Introduction
Record keeping for matters relating to health and safety is something that many organisations are poor at, yet suitable records kept in an accurate and retrievable form can make a significant contribution to the good management of an organisation and to legal defences (when being prosecuted or sued) and also to avoiding legal action in the first place. Potentially, there are many records that an organisation could keep. Careful consideration should be given to what records should be kept and for how long. Some records are required to be kept be various pieces of legislation, while others may be useful in defending legal actions. Many pieces of legislation require various records and documents to be kept, although few specify the exact nature of the record to be kept.
Accident Records
As a minimum, details of all workplace injuries must be recorded in the Accident Book (Form B1510), as required by the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979. Such records must be kept for at least three years from the date of an entry.
In the event of more serious accidents and injuries, there are reporting requirements under RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995). These regulations require records of reportable injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences to be kept for at least three years. RIDDOR incidents may not be reported on-line or by phone, but all records must contain the basic information required by the HSE form F2508.
Records should be made of all accident and incident investigations. These should record not only the details of the event, but all relevant finding of the investigation, including:
- Details of the accident/incident
- Details of all injuries and injured persons
- Details of all witnesses
- Causes of the accident/incident
- Details of corrective actions to prevent reoccurrence of the accident/incident.
Provision of Health and Safety Training and the keeping of Training Records
It is well established that training is a requirement of nearly all health and safety legislation. The general requirement to provide suitable and sufficient, comprehensible training is introduced in the Health and Safety at Work, Etc Act 1974 (Section 2) and reinforced in the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (Regulation 13). The requirement to train employees is explicitly referred to in many pieces of legislation including (but not limited to):
- Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order 2005 (Article 21)
- Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (Regulation 9)
- Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (Regulation 9)
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (Regulation 12)
These various pieces of legislation do not, however, create a duty to keep records of training provided. However, the guidance and codes of practice associated with the various pieces of legislation promote the need for records. By way of example, the Approved Code of Practice to the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 make it clear that employers may find it helpful to keep a record of the training given to employees. The records may provide a useful checklist for ensuring that employees receive all the necessary training at the appropriate time. The records may also help to resolve any disputes that arise about whether the employer has provided a particular employee with a specific aspect of information, instruction and training. It is recommended that training records are kept for six years from the date of training.
Risk Assessments
Risk Assessments are required under most modern health and safety legislation. The general duty for risk assessments comes from the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (Regulation 3), but (like training) also has a range of specific legislation creating specific risk assessment requirements, including:
- Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order 2005 (Article 9)
- Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 (Regulation 2)
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (Regulation 6)
- Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (Regulation 4)
The various pieces of legislation also provide that employers with five or more employees must record the significant findings of their risk assessment. The Approved Code of Practice to the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 sate that the (written) record should represent an effective statement of hazards and risks that then leads the management to take the relevant actions to protect health and safety. The record must be retrievable for use by management in reviews and for safety representatives (or other employee representatives) and visiting enforcing officers. Records can be kept on paper or by electronic means provided that they are retrievable. They may be kept separately, or can form part of the same document as the health and safety policy. Records may have to be kept for a prescribed minimum period, as described under specific Regulations.
