seems slight at the time it happens, there are health repercussions later for example a fall could seem trivial at the time but then later you find that you have hurt yourself much more than you thought.. The other thing to think about is that although you have only hurt yourself slightly the next person might not be so lucky and may incur a very much more serious injury. When an accident or injury is reported, it gives the employer chance to put the hazardous thing right or mitigate the risk of anyone else hurting themselves in the same way again.
All workplaces in Britain, have a designated health and safety manager, sometimes called the risk manager, whose duty it is to oversee health and safety in the workplace. However, workers should not just leave all matters of health and safety to the risk manager. She or he is one person and cannot be everywhere, if you spot a hazard report it to the relevant person before anyone is injured. Always be on the alert for potential safety hazards. If you belong to a Trade union, go to your health and safety steward for help and advice on health and safety matters.
If you hurt yourself at work, always report it. Your employer cannot put a hazardous situation right if no one tells him that there is a hazard. You would not want a colleague to injure him or herself seriously in the same way that you did. Be alert and spot potential hazards, before they injure anyone, and report them in the proper manner to the relevant person to ensure that your workplace is safe, healthy and accident free in the first place..
