How to Respond to a Workplace Accident: Free Poster

No matter how prepared you are, accidents can happen. Your first response to a workplace accident is a stressful but important duty that could fall to any member of the workforce without expectation.

By having a plan in place for how to respond to a workplace accident that your workforce is aware of, you’re covering every base. Workers will respond effectively to accidents and know the correct procedures. This will minimise damage and help the employees get the help they need promptly.

With our emergency response plan, you will also be able to gather key pieces of information and put plans in place to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Workplace Accident Response Plan

Workplace accidents can happen for several reasons, including:

• Improper work practices.
• Equipment failures.
• Unsafe working conditions.
• Improper training.
• Human error.

To best respond to an accident, workers should look to remain calm and follow best practices for dealing with the consequences of the incident, as well as assisting with gathering information.

Remain Calm: Assess the situation. Establish key questions in your head to ground yourself. Is the scene safe? Are there any immediate dangers to you or other bystanders? If not, you can take action.

Provide First Aid: Call emergency services immediately and administer first aid as best you can. If you’re not trained in first aid, find someone who is.

Communicate: Tell your supervisor or manager and share information about the incident immediately. They will need to assess what has happened and coordinate the next steps, such as notifying relevant authorities. They will also ensure the families or emergency contacts of injured employees are notified.

Decongest & Preserve the Scene: Your manager will then clear the area of people and preserve the scene. Overcrowding will cause too much disruption, and only a few qualified personnel must be present.

Preserving the scene is very valuable to the accident investigation process, as it will help investigators determine the cause of the accident and why it occurred in the first place.

Take Notes: Record the names of the people, witnesses and equipment involved. This also helps with gathering information to get a really good picture of what happened and what steps need to be taken to prevent it in future.

Report the Event: Managers will file a full report per company policy and procedures. They will relay information to other employees, including what happened, what is being done to investigate the accident, and what steps the business is taking to prevent similar accidents from happening in the future.

Having posters near high-risk areas for your organisation detailing this procedure will remind employees regularly of the necessary steps in workplace accident response. We have broken down the key steps from this process into bite-sized information below.

Training Courses That Cover Workplace Accident Response

The IOSH Managing Safely course covers the accident response process thoroughly, as well as the reasons that accidents can occur.

Managers who achieve their IOSH Managing Safely certificate below are empowered to lead their teams effectively and build safety cultures. The course has a trickle-down effect throughout organisations, which is why it is so widely utilised and recognised across the globe.