Health Surveillance Records
Health surveillance records are required by several pieces of legislation, including:
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002
- Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012
- Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002
- Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005
- Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005
Using exposure to hazardous substances as an example: Regulation 11 of COSHH requires employers to maintain an up-to-date health record for each individual employee placed under health surveillance. This record should contain the information this is approved by HSE, namely:
- identifying details
- surname
- forenames
- gender
- date of birth
- permanent address and post code
- national insurance number
- date when present employment started
- a historical record of jobs in this employment involving exposure to identified substances requiring health surveillance;
- results of all other health surveillance procedures and the date on which and by whom they were carried out. The conclusions should relate only to the employee’s fitness for work and will include, where appropriate:
- a record of the decisions of the medical inspector or appointed doctor; or
- conclusions of the medical practitioner, occupational health nurse or other suitably qualified or responsible person
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Employers have a duty to provide appropriate PPE to employees to help to control the risks, in a manner identified by risk assessment. Further to this, the employer must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the PPE provided is worn and used appropriately. To support this, the employer should keep appropriate records of:
- the risk assessment (see above)
- the issue of items of PPE
- maintenance details for items of PPE (to be kept for five years)
- records of training (see above)
Active Monitoring Records for the use of Control Measures
In order to discharge their duties with respect to ensuring the appropriate use of PPE (see above), the employer should also monitor the availability and appropriate use of PPE in the work place (whether on their own site or elsewhere). Such active monitoring should be recorded and should encompass several related areas in one exercise. Active monitoring is not restricted to the use of PPE, but to the appropriate use of control measures in aspects of health and safety. There is no set format for recording active monitoring, but it is recommended that a simple recording format is used that allows compliance to be conformed easily (such as a tick list), but allows non-compliances to be recorded, along with details of the actions taken to correct these non-compliances.
Machinery Safety Inspection Records
There are many facets to machinery safety inspections and records. Regulation 6 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) creates a duty on employers to ensure that work equipment is inspected (by a competent) person when it is installed or moved and then at regular interval, according to need. Regulation 6 (3) of PUWER creates a duty on the employer to ensure that the result of any such inspection is recorded and kept until the next such inspection is recorded. There is no specific required format for this record, although the following information is recommended:
- information on the type and model of equipment
- any identification mark or number that it has
- normal location of equipment
- the date that the inspection was carried out
- who carried out the inspection
- information on any faults and/or any action taken
- identification of to whom the faults have been reported
- the date when repairs or other necessary action were carried out
Similarly, Regulation 32 of PUWER creates a duty on employers to ensure that power presses are inspected and are subject to thorough examination at appropriate intervals (at least once every twelve months for presses that have only fixed guards and at least once every six months in other instances, as well as whenever exceptional circumstances have arisen that are liable to jeopardise safety). A report should be made (by the competent person) of every thorough examination and this should be submitted no later than 14 days after the examination. The ACoP for the Safe Use of Power Presses indicates that any suitable method of reporting may be used, subject to agreement between the employer and the competent person, although a signature is specifically required by Regulation 34(l)(b) of PUWER to authenticate the report. The information to be included in this record is comprehensive and may be found in Schedule 3 of PUWER.
The risk assessment for the equipment or for the operation should also identify other records that should be kept, such as:
- regular inspection and testing of the machinery guarding
- regular inspection and testing of any safety devices
- regular inspection and testing of controls and emergency stop controls
- regular inspection and testing of the power/energy supplies to the equipment (such as electrical, pressurised systems, etc.) and associated isolations
Similarly to records required under PUWER, records of thorough examination are required for items of lifting equipment and for lifting accessories under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER).
Other types of health and safety records that should be maintained by the employer
The list of other health and safety records that could be kept is vast, but includes:
- asbestos register
- authorised users lists, such as for:
- specific items of machinery and other work equipment
- fork lift trucks
- company vehicles
- certain hazardous substances (such as cyanides, Isocyanates, etc)
- permit to work documentation
- waste transfer notes
- fire safety records (such as a Fire Precautions Log Book)
- employee opt out (Working Time Regulations 1998, as amended)
- records of time worked (Working Time Regulations 1998, as amended)
- documents required under Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (such as: policy for prevention of major accidents, notification of the start of operations, on-site emergency plan, off -site emergency plan, etc.)
- information relating to communication and consultation with employers on matters relating to health and safety
- minutes of the safety committee meeting
- etc
Summary
There are many health and safety records that should be created and maintained. In most cases, there is no set format for the record, although there, more often, a basis requirement for the information that is recorded. Suitable records are one of the most important pieces of evidence that a Company can produce to demonstrate that it has complied with relevant health and safety law and met its legal requirements, such as to reduce the risk to as low a level as is reasonably practicable.
Michael Ellerby
LLB BSc CMIOSH MIIRSM MIFSM CChem MRSC CSci
Director
LRB Consulting Limited
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