After an Accident

Council Health and Safety Inspectors enforce health and safety law at work in premises such as offices, shops, warehouses and other types of businesses in the service sector. The Health and Safety Executive covers industrial workplaces such as factories, farms and building sites.

Workers and members of the public have to be protected from risks to their health and safety caused by work activities. It is the legal responsibility of those who control or organise work activities to manage the risks. Workers also have responsibilities to safeguard themselves and each other. Inspectors are there to make sure everyone involved meets their responsibilities.

This information is aimed at:·

• workers who have been in an accident;
• members of the public who have been hurt by work activities; and
• relatives of people affected;
  
  What is the enforcing authority’s role in accident investigation?
  Accidents are often avoidable, and we try to help everyone involved to prevent accidents happening in the first place. So we try and focus our resources on preventive visits to workplaces rather than just investigating accidents and complaints. Each year Castle Point Council is notified of hundreds of accidents. We cannot investigate all of these, so we concentrate on the more serious ones.
  
  We investigate accidents for a number of reasons. These include:
   
• to find out whether the law has been broken;
• to assess what has been done to make sure it will not happen again; and
• to get information about how we should target our preventive inspections.
  
  This means that Health and Safety Inspectors may ask you about things that happened before and after the accident.
  
  Inspectors are not involved in obtaining compensation for your accident. For information on this, please see under the heading Civil proceedings.
  
  What can an inspector do?
  Inspectors have a wide range of powers. These include the power to:
• enter non-domestic premises to investigate the accident;
• interview anyone who can give information about what led up to the accident, or what happened afterwards;
• take photos or samples;
• examine and copy documents; and
• record in writing what happened.
  
  What happens if I am asked questions by an inspector?
  If you are asked to give a witness statement it does not mean that you are in trouble
  
  Can I have a copy of my witness statement?
  Yes, we will send you a copy, if you ask for one. But the Inspector may withhold it for a short time, if it could affect the rest of the investigation.