REPORTING OF ACCIDENTS, INCIDENTS / DANGEROUS OCCURENCES
1.0 INTRODUCTION
An accident is defined as an unplanned or uncontrolled event that interrupts the completion of an
activity, and that may (or may not) include injury or property damage.
All accidents and dangerous occurrences should be reported to the Director Children’s Services on
Bolton Council’s accident report form via the Asset Management Team. This includes accidents to
members of the public, contractors, visitors and school children and staff.
Certain injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences are reportable to the HSE, as our enforcing
authority. The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995
require that certain accidents, incidents and dangerous occurrences “arising out of or in connection
with work” must be reported to the Health and Safety Executive. It is essential therefore that all
accidents and incidents are reported so that the Council can ensure compliance with these
regulations.
“Arising out of or in connection with work,” means that it is due to the way in which work is:
 being carried out, organised, supervised or performed,
 due to the plant or substances used for the purposes of the work
 or due to the condition of the premises or any part of them.
For example, someone collapsing at work due to a medical condition, which resulted in no injury,
would not be reportable as an accident arising out of work. Similarly if someone arrives at the place
of work with a pre-existing injury and is provided with first aid, this should not be considered as an
accident arising out of work. However, if first aid is administered the required record should be
kept. In these cases, the Council’s accident report form can be used (as it captures all of the
information required by the First Aid at Work Regulations) but the form should be retained by the
relevant Manager and need not be reported to Asset Management.
2.0 WHY REPORT?
All accidents and incidents occurring within schools must be recorded and reported to the
Headteacher or other suitable member of the senior management team. While staff may seem
reluctant to report every minor incident, all must be recorded as, for example, if a small finger cut
develops and becomes infected, evidence of the treatment provided will be required. Therefore
accident reporting is essential. A further benefit of accident reporting is that there may be trends,
which will become apparent when the accident statistics are reviewed – highlighting hazardous
activities or areas of the premises.
There is also a requirement to monitor the effectiveness of
health and safety management systems, and reviewing accident forms is a good way to
demonstrate this. As a public body, there is also the additional duty to ensure that public money is
not put at risk.
3.0 LEVELS OF REPORTING
Following feedback from schools, it has been agreed that schools can log some minor pupil
accidents – (Pupil Minor Injury Log). However, accidents:  Due to a lack of supervision
 Due to a building defect,
 Resulting in a pupil being taken from the scene to hospital
 Resulting in any of the specified major injuries below
 Involving a member of staff, visitor or contractor
must be reported to Asset Management Unit using the Bolton Council Accident form. For schools
that choose to record minor accidents internally, it is imperative that enough details are recorded to
enable patterns and trends to be highlighted or to provide adequate details in the event of a claim
against the school. Schools must bear in mind pupil confidentiality, data protection issues and
informing parents when recording incidents.
As historically all accidents have been reported to Asset Management, should schools decide to
keep their own records of ‘minor’ accidents, the role which has been undertaken by Asset
Management must be undertaken by the school. Therefore the School must ensure that they have
robust reporting and recording procedures in place. This system must include:  Accurate recording of accident information – including details of accident, treatment,
witnesses, control measures, etc,
 investigating accidents to identify the root cause,
 ensuring that risk assessments are reviewed and updated as necessary,
 monitoring accidents – this will high light any trends,
 Details for pupil accidents must be retained until they reach the age of 21,
 And a good knowledge of this procedure to ensure that reportable accidents are forwarded
to Asset Management within the timescales required.
All school records of minor incidents must be reported every half term using the summary sheet for
minor incidents. These should be returned to the Asset Management Unit for analysis by the safety
warden.
4.0 RIDDOR
Whilst minor incidents/accidents can be recorded on the pupil minor injury log, all other more
serious incidents must be reported using the Bolton Council accident form. Bolton Council has a
legislative duty to report certain types of accidents to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) under
RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrence Regulations 1995).
RIDDOR requires that some work related accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences be
reported. Reporting accidents and ill health is a legal requirements, and the information enables the
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to identify how and where risks arise and to investigate serious
accidents.
Asset Management report accidents under RIDDOR for all voluntary aided and community schools
in Bolton.
