Accident Scene Management

Who is this training for?
It’s intended for directors, senior managers in the higher risk business sectors such as engineering; warehousing; logistics; construction; and similar industries. All these sectors involve vehicles/ machinery and thus any accidents have the potential to result in serious injury if not fatalities.

What does the course cover?
It’s an introduction to the practicalities of industrial accident investigation. It’s not intended as a course to turn delegates into industrial accident investigators, but it will give them a good insight into the legal background, such as health & safety law, corporate manslaughter/,sentencing; the practicalities of protecting/ gathering vital evidence from the accident scene; an introduction to the techniques (and problems) of interviewing witnesses; the fundamentals of root cause analysis; and how to structure an appropriate report of their findings.

What is the benefit to your business?
In the event of a prosecution by the HSE for an alleged breach of health & safety the company may well have to prove itself innocent of the charge rather than simply relying on challenging the HSE’s evidence. This little known concept – known legally as the reverse burden of proof – can be a major hurdle if the company had not taken steps to gather evidence at the time of the accident. It can take many months before the HDSE finally issue a decision regarding prosecution, and attempting to build a viable defence case after such a significant delay could prove
extremely difficult (if not impossible).

The issue is compounded by the fact that the courts have the power to levy £multi-million fines in certain cases and can also impose custodial sentences as appropriate on directors/senior managers. It’s therefore prudent to invest in training beforehand rather than risk significant fines and/ or imprisonment if an accident occurs and you can’t prove your innocence.

What is the aim of this course?
To provide directors/ senior managers with a broad understanding of the issues which may arise following an industrial accident. They will be in a position to start collating defence evidence at the earliest possible opportunity, and will be able to make an informed decision about whether they can handle matters on their own or need to call in specialist assistance.