Unfortunately, if you own a physical business, someone will eventually injure themselves on your premises.
And when they do, you need to know how to respond.
Assuming you’ve provided medical assistance at the scene, here’s everything else you need to do:
Tell Key People What Happened
Once you’ve attended to the injured person, you’ll need to tell key people in your organisation what happened.
Inform supervisors and managers if necessary, and ensure that they all coordinate with each other.
If you have an insurer (which you should as a business), you’ll need to get in touch with them.
They can tell you what category your cover falls under, and whether you’ll need a payout.
Document The Incident
After that, make sure you document the incident.
Collect all the information you need about things like the date and the time of the accident, the name of the person involved, and any photos you’ve taken of the scene.
The more information you can provide, generally the better off you’ll be.
If you can put together an incident report, that’s also a good idea.
These enable your business to record what’s happened in a more rigorous manner, ensuring you don’t miss any details.
Investigate The Cause
Next, you’ll want to look into the cause of the accident.
The idea here is to determine whether there is anything you could have done to prevent it.
Usually, it is the employee who is at fault.
However, it could have been a failure of the equipment, or a general problem with the safety procedures at your firm.
If it is the latter, then you’ll need to look into what went wrong and develop a plan to put it right again in the future.
If there are safety gaps that you discover, address these, too.
Make sure you’re dealing with common problems, like missing signage, as these can get you into trouble with regulators.
Check The Legal Requirements
The legal requirements will depend on where you are located.
However, you should provide all the proper reporting, especially in the case of a fatality.
If the person who’s injured is an employee, your employer’s compensation will usually pay them.
However, you may need to pay a premium for this.
If it is someone else, you may need to report the injury to the relevant body.
For example, contractors often have a different reporting structure.
Clear Up Properly Afterwards
If there was serious trauma, it is a good idea to get biohazard cleaning to clean up any mess.
Bodily fluids can be dangerous and require prompt attention to prevent the spread of infection and keep the workspace hygienic, especially in locations that handle medicines or food.
Take Preventive Steps
Lastly, you’ll need to take preventive steps to prevent a similar incident from happening in the future.
This might involve adding new protocols to your safety procedures or updating your policies.
Make sure that everyone in your organisation knows what these are and the consequences of failing to follow them.
Hope you’ve found our article, What To Do After A Serious Injury On Your Business Premises useful.
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