reporting to HSE for small incidents?
- Thread starter Tentontousand
- Start date
On a site I worked at, a crane over travelled and dropped the block. Made a big bang and hole! No-one hurt. Site was shut for a week by HSE until investigated.
Devil's advocate here. A hammer to the head would have killed someone as much as a crane block. So why are they not both reportable?
Devil's advocate here. A hammer to the head would have killed someone as much as a crane block. So why are they not both reportable?
Because a bit of common sense prevails and as mentioned they cannot practically investigate every accident, what if a hammer falls from 4ft? That could kill someone potentially could it not? Should that be reported?
It would be classed as a 'near miss' in industry and then an investigation would take place to try and prevent it happening again.
Some remedies may be, a/ making sure the work area is cordoned off securely to prevent anyone entering the danger zone. b/ Possibility of wrist straps on hand held tools to prevent them falling. c/Safety netting around the edge of the structure to catch anything falling.
This is not a reportable incident because no -one was injured/killed in this instance. However, the builder should investigate how/why it happened and try to mitigate it happening again. As he freely admitted it was his responsibility, and was willing to make reparation at his cost, the HSE wouldn't even bother investigating. If his offer has been refused by the neighbour, then he could give the neighbour a written report of his investigation and tell them they are free to contact HSE themselves to discuss the matter. Anyone can report an incident to HSE, it does not have to be the builder, the site owner who contracted the builder or any of the employees. If a member of the public had seen the incident, they could report it if they wanted to. Throw it at the neighbour and tell him/her to report it and you/the builder will act on their recommendation. (They won't bother giving one).
Some remedies may be, a/ making sure the work area is cordoned off securely to prevent anyone entering the danger zone. b/ Possibility of wrist straps on hand held tools to prevent them falling. c/Safety netting around the edge of the structure to catch anything falling.
This is not a reportable incident because no -one was injured/killed in this instance. However, the builder should investigate how/why it happened and try to mitigate it happening again. As he freely admitted it was his responsibility, and was willing to make reparation at his cost, the HSE wouldn't even bother investigating. If his offer has been refused by the neighbour, then he could give the neighbour a written report of his investigation and tell them they are free to contact HSE themselves to discuss the matter. Anyone can report an incident to HSE, it does not have to be the builder, the site owner who contracted the builder or any of the employees. If a member of the public had seen the incident, they could report it if they wanted to. Throw it at the neighbour and tell him/her to report it and you/the builder will act on their recommendation. (They won't bother giving one).
This.
A ‘near miss” does not necessarily generate an investigation.
BG and NG insist on their guys reporting at least a couple of NM’s or accidents every month
An investigation is usually carried out by the company in the case of a NM, though if it's something simple, like someone walking in an area they shouldn't and get spotted, they won't bother. I don't think NM's are investigated by HSE unless they are potentially really serious. Most small firms won't even bother.
The collation of NM’s are useful if someone is actually looking at “the book”. One off NM’s are unlikely to be investigated, but they should be spotting reports tgat regularly occur - and investigate and act before an incident occurs.
When I did Vu a short BG stunt about 8 years ago, my LM claimed that many guys were reporting hitting their head on a rear door catch that hung down. In the absence of the manufacturer’s agreement to change the design, they stopped buying those vehicles.
I am not sure that that was 100% accurate ( he was a ****) but it does illustrate the benefit of reporting, recording and analysing