Is Your Accident Reporting Policy All It Should Be?

BLR’s Essential Safety Policies identifies the following elements as indispensable to an effective accident reporting policy:

• Purpose. Stress not only legal compliance but also the value of reports in preventing future accidents.


• Definition of “accident.” Be specific so that those responsible for reporting know exactly what types of accidents must be reported.


• Reporting procedures. Include a brief summary of the information that should be reported, where forms can be obtained, how soon the report must be completed, and other relevant requirements.


• Drug testing. If your drug-testing policy requires tests after certain accidents, your accident forms and policies should be coordinated with your drug-testing policy.
  Documentation. Attach copies of accident report forms to the policy statement and describe any special certification required.


• Responsibilities. Stress the importance of the supervisor’s role in reporting accidents, getting medical help for injured employees, filling out report form, etc. If you have a safety committee, talk about its role in accident reporting and investigation.


• Confidentiality. Make sure your policy sets out confidentiality requirements and procedures for employee medical information. Keep accident reports separate from personnel files to protect confidential information.


• Workers’ compensation. Accident reports are often required for workers’ compensation insurance. These forms should also be completed when accidents are reported.


• Potential litigation. Be sure to also cover the manner in which the report should be maintained, distributed, and written if there is a potential for litigation. You want to avoid a situation in which an accident report admits liability and is used in future litigation against you.

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Is your accident reporting policy effective? Do you even have one? If not, we do, and it’s already written and ready to use, along with every other safety policy you’re likely to need, in BLR’s Essential Safety Policies. Examine it at no cost and with no obligation to purchase. Get details here.

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Other Policy Considerations

• Here are some other vital issues to consider when reviewing your accident reporting policy:


• Does your policy comply with your state’s workers’ compensation statute?


• Do different reports need to be completed when the accident involves a business visitor? Such accidents may lead to lawsuits and the form in which you record the events and the persons to whom you give it may become critical issues in litigation.


• If you have general liability insurance that may cover an accident, did you consult with your insurance carrier when you designed your policy and report forms?


• Have you coordinated any short-term and long-term disability or accidental death policies with your accident reporting policy?

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Get the safety policies you need without the work. They’re in BLR’s Essential Safety Policies program. Try it at no cost and no risk. Find out how.

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To help you develop the best accident reporting policy for your organization, Essential Safety Policies provides you with written policy samples that you can use “as is” or adapt to your organization’s particular needs and style.

And Essential Safety Policies doesn’t stop there–it also gives you useful background information about accident reports and the information that they should contain as well as an examination of critical legal issues such as confidentiality and the interaction between workplace accidents and laws such as the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and state workers’ compensation laws.

Take these kinds of materials and multiply them by more than two dozen key safety topics, and you’ll know why Essential Safety Policies is such a valuable tool for busy safety professionals. These policies provide a ready-to-modify or use-as-is safety handbook for all your workers, with minimal effort on your part.

The policies are backed by a tutorial on policy writing and essential materials such as handbook receipts. A CD version is also available.

If your organization could benefit from supplementing (or perhaps having for the first time) a complete set of ready-to-use safety policies, we highly recommend a 30-day, no-cost, no-obligation, look at this program. Go here and we’ll be pleased to send it to you.

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