Toeboards

[Dweeks]

Just a quick warning to everyone; today I was the lucky recipient of an adjustable spanner to the face - very painful and my nose is now feeling very odd.

 

The reason - a rushed 'get in', and a lack of toe-boards on the lighting tower. :)

 

Fortunetly I was lucky to get away with a bruised nose, but that could have been serious. The tower wasn't too high fortunatly.

 

 

Just reminds you that H&S is actually there for a reason, not just to get in the way! ;)

 

Don't try n save time on H&S! Could quite easily have damaged my eye today, was quite a shock tbh.

[Guest lightnix]

I'm very sorry to hear about your injury and hope you make a quick recovery :blink:

 

Has / will a RIDDOR report been / be filled in, as I believe is required by law?

 

Or will the incident just be swept under the carpet and forgotten about ?

 

E-mail also sent.

[Andrew C]

Or are RIDDOR reports only required for 3 day absences? Sorry but no time just now to check.

 

It MUST be noted in the accident book though, no question!

[Guest lightnix]

According to this introductory guide, a report should be made in the case of...

 

• Death or major injury (including as a result of physical violence), involving an employee or self-employed person working on your premises, or an over three day injury to the same, or the death or hospitalisation of a member of the public (someone not at work) on your premises.

 

• A reportable work-related disease.

 

• A dangerous occurence, which did not lead to serious injury, but clearly could have done.

 

A summary of such occurences is given in the above link, TBH, they don't appear to list the kind of incident described by thorpe_fan, so I may possibly have been a little hasty in my initial assumption. I think you have to go buy the book in order to get the full list.

 

Alternatively the local HSE Area Office may be able to advise, or the Environmental Health Dept. of your local authority.

[Suzette]

I think it depends if thorpe fan was wearing a hard hat ... it could be reportable under RIDDOR as a dangerous occurrence that may have led to a reportable injury. If the spanner had hit thorpe fan in the eye resulting in loss of sight (temporary or permanent) or on the head resulting in a 24 hr stay in hospital then that is classed as a reportable injury.

My experience with RIDDOR is to fill in the form if you believe it may be reportable - HSE will contact you if they want to take it further. You can now fill in forms online on www. riddor.gov.uk - HSE have made it very easy to get the relevant info and complete a report.

[Dweeks]

I'm very sorry to hear about your injury and hope you make a quick recovery :o

 

Has / will a RIDDOR report been / be filled in, as I believe is required by law?

 

Or will the incident just be swept under the carpet and forgotten about ?

 

E-mail also sent.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Afraid to say a case of "under the carpet". To be fair, it was partially my fault, I was very close to the tower knowing there were people working ahead, without a hard hat on.

 

To be honest, no serious injury occured, I had a minor heacache for the rest of the day, I put an ice bag on my nose and all is fine now. The amount of health and safety rigmarole would have been unjustified imo for a relativley minor thing. I think/hope it quite shocked the person up the tower into realising the effects of unsafe towers, I've definitly realised and for future shows will be wearing a hard hat, no matter how daft I look..

 

Don't rush things, I could quite easily have been blinded. No show is worth that.

 

 

Edit: Should be pointed out that there was quite a serious consequence to this; I was due to be going to cinema with a, frankly, stunning 17 year old, south american girl. And I was feeling lousy and had to call it off! :rolleyes. P-funk - if I never get married, prepare for a large court case against ya :)

[Shaun Foster]

Its perfectly possible to get hit on the head and think you've got away with it. You might think you only have a minor headache but end up dead a few hours later (I think this is from bleeding inside the scull?). I guess this is why head injuries get sent to hospital even if they only seem minor.

[Guest lightnix]

Afraid to say a case of "under the carpet". To be fair, it was partially my fault, I was very close to the tower knowing there were people working ahead, without a hard hat on.

Rule 1: NEVER admit liability of any kind, ever. It could be equally argued that your "employer" was at fault for not making sure you had one on, but if you pop up and say "it was my fault", then your fault it was, especially in the eyes of an insurance company.

 

To be  honest, no serious injury occured, I had a minor heacache for the rest of the day, I put an ice bag on my nose and all is fine now. The amount of health and safety rigmarole...

Rigmarole :o ???

...would have been unjustified imo for a relativley minor thing.

Minor? By your own admission it could have taken your eye out, FFS :o But hey - it's your life, don't let me tell you how to live it :D

I think/hope it quite shocked the person up the tower into realising the effects of unsafe towers, I've definitly realised and for future shows will be wearing a hard hat, no matter how daft I look.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not as daft as you will with some piece of hardware embedded in your skull (spanner today, screwdriver tomorrow ?) Presumably not only will you be wearing a hard hat in future, but there will be toe boards around the tower and people working overhead will be lanyarding their tools ? Not only that, but your employers will be enforcing these things, as required by law.

 

As lightguy pointed out, minor injuries can become major. There has been more than one occasion AFAIK, where a "tiny scratch" inflicted at work has become infected and led to amputation of a limb or death from blood poisoning.

 

I find it a bit disturbing that (apparently) there wasn't even an entry made in the Accident Book (correct me if I'm wrong about this). RIDDOR report or not, if there is no official record of the accident having happened, then you have virtually no comeback if complications arise. In such cases, insurance companies will just flick the Vs at you and walk away laughing, courts will be deeply unsympathetic, etc., etc.

 

Ive already said this in another recent thread, but I'll repeat it here: H&S rules are NOT put in place to obstruct us, prevent us from doing our jobs or stop us from having fun. They ARE there to protect us and the people who are likely to be affected by what we do from death and injury. They cover ALL industries, not just entertainments and were brought in to begin with, because industry in general was incapable of putting the safety of its workers (and customers, for that matter) ahead of its profit margins.

 

Once upon a time in the UK, children were sent up chimneys, down mines and employed to run around inside moving machinery, in order to keep it moving. This practice did not cease voluntarily, it had to be legislated against. Such things still happen in other countries, because no legislation exists to prevent them :P

[mikienorth]

Once upon a time in the UK, children were sent up chimneys, down mines and employed to run around inside moving machinery, in order to keep it moving. This practice did not cease voluntarily, it had to be legislated against. Such things still happen in other countries, because no legislation exists to prevent them

 

Good point lightnix.

 

I, whilst wearing a hard hat, was hit on the head by a line array flying frame during a get out (it hit me below the helmet)

Although feeling fine, my balance was affected the day after, which was concerning as I was in work.

 

I did make an official report of the incident, as, should a further head injury arise, all incidents involving my skull are recorded.

 

I have a hobby involving motorsport, and injuries associated; should a motorcycle racer be rendered unconcious they cannot race for 7 days, if they are out cold for up to 30 seconds, they cannot race for 2 weeks, any time comatose after 5 minutes and they can only race again after a doctor thinks they are well, at least a month after being knocked out.

 

I have a tale involving vomit, racing, being the first on scene, and the above hobby which should justify the reporting of any head injury.

 

After all, you get 2 armss, legs and eyes, how many brains? Head injuies,no matter how small they seem are very serious, as my information from motorsport is aimed to re-inforce.

[Chris Higgs]

Near misses are reportable.

The failure of load-bearing equipment is, too.

So are 3 day accidents and a range of more obvious injuries, such as penetrating eye injuries and some not so obvious, like some types of dermatitis.

Should the non-reporting come to light, as the result of a civil action, for example, you may find yourself being prosecuted. (The investigation by, say, an insurance company, reveals a hospital stay, treatment for a broken leg or a week off work, for example)

The point of reporting accidents is to allow the 'authorities' to understand the scale of a problem - hence the Manual Handling regs. for example.