Accidents At Work: What Everyone Ought To Know About Work Accident Duties

Every year, there are over 36 million working days lost because of accidents at work and work-related ill health, according to The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. There are also around 350 deaths every year due to accidents at work, 1,000 deaths in work-related accidents on the road and 12,000 early deaths because of past exposure to hazardous substances like asbestos.

Work accidents happen for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes, they are the fault of the employee themselves, but often it is the employer who has failed to safeguard their workers' safety. Whether you are an employee or an employer, there are a number of responsibilities you need to keep on top of in order to prevent accidents at work happening wherever possible. Not only will this protect employees from work-related injury, it will also protect employers from work accident compensation claims.

Employees' duties:

Employees have responsibilities to look after their own safety and prevent work accidents where possible. In the UK there is a system of self-regulation, where union representatives must liaise with employers to create a safe environment for all workers. They must be actively involved in creating a safe and secure working environment, and take reasonable care of their own health and safety.

Employers' duties:

Employers must remove health and safety risks wherever possible for the handling of substances, maintain safe work systems and maintain a safe working environment. Safe access and exits must be provided as well as facilities necessary to ensure the welfare of employees. Health and safety regulations must be implemented in all kinds of working environments, including offices.

Employers in organisations with five or more employees need a Statement of Health and Safety Policy with written details of health and safety practices. If the organisation consists of less than five, there needs to be health and safety training provided but no written policy is needed.

Employees must make sure their staff are aware of health and safety procedures, with training and supervision if necessary to prevent accidents at work from happening. According to the Health and Safety at Work Act, ‘provide such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of their employees'. Employees also need to provide information on health and safety to visitors to the workplace as well as contractors and sub-contractors.

Concerns

If employees have concerns about health and safety, they should make the company's safety representatives aware of those concerns. If two or more representatives ask for one, the employer must set up a health and safety committee to observe that health and safety procedures within the company are in order.

For more information on health and safety practices within the workplace, visit the Health and Safety Executive website.

If you are an employee who has had an accident at work and it wasn't your fault, you may be entitled to work accident compensation. You cannot be fire for make a work accident compensation claim, and your employer will be insured against such claims, so it is worth finding out whether yur claim is valid straight away.