Accident and Injury Reporting, Health Surveillance, and Record Keeping
Reporting
Report manual handling injuries and near misses internally through the accident book or incident system. Under the 2005 Act, certain accidents and dangerous occurrences must be reported to the Health and Safety Authority; the employer should know the current reporting thresholds and keep the records. The report should record what happened, the load, the task, the environment, the injury and the immediate response, without blame.
Investigation and records
Investigate to find causes, not culprits. Update the risk assessment and controls. Keep training records, equipment maintenance and inspection records, risk assessments, safety statements, accident records and health surveillance records. Records should be accurate, dated, signed where appropriate, and stored securely. Personal health records are confidential and kept separately from general personnel files.
Health surveillance
Routine health surveillance is not required for every manual handling task. It may be appropriate where the risk assessment identifies a specific need, for example a worker with a known condition or a task with a particular health risk. It must be proportionate, explained to the worker, and handled confidentially by a competent person.
Worked example
A worker reports lower back pain after lifting boxes. The supervisor records the incident, arranges first aid or medical advice, investigates the task, checks the box weight and route, and reviews the assessment. If the same task affects others, controls are changed. The worker's medical details are not circulated to colleagues.
Traps
Do not report only lost-time injuries. Near misses matter. Do not investigate to blame the worker. Do not confuse health surveillance with pre-employment screening for all staff. Do not leave health records in an open file.