Log an Accident case in Helpline

For when an accident has occurred on the premises. This article explains how to log the report using the Accident form.

  • In the left vertical navigation menu, click 'Helpline'.
  • Click the 'Add Case' tab.
  • Click the 'Accident' option located in the 'Health & Safety' section.

An explanation of the fields required to raise the case are listed in the 'Raising the case' section. Below that, the 'Updating the case' section contains further information for logging case details throughout the investigation.

Raising the case

Location: This is automatically populated for users who have access to a single location. For users with access to multiple locations, either type the location name or click 'Show List' and choose the location from the list.

Department: Which area of the business the case relates to, for example, Kitchen, Library. This is an optional field.

Your internal reference: Use for any internal reference system. This is an optional field.

Describe what happened: Log a brief description of the incident being reported. Once the case is saved, more specific information should be recorded in the specific fields provided.

Date and time of incident: Click the calendar icon to choose a date from the calendar or click the date field to type the date the incident occurred. Add the time using the up and down arrows on the hours (HH) and minutes (MM) fields.

How were you notified of the incident?: How was the complaint received into the business? (drop-down option)

Incident Details

Name of person involved in accident/incident: Provide the name of the injured person who had the accident.

Gender: Select the appropriate option based on preferences.

Age: Select the age range which best fits the injured person. Use unknown if the information is not provided.

Employee occupation: Only enter if the injured person is an employee of the business. Otherwise state 'N/A'.

Address: An address may be provided for reasons of further communication. This is not a requirement.

Phone number: A number is required for purposes of continued communication.

Address: The address of the injured person.

Type of Incident: The incident may be an 'Injury', 'Disease' or 'Other'. If 'Disease' is selected, a second drop-down menu appears so the specific type can be chosen. If 'Injury' is selected, 2 further drop-down menus appear, the first to select the 'Type of Injury' and the second to select the 'Part of the body affected'. Note that this second drop-down may automatically filter based on selected injury. For example, selecting a 'Type of Injury' as 'Hearing Loss' would automatically restrict the 'Part of body affected' to 'Ear'. 

If multiple injuries are sustained, select responses for most serious injury.

Who was involved? Identify the relationship between the injured person and your business. A text field is presented to log information where relationship involves training scheme employees, 3rd party employees or others who are not defined as one of the selectable options.

What did the accident/incident result in? In circumstances of multiple injuries to the person, choose the option for the most severe injury. 

If there was no injury to the person, the incident should be logged using Helpline's 'Near Miss' form.

Best description of accident/incident: Choose the event which matches how the injury was inflicted. Please note, falls from height open a second field to record the distance of the fall in metres.

Has the accident/incident been reported under RIDDOR? RIDDOR reportable incidents are identified in the "What did the accident/incident result in?" question (above). 

If the accident/incident is RIDDOR reportable, 3 further fields appear to capture the RIDDOR number, the process involved and main factor causing injury.

  • Click 'Save Case' to save the Accident case under the 'My Cases' tab.

Updating a case

Once a case has been raised, further information should be added as the matter is investigated through to conclusion. The case is now available via the 'My Cases' tab.

The case can be identified using the:

  • 'Location' column to identify which location the case was logged at.
  • 'Date' column to identify the date the case was raised.
  • The 'Type' column to identify the type of case raised, ie, 'Accident' or 'Near Miss'.

  • Once the correct case is identified, click the relevant Reference number to open the record.
  • Click the 'Edit' buttons to expand the sections.

  • Specific details can now be recorded in the relevant fields.
  • When all updates have been made, click the 'Save Changes' button for that section.
  • Click the 'View' button to view the information in any section.
  • The fields relating to each section are listed below.

Report questionnaire

This section is a useful guide to follow up actions and log 3rd party communications such as police or ambulance services. Some questions provide a text box to log further details if they are answered "Yes". Only the questions requiring further explanation are listed here.

Have you completed the accident book?: Answer "No" if there is no paper accident book on site.

Were the police involved?: This is usually in relation to physical or verbal attacks. If the answer is yes, field opens to record crime reference number.

Was the accident/incident captured on CCTV?: CCTV images should be stored safely as they may be required later. CCTV footage cannot be uploaded to the case due to file sizes often generated.

Have you contacted your insurance company about the accident?: Many insurance companies have a requirement to be given notice of any accidents so they can prepare for a possible claim in advance. 

Have you contacted the local authority/enforcement body about the accident?:  This might be appropriate if you feel / are advised a claim or similar may ensue. Having the local authority investigate may support your defence. It should be decided on a case-by-case basis.

What have you done to remove any immediate hazard or reduce the risk?: This may involve taking equipment out of use, moving furniture to eliminate a hazard, putting up warning signage etc.

First Aid Details

Did the person receive any first aid treatment?: Choosing "Yes" opens a text field to record the details of the treatment given.

Name of person giving first aid, if known: Provide the name of the person who gave First Aid (enter N/A if not known).

Job Title: Provide the Job Title of the person who gave First Aid (enter N/A if not known).

Details of any equipment/machinery involved

Use this section to log details of any equipment or machinery which may have been involved in causing the injury. Only the first question is mandatory to say whether machinery was involved.

Actions Taken

Use this section to log any follow up activities which have taken place as a result of your own internal investigation. 

If any of these questions are answered “Yes”, a text field is opened to record the details.

With the exception of the final question, if you have answered “No” to all of these questions, you are confirming that all processes were applied correctly, and your procedures and processes are robust. The final question is to provide justification in circumstances where no changes have been made.

Accident Witnesses

If witnesses were present, answer "Yes" to open a text field and record their details.

Action Plan



From your investigation, you can create an action plan, e.g. retrain part-time waiting staff. You can enter as many action points as are needed to prevent repeat incidents. To add a new Action, click the "+ Add Action" button.

The Shield Safety team can also create action plans for you which will appear in this section.

Reports can be extracted by Admin users to see where action plans have exceeded their deadlines.

Notes


Shield Safety use the Notes section to communicate with you about the case. They may ask for documents, photographs, extra information or clarifications. Please respond to these as quickly as possible by “Adding a Note”.

If you are asked to add a photo etc, please put a note here to say “picture added” or something similar.

Users may receive RiskProof alerts to inform them that Shield Safety have added a note to the case. This is subject to User Role Alert settings.

You can also add your own notes to Shield Safety via this method.

Photos and Attachments

If you are requested to provide documents etc either via the Notes or Action Plan section, this is where you upload them.

Simply click the link and select the relevant file. It is important that file names clearly identify the subject of the image e.g. “Image of tear in stairwell carpet”