Accident Book/Responsibility

Maggiemoo_2

Hi there, we are the landlords of a small serviced office business. We ourselves have 3 employees and rent out office space to small companies on a short term basis. A member of staff from one of those companies fell up the stairs yesterday and burnt her arm with the coffee she was holding, she has also bruised her leg on the stairs. She asked for our accident book which I have given to her but I wanted to try to find out should they as a company have their own accident book and whose responsibility would it be if she had injured herself more severely.

I am not very up on Health & Safety issues so would just like to try to clarify this point.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

anniecave

I believe you are not supposed to take hot drinks up and down stairs. You should have a kettle and cups on each floor, and take cold water and/or the washing up up and down the stairs if need be!

I would think that each company should be responsible for their own health and safety and first aid, including accident book, as each employer is liable for any accidents that happen to their staff.

There are guidelines for the numbers of first aiders (and it says if people are on different floors you should think about having more) - type in first aid at work on google.

I believe there should also be a nominated health and safety person for each company.

anniecave

I suppose if the numbers are really small in each case you could all work together between all the companies to ensure there is first aid cover and health and safety (including fire evacuation) procedures are in place.

There is a one day first aid course provided by st johns ambulance aimed at people at work (which would have to be paid for), or the st johns ambulance first aid course for 10 weeks at evening class covers more than this and is aimed at the general public and is free in my area.

Torby

Is there a possibility that they want to make this entry in YOUR accident book, because 1) they dont have their own or 2) is there a possibility that in the event of some sort of claim etc that it may be issued against the "owner" or "landlord" of the property?

The reason I suggest this is because I am curious to see if this is something to do with landlords providing facilities for tennants and also associated liabilities/ insurance problems and further complications.

Sorry to be viewing it from a negative standpoint....but in this day and age of "Have a fall or a trip at work?"...you get my drift

MORPH3US

I run a managed office space (30 offices) and we have an accident book for all the businesses in our units.

If the companies here are bigger then they tend to have their own as well though.

To be honest, I wouldn't worry about it too much. If they don't have their own book then let them fill yours in. As long as there are no trip hazzards on / around the stairs then I can't see any problem.

Just make sure you carry out a risk assessment asap and keep everything by the book (so to speak)

littlebird_2

Thanks to all the above replies. Will certainly look into this a bit further.

callansdad

This might just be a Scottish thing, but i thought that accident books were finished with now.

I cant say for certain but i think its got something to do with data protection that the old yellow accident books were stopped cos you could read details of other peoples accidents. I think they have been replaced with singular forms which are filled in and held by your health and safety dept or person.

I'll try and find out more but dont count on a reply soon cos im on nightshift!!!:mad:

Bossyboots

callansdad wrote:

This might just be a Scottish thing, but i thought that accident books were finished with now.

I cant say for certain but i think its got something to do with data protection that the old yellow accident books were stopped cos you could read details of other peoples accidents. I think they have been replaced with singular forms which are filled in and held by your health and safety dept or person.

I'll try and find out more but dont count on a reply soon cos im on nightshift!!!:mad:

Having just taken on this responsibility I can tell you how it now works.

The new accident books are green and at the top of the page is a tear off slip. On that you put the personal details and the report number. This then has to be removed and put somewhere where it will be kept confidential. The accident report remains in the book but is anonymous to anyone else who reads it.

Save4ArainyDay

As the Landlords of the building you will be repsonsible for the communal parts - reception area, car-park, stairs etc.
You will have Occupiers' Liability under the 1984 Act and a Duty of Care in civil law.
Should the injured person make a claim you will need to show the following as a minimum:-

Handrail in place and fit for purpose
Stairway well lit
Any floorcoverings to be intact and not holed, wrinkled up or smooth and slippery.

Defences you can use:

Injured person not holding handrail
Type of footwear being worn was contributory to the accident
Employer had failed to provide welfare facilities on same level as the worker (this means they will definietely NOT have done a Risk Assessment on the worker carrying hot drinks up the stairs)

The accident should be recorded and investigated by you and the record kept for 6 years.

Hope this helps?

Nobleck

I would also like to add that as long as you keep the premises safe, then you as a landlord are not responsible for the company using your premises Health and Safety(nearly all firms have there own policy)Unless the problem is a result of a defect in your premises, again this should be reported to you to act upon.