HEADTEACHERS AND MANAGERS MUST NOT REPORT DIRECTLY TO THE HSE.
The following must be reported under RIDDOR (via Asset Management): -
Fatality and Major Incidents
Fatalities and major incidents should in the first instance be reported to the Asset Management Unit
(telephone: 332244), or, in the event of no response the Occupational Safety and Health Specialist
Service (telephone: 331210), as soon as possible (by telephone) after the incident. If they cannot
be contacted (a message left on the answer phone is not enough) then in an emergency, telephone
Security and Response and ask for the Duty Health and Safety Adviser, (telephone: 336900)
Fatal Accidents
The death of any person on your premises as a result of an accident arising out of or in connection
with work.
Major Injury Accidents
these are defined as follows:
 fracture - other than fingers or toes, including chipped or cracked bone
 amputation
 dislocation of the shoulder, hip, knee or spine
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loss of sight (temporary or permanent)
chemical or hot metal burn to eye
any penetrating injury to the eye
injury from electric shock or electric burn leading to unconsciousness or requiring resuscitation;
or admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours.
any other injury leading to hypothermia, heat-induced illness, unconsciousness; or
requiring resuscitation; or
requiring admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours
unconsciousness caused by asphyxia or exposure to harmful substance or biological agent;
acute illness requiring medical treatment, or loss of consciousness arising from absorption of
any substance by inhalation, ingestion or through the skin;
acute illness requiring medical treatment where there is reason to believe that this resulted from
exposure to a biological agent or its toxins or infected material;
any member of the public, resident, visitor, pupil etc. taken to hospital (direct from site of
accident)
Over Three Day Injuries
If an employee is unavailable for work for three or more consecutive days following the accident/
incident this then becomes reportable to the HSE. This includes the absence from work and
alternative duties (light). This requirement should be complied with even when not immediately
following the incident. On the fourth day following the incident (or next working day where the fourth
day is a weekend or Bank holiday), the Head teacher or manager must telephone in the first
instance the Asset Management Unit (telephone: 332244), or, in the event of no response the
Occupational Health and Safety Specialist Service (telephone: 331210), and fax a copy of the
accident report if one has not already been sent.
So there will, for instance, be a requirement to report if an accident occurs on a Tuesday, the
employee is then off on the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and is still unfit for work on the
Saturday.
Accident To Non-Employees
Any injury to a member of the public, visitor, pupil, etc., taken to hospital for any reason in
connection with an accident as a result of a school activity (this includes playtimes), or as a result of
a defect of property and is taken directly from the school to hospital, should be reported in the first
instance to the Asset Management Unit (telephone: 332244), or, in the event of no response the
Occupational Health and Safety Specialist Service (telephone: 331210). This is irrespective of who
takes the pupil to hospital.
Self Employed/Sub Contractors
Where a self-employed labour/sub-contractors employed to undertake work on your premises and
an accident falling within the scope of RIDDOR occurs, then:
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it will be the responsibility of the Authority to report the accident if the accident to the selfemployed person occurred on the Authority's premises: BUT
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if the accident occurs to an employee of a sub-contractor then it will be the responsibility of
the sub-contractor to report any injury even if the accident occurred on the Authority's
premises.
At first glance this may seem confusing and contradictory but think of (a) as being a one man
business and (b) when the person injured has a boss to report to.
Violence
Any assault on a member of staff by a member of the public, i.e. pupils, parents, carers, visitors,
which results in physical injury, should be reported in the first instance to the Asset Management
Unit (telephone: 332244), or, in the event of no response the Occupational Health and Safety
Specialist Service (telephone: 331210).
Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences
Certain diseases and dangerous occurrences are also reportable, although these will be less
common in schools. The responsibility for identifying these diseases does not lie with the employer,
therefore the Department need only make a report of the disease if a written diagnosis has been
received from a Doctor, e.g. on a medical certificate or statutory sick pay form or notified by a
parent. Where a report is received of a specified disease it should be reported in the first instance
to the Asset Management Unit (telephone: 332244), in the event of no response the Occupational
Health and Safety Specialist Service (telephone: 331210).
