Some of our services have changed. Please see our services page for more details

Accidents and near misses

How to record, investigate and report accidents and near misses

​It is important to be prepared for accidents and near misses in your organisation and to make sure your employees know what to do if one unfortunately does take place.

There are three key stages that you need to be aware of and plan for. Use the links below to find information on each of these steps. ​

  1. Recording accidents and near misses
  2. Investigating accidents and near misses
  3. Reporting accidents and near misses

2. Investigating accidents and near misses

All accidents and near misses should be investigated as soon as possible, but only when safe to do so.

Investigating allows you to

  • find out what went wrong
  • find out why it went wrong
  • reduce or prevent the risk of it happening again
  • provide information for any legal investigations or insurance claims that are made.

Who to involve

For an investigation to be worthwhile it is important to involve the relevant employees. This allows you to gather all the facts.

The person leading the investigation should have

  • the required investigative skills
  • a good understanding of health and safety best practice and legal requirements.

Tools for investigating

To help you investigate, we have created an online accident and near miss investigation record.

Use our accident and near miss investigation record​

You can also download a workbook free from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that explains how to investigate accidents and incidents.

Visit the HSE site for an investigating accidents and incidents workbook​​​