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The sad and sorry saga of the Accident Book [December 2005]

1n 2003, deep in a Government department, someone opened a small can of worms. After much thought (but obviously linear, not lateral) they decided that the injury records required to be kept under the 1979 Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations were subject to data protection legislation, because they recorded the personal details of the individual who had been injured. This blinding flash of inspiration handed to employers a perfect excuse not to give trade union safety reps information about the injuries their members sustained at work – a right under the Safety Representatives and Safety Committee Regulations since 1977. Unsurprisingly, quite a number of them took advantage of this. And who are we to say this wasn’t a deliberate attempt to undermine safety reps rights by suggesting a previously unmade link between two pieces of legislation

A decree was issued that said that the most common form of accident recording system, a book hanging on a nail in the canteen or kept in a desk drawer, into which injured parties could write an entry, became unacceptable. Anyone could see the details of all those injured persons who had made earlier entries – so such a recording system was not Date Protection compliant.

This therefore meant that the so-called “official” accident book, the BI 510, produced and sold by The Stationery Office (TSO), was no longer legal. The decision was taken to produce a new book, which had pages that were designed to be torn-out after completion, and stored away from prying eyes.

In what have become the best traditions of 21st century government, the DWP put the production of this book out to competitive tender – and an upstart HSE Books undercut TSO and won the contract. Grasping the principles of capitalism firmly by the horns, TSO responded to this defeat in a predictable manner – as an independent publisher, they decided to produce their own version, call it the Accident Book (sans BI 510), and sell it at a cheaper price than the official version side-by-side in their own bookshops. They also managed to subsidise the production costs by getting Barbour Index to sponsor the book, and the early versions carry a sponsorship tag on the cover and on each report form, and a one-page advert for Barbour information service. At this point, safety reps ran into problems, as employers began to refuse to give them information about accidents on the grounds that it was protected information under the Date Protection Act.

Following vigorous complaints from unions, the TUC and Hazards campaigners, in early 2004 the HSE drafted a new introduction to the book, which pointed out to employers that Safety Reps have a legal right to the information about accidents and must be given it, and to injured workers that they had a right for their personal details not to be revealed as part of this process. They also amended the report forms to include a check-box where the injured worker can agree to their personal information being given to their safety rep. Where the individual does not agree, the employer’s duty to provide safety reps with the information is made absolutely clear, as is the requirement to conceal the individual’s identity and details. Meanwhile, TSO after a year’s delay, in February 2005 produced an A5 sized flyer to be issued with their version of the book, making a poorly worded statement to injured workers about giving consent, but still not making it absolutely clear to employers about the duty to give the information to safety reps.

Finally, the tenth impression of the TSO version has included the reminder to employers, but in a much weaker form than the “official” HSE-produced book. The TSO version of information for employees is also confusing – it implies that the safety rep is the person responsible for health and safety in the workplace. The forms in both books now contain the checkbox for injured workers to agree to their personal details being released to their safety rep.

In the TSO Bookshop in Manchester on December 1st 2005, there are copies of the unamended TSO version (the 8th impression) on the shelves alongside copies of the 10th (amended) impression, The official HSE-produced BI 510 is much less prominently displayed on a shelf behind the counter. They are roughly the same colour, yellow, but the official version says BI 510 on the cover, carries the HSE logo and has an orange stripe across the top.

The final bit of confusion in all this, as if it is needed, is that there is no duty on an employer to use a book called “The Accident Book” produced by anyone. The prescribed duties in the Social Security legislation relate to what information is collected, the keeping of the records in an approved form, a specified period for which the records must be kept, the book to be readily accessible in the workplace, and employer investigation of accidents. The prescription does NOT include the physical (or electronic) form in which it is collected. That is why employers can, and frequently do, design their own forms for accident recording, or even put the form on an intranet system and let workers input directly into a computer database. BI 510 is at best an unnecessary anachronism.

It is possible that a number of problems will continue to be experienced thanks to this little brainstorm. Because the HSE refused to scrap copies of the unamended version back in 2004, and TSO also continued to sell their version without an insert, many employers will still have and be using versions of the books without the reminder about the duty to provide information to safety reps.

Many employers will purchase the unofficial version in the bookshops because it is prominently displayed, it says Accident Book on the cover and it looks right. If direct purchase from the TSO catalogue has been the way an employer has obtained accident books in the past, it’s odds-on the TSO will promote their version rather than the official version. And anyway, an employer who does know that there are 2 versions will prefer to spend £4.75 rather than £5.58.

If employers continue to refuse safety reps access to accident information, workplace union organisations should insist that their employers order a copy of the amended BI 510 from HSE Books on 01787 881165, (ISBN 0-7176-2603-2) where the employers duty and safety reps’ legal rights are clearly stated.

All this has added a completely unnecessary layer of complication and confusion on what has been a straightforward right given to safety reps in the SRSC. In issue 85 of The Daily Hazard, Mike Merritt of the London Hazards Centre points out that Section 35 of the Data Protection Act allows disclosure of personal data for purposes of establishing, exercising or defending legal rights, and that safety reps have enjoyed these rights since 1977, long before data protection legislation imposed restrictions. To read the article, hold down CTRL and click on the link www.lhc.org.uk/members/pubs/newslet/85dhd.htm

The Hazards Campaign would like to know just how many employers have used, or are using this as an excuse not to give reps information about workplace injuries. Send an e-mail to John Bamford at Greater Manchester Hazards Centre, john@gmhazards.org.uk and we will post-up information about what you tell us.

The Hazards Campaign, c/o Greater Manchester Hazards Centre, Windrush Millennium Centre, 70 Alexandra Road,
Manchester, M16 7WD . website www.hazardscampaign.org.uk