Injuries resulting from accidents
Or emergencies are reported
Immediately to a competent first
Aider or appropriate authority
If a person is injured the first action must be
to ensure that first aid is given by a competent first
aider or other suitable person. Most companies
have a designated first aider who is trained to deal
with accidents and emergencies. If your company
has no such a person on the staff then you will
have a designated person who you must contact in
the event of a colleague being injured. That person
may be your supervisor or another senior member
of the staff. If no manager or other senior person is
available you should either dial 999 for an ambulance
or telephone your company doctor, then
inform the garage manager.
Incidents and accidents are
Reported in an accident book
By law all companies are required to maintain
records of accidents which take place at work.
These records are usually kept in an accident book.
Accident books may be inspected by HSE inspectors
(generally referred to as factory inspectors);
they must be kept for a period of at least three
years from the date of the last entry.
The information which is required to be
recorded in the accident book is:
Name and address of injured person
Date, time and place of accident/dangerous
occurrence
Name of person making the report and date of
entry Brief account of accident and details
of any equipment/substances which were
involved.
It is always a good idea to keep a notepad to help
remind you which way round things go when
working on unfamiliar vehicles, this would also be
useful for making any other notes, such as those
about an accident.
Where there is a conflict over
Limitation of damage priority is
always given to the person’s
Safety
You can always buy a new wing for a car, but you
cannot buy a new arm for a mechanic. In the event
of an accident people come first. For instance if a
building is on fire, do not re-enter to retrieve your
belongings, wait until the fire is out and there is no
risk before going back into the building. If a car is
about to fall off a jack, get out of the way, do not
try to catch the car with your hands or some such
other dangerous action.
Professional emergency services
Are summoned immediately by
Authorized persons in the event of
a fire/disaster
An authorized person is somebody who has
the task of carrying out a specific job. Anybody
may call the emergency services if they are
needed.
The four emergency services are:
Police
Fire
Ambulance
Coastguard.
Health and safety 81
All are called by dialling 999on an outside-line
telephone. The emergency services operator will
ask you which service you require. In certain cases
the police will automatically be called, for instance
in the case of a severe fire.
All emergency telephone calls are recorded on
tape at the telephone exchange. You will be asked
for your name, the place where the emergency is
and where you are calling from. With the introduction
of electronic telephone exchanges the number
which you are calling from is automatically
recorded, and you will be asked for the number to
help confirm that your call is not a hoax.
Many companies have a direct telephone line to
the fire station, and these automatically call the fire
service if a fire is detected by sensors or by breaking
the glass of a fire alarm. In such cases, if the
fire service is called out and there is not a fire, they
may charge the company a large fee. So, do not
tamper with such a device unless you are authorized
to do so or there is a dangerous fire.
2.8.14 Alarm/alert/evacuation systems
Are activated immediately by
Authorized persons
Generally only senior staff (managers) are allowed
to operate alarms and other forms of alert/evacuation
systems. This is because of the costs which
may be involved if the fire service is called out
wrongly and the damage which may occur if staff
and/or customers panic.
In the case of a fire the normal alarm is a form
of siren or bell. For other emergencies say a serious
injury, an audible warning from a speaker
announcement system (often called a tannoy) may
be used. In a garage these are usually operated
from the service department office.