21

May

GDPR 2018 and Accident Record Books

Accident Books – What you need to know regarding GDPR 2018 Compliance

I am sure you are all aware of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that came into effect on 25th May 2018 but have you considered how this affects your Company Accident Reporting Procedures ?.

Accident Books should now be fully compliant with GDPR 2018, but many are not and what employers need to be aware of is that employees need to give consent for their personal details to be taken and recorded.  You may have a copy of the 2004 Edition which allows you to remove the page and file this away in a locked cabinet. However, the GDPR 2018 has taken this a step further.  No personal details must be recorded without the employee’s consent; the 2018 Accident Report Book ensures that is covered.

If you continue to use the 2004 edition, then you will need to ensure that;

  1. The employee gives written consent for their details to go in the Accident Book, this is fine for new employees, but legacy employees would need to have an amendment to their contractual terms to create a contractual obligation.
  2. Alternatively, the employees are advised to enter their details for the greater good of protecting people from further workplace injuries. If the employees enter their details and management does not intervene to do it for them, this is in effect explicit consent providing they are not under duress to do it.
  3. Either way – your Accident Policy must be amended to comply with GDPR 2018 and Accident forms are still filed and locked away.

If you want to go down the consent route (option 2) the suggested wording below that employees would need to sign (this can be used as a stand-alone text or inserted into a contract), but remember because accidents are treated as health data explicit (written) consent is needed:

Suggested Accident Book Compliance Wording

I hereby consent to you processing my personal health data which I have shared with you as my employer, I understand that you will manage this information in accordance with GDPR 2018 and the company’s HR storage policy.

I further consent for any workplace accidents that I suffer to be entered into the company’s accident book.

Signature:                                                          Name:                                           Date:

 

So what are you waiting for, go and check your policy and accident books now to ensure you comply!