Reportable Diseases Include:
1. Certain poisonings
2. Some skin diseases such as occupational dermatitis, skin cancer, chrome ulcer, oil
folliculitis/acne
3. Lung diseases including occupational asthma farmer's lung, pneumoconiosis, asbestosis,
mesothelioma
4. Infections such as leptospirosis, hepatitis, tuberculosis, anthrax, legionellosis and tetanus
5. Other conditions such as occupational cancer, certain muscoskeletal disorders,
decompression illness and hand-arm vibration syndrome
Information on infectious diseases can be found in Section 3 of this manual.
Other Incidents
Guidance as to when an Authority Accident/ Incident Report is required includes:
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Injuries to staff whilst on school premises or undertaking school activities;
Injuries to a pupil or member of the public whilst on school premises or whilst in your care
Anything else that you feel needs reporting.
Accident Report Form
It is imperative that the accident/ incident report form is completed as accurately and fully as
possible. This will assist any future investigations by the H.S.E., Occupational Safety and Health
Specialist Service and insurance investigators.
There are two slightly different formats: form 12a is for Children’s Services that allows for the
inclusion of a parental signature, and one for all other departments. Please note on accident report
form 12a on section 9 CSCI does not apply to schools.
Please note that the accident book (BI 510) has been withdrawn as it does not comply with the data
protection act, and must not be used. All accident books (BI510) should be returned to OSAHSS,
2nd Floor, Paderborn House, Civic Centre, Bolton, BL1 1RU.
The Head teacher or member of staff must complete sections 1 to 10. Ensure section 10 is
completed fully as this information is essential when reporting or dealing with any further claims.
The HSE does not accept statements such as 'No further action at the time' or 'pure accident'.
The Bolton Council Accident Form is an important document and must be completed fully and
signed by the headteacher / member of the senior management team.
When assessing the level of detail and what information should be included on the accident form,
please bear in mind the following points:
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ALL accident forms are ultimately reviewed remote from the incident, with limited knowledge of
the activity/location, etc. The more detail included on the form, the easier it is to assess what
further action, if any, is necessary.
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ALL accident forms are kept for a minimum of 3 years (for staff). This can be extended
dependant on the nature of the injury and the age of the injured party; for example, for pupil’s
accident forms are kept until they reach the age of 21. It should be easy for anyone referring to
the form in the future to understand fully what happened, what the injury was, what was done to
prevent a reoccurrence, what the cause of the accident was, etc. You may not be available to
explain in full the circumstances surrounding a particular incident – indeed you may not even
remember!
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In the event of compensation claim or prosecution by the HSE the accident form becomes a
legal document and the information it contains can hinder the authority if it is insufficient or
ambiguous. Think carefully about how you word things, particularly where there are no
independent witnesses to verify facts.
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The aim of accident recording is to prevent a future occurrence of a similar incident and any
action taken should be recorded, even if this means attaching further pages to the form.
Information relating to the condition of the building/equipment etc as applicable should be
recorded, as should action taken, eg repairs/replacement, etc. Amendments to working
practices, further training provided, etc, may all be relevant, depending on the particular
circumstances.
PLEASE NOTE: No matter how detailed the information included on the form, it can still be
rendered totally useless if illegible. Please endeavour to write legibly and only use BLACK ink (not
pencil), as invariably these forms will require photocopying.
In certain circumstances the school will be required to administer first aid only, which is not as a
result of an accident or incident at your establishment eg injured themselves on their way to and
from your establishment, or due to an existing medical condition. The First Aid at Work Regulations
1981 recommends that whenever first aid is administered a record should be kept, it is appropriate
to use the accident report form to record these details but this form should be retained at school and
does not need to be sent to the Asset Management Unit. This record should include:
 The date, time and place of the incident,
 The name and job (or Class reference if a pupil in a school) of the injured or ill person,
 Details of the injury or illness and what first aid was given,
 What happened to the person immediately afterwards (home, back to work, hospital),
 Name and signature of the First Aider dealing with the incident.
If in doubt about any aspect of the accident/ incident reporting procedure or a particular incident
then please contact Asset Management or Occupational Safety and Health Specialist Service.