Accident book-refused permission to fill in.

[rambo]

I am a driver.

The vehcile I drove today has a very very badly worn drivers seat.

I have reported this via defect card 4 times since january.

 

As I finished my shift today my lower back was hurting very badly.

I asked for the accident book so I could enter the injury in the accident book.

 

I was told it should not be entered into the accident book, but should do an occurance report instead.

 

I was under the impression that all injuries at work can/should be put in accident book.

 

Your thoughts?

[unclebulgaria67]

I am a driver.

The vehcile I drove today has a very very badly worn drivers seat.

I have reported this via defect card 4 times since january.

 

As I finished my shift today my lower back was hurting very badly.

I asked for the accident book so I could enter the injury in the accident book.

 

I was told it should not be entered into the accident book, but should do an occurance report instead.

 

I was under the impression that all injuries at work can/should be put in accident book.

 

Your thoughts?

 

My thoughts are that unless the seat broke causing you an injury, it is not an accident.

 

If you are having back problems caused by seats on vehicles, you need to get a Doctors note about your back problems and submit it to your companies HR department. Make a complaint about the lack of maintenance of some vehicle seats causing you back problems.

[Guest topcat14]

What sort of vehicle is it ?

 

To me, if the defect is reported correctly to the company via its policies and it is not dealt with, then you need to go to your doctor and ask his/her advice.

 

If the vehicle is subject to the VOSA 6 weekly check rules then the company are at fault.

 

You are also responsible as a driver so, 4 times reported in 6 months is also not enough. The rules within the group that I work for, are that you report faults daily so that there is an audit trail created.

[obiter dictum]

Relevant statutory legislation on the recording of injuries when at your place of employment.

 

Legislation contained within Regulation 25 Social Security (Claims and Payments) regulations 1979. Subsection 3 dictates:

 

(3) Every owner or occupier (being an employer) of any mine or quarry or of any premises to which any of the provisions of the Factories Act 1961 (Now Health and Safety at Work Act 1974)

applies and every employer by whom 10 or more persons are normally employed at the same time on or about the same premises in connection

with a trade or business carried on by the employer shall, subject to the following provisions of this paragraph—

 

(a) keep readily accessible a means (whether in a book or books or by electronic means), in a form approved by the Secretary of State, by which a person employed by the employer or some other person acting on his behalf may record the appropriate particulars (as defined in regulation 24) of any accident causing personal injury to that person; and

 

(b) preserve every such record for the period of at least 3 years from the date of its entry.

 

In particular with regard to the above regulation:

 

1. The accident book or equivalent must be readily accessible.

2. It is a matter for the employee, not the employer or any one acting on behalf of the employer, whether an entry is made in the accident book or equivalent.

3. There is no restriction on the nature and type of accident and injury that can be entered into an accident book or equivalent. It is for the employee to determine whether or not they have sustained a personal injury and whether they have been involved in accident.

4. There is no restriction on the time within which an accident has to have occurred in order for an employee to make a record in the accident book

or equivalent. Regulation 25(3)(b) implicitly recognises that an entry may be made in an accident book at some point after the accident occurred.

 

 

I must bring to the attention of the business the following. The failure to provide a proper, accessible, accident book or equivalent may amount to a breach of statutory duty pursuant to Regulation 5 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

 

Recent changes introduced by the Welfare Reform Act 2012 as to industrial injury/ Benefit/ or both mean that employees are no longer allowed to simply register an injury with the DWP. It is therefore a legal requirement that any injury is logged at work in the first place. If any injury or sickness that is not recorded properly then the employees position at work (should sickness issues be relevant), or future pension arrangements might be in jeopardy.

Edited June 4, 2016 by obiter dictum

[rambo]

@topcat;

it's a bus, have only driven this bus 4 times since january.

[Old Cogger]

@topcat;

it's a bus, have only driven this bus 4 times since january.

 

 

only driven it 4 times since January? that will not wash without a proper accident! try a judge on that one! blimey mind you I have in the past seen worse claims than that being tried on! think you better see a Doctor for the real reason, ??

[Guest topcat14]

Regardless of the OP's back issues, the Bus is subject to VOSA rules and checks. If the company are not acting on recommendations from their service agents, they then become at fault and therefore liable.

 

An accident book is there for anyone to report issues that are dangerous to the Health and Safety of all parties concerned with issues at work, not just actual accidents.

 

Doctor is best bet here, but the driver should be reporting before taking the bus out, in his "daily walk round check"

[rambo]

only driven it 4 times since January? that will not wash without a proper accident! try a judge on that one! blimey mind you I have in the past seen worse claims than that being tried on! think you better see a Doctor for the real reason, ??

 

I'm not interested in a claim, I just want the seat fixed.

I was hoping by putting it in the accident book, it would make the company change the seat.

[obiter dictum]

Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/3242/regulation/3/made

 

Then we have Article 2 Health and Safety At Work Act 1974

 

2 General duties of employers to their employees.

 

(1)It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.

[king12345]

I say this is a tool down case.

You are within your rights to refuse to take that particular bus out if the seat is not fixed.

On health and safety ground the potential back pain that this seat might cause is enough to refuse to drive this bus.

As suggested it's up to you to make an entry in the accident book which must be available.

If you decide to refuse driving this bus make sure you fill an incident report form (or equivalent) and follow your company procedure for this particular eventuality.

Refusal to work under health and safety must be listed in the procedures/rule book.

[obiter dictum]

Legislation dictates that both the employer and driver are responsible for that vehicle that can impact other road users or members of the public. Failure can result in the employer losing their "O Licence"

 

If you have made a report in the vehicle log book with concerns on the safety of that vehicle

It will then be for a Qualified Mechanic to sign that vehicle log book to enable the vehicle back onto the highway.

[king12345]

As all have suggested you now have 3 reasons to refuse the use of that bus:

1. Your own health and safety issue as the seat ir broken and can give you back pain.

2. Health and safety of your passengers and other road users; being uncomfortable while driving could impair your reflexes, for example while you keep on adjusting yourself on the seat.

3. Bus might not be roadworthy unless a qualified mechanic has signed it off after having inspected the seat. I suppose nobody would take that responsibility in case something happened.

[obiter dictum]

What needs to be remembered is that these are strict liability offences for both employer and employee. The employee will suffer the most in taking out a vehicle after doing the vehicle checks and identifying a possible hazard. The Driver is not qualified to make that decision, that is why it needs a mechanic to sign that vehicle back onto the road through the vehicle defect form.

[rambo]

Thanks for your replies.

 

The main problem is from the mechanics point of view, the seat is legal.

I will be talking to my manager tommorow, I get the feeling the company don't want it in the accident book as the problem now becomes 'official'.

 

It's sad really, the seat is badly worn out, and I suspect the reason the company don't want to change it is cost.