Top 10 things horse riders need to know about accident reporting

1. Appointed persons – The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states that it is good practice for first aiders and appointed persons to record incidents that required their attendance.
2. First-aiders should keep a record of any treatment administered including the date, venue, person’s name and job, injury, treatment and/or advice, whether the person returned to work/went home/ went to hospital etc.
3. The Accident Book or Incident Report Book is made up of the series of accident reports an essential document for employers and employees, who are required by law to record and report details of specified work-related injuries and incidents.
4. Identifying accident trends and possible areas for improvement can be done by reviewing the Accident book. In the control of health and safety risks, it can also be used as a record in future first aid needs assessments.
5. It enables businesses to comply with legal requirements under social security and health and safety legislation, including Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) requirements. Read our blog on RIDDOR regulations.
6. Risk assessments – Keeping records will help you to review patterns of accidents and injuries, and will help when reviewing your current or completing new risk assessments.
7. Evidence – Your insurance company may also want to see your records if there is a work-related claim.
8. Secure storage – Make sure you protect people’s personal details by storing records confidentially in a secure place.
9. Special cases and employee numbers – If you have more than ten employees, or own or occupy a mine, quarry or factory, you must keep an accident book under social security law.
10. Retention periods– Accident record books should be kept for three years after the initial accident. If there are children involved, these records must be kept until the children are 21 years of age.

We have produced a specific Incident Report Book for equestrian settings.  The Incident Report Book includes Riding Establishment Health and Safety Guidance Notes and is the UK’s only riding establishment specific Incident Report book.

Get confident – get trained!

The best way to feel confident about dealing with first aid incidents is to take a specialist first aid course. For more information about any of our first aid courses please contact us. 

Everyone on our courses receives a FREE digital first aid manual. We have a range of manuals relevant to the courses we teach – Outdoor, Equestrian, First Aid at Work, Paediatric and Sports. They are a great resource that you can download onto your phone or other device and have all that first aid knowledge at your fingertips. You can view them and buy them for less than £5 here.