Digital first aid book: How to act after an accident at work
Accidents happen in almost every company. When employees are injured, this must be recorded in the first aid book—regardless of whether the injury can be treated quickly or requires a visit to the doctor or even hospitalisation. It is essential that the current condition is recorded and that any long-term effects can be traced.
With a software solution for the digital first aid book, you can record and document all (near) accidents and analyse or evaluate them afterwards. This is more practical for your employees and helps with analysing common sources of danger and the subsequent elimination of these. A digital first aid book makes your company safer all around.
In our article, you can find out exactly how a first aid book needs to be maintained and what other advantages a digital solution has. If you would like to read more about the possibilities of digital hazard management, we recommend our free e-book.
Please note: This text refers to German laws and regulations. They may differ in other countries.
Why are entries in the first aid book necessary?
In 2022, the German Social Accident Insurance (Deutsche Gesetzliche Unfallversicherung, DGUV) recorded around 790,000 reportable work accidents. In the previous year, there were around 806,217. Looking at the past few years, there has been a noticeable decline in the number of accidents. This trend is due, among other things, to the increased awareness of employers regarding preventive occupational health and safety.
Last but not least, this includes accurate documentation of work accidents. This gives you an overview of common causes of accidents and dangerous locations. With this knowledge, you can ensure a safer working environment. Furthermore, entries in the first aid book are also extremely important for employees. This allows you to prove to the insurance company precisely which injuries or secondary illnesses can be traced back to an accident at work.
What must be recorded as an occupational accident?
“It’s just a small cut. I don’t have to record it in the first aid book.” That’s what many employees think, but they’re wrong. The DGUV stipulates that
“every first aid treatment [must be] documented.”
(Section 24, paragraph 6, DGUV Regulation 1)
This includes not only the extreme of resuscitation but also dressing a small cut with a plaster.
Even if the documentation effort looks pretty high for a small wound, compliance with this obligation is extremely important. As little as a small cut can lead to infections or other illnesses. Even if this seems unlikely, in an emergency you will be glad you can prove the cause of the illness in a work context.
What must be included in the first aid book?
When an accident occurs, those affected have other things on their mind than looking after the first aid book. It doesn’t matter who makes the entry. It is recommended that the entry be made as early as possible. Alternatively, the essential details can be noted on a piece of paper, for example, and added later.
The following information is required for a first aid book entry:
Type and form of documentation
By retaining the information, you can justify claims for benefits from accident insurance at a later date. This situation arises, for example, in the case of an accident that does not require immediate medical treatment but results in long-term damage to the person affected. The recording proves the work accident or injury occurred during an insured activity. Only then will the accident insurance cover the costs.
The law does not prescribe where and how an accident at work must be recorded. The decision is, therefore, up to the employer and does not necessarily have to be made using a traditional notebook. A digital solution would also be a good option, bringing numerous other advantages.
However, don’t forget that data protection must not be neglected under any circumstances. According to Art. 9 GDPR (or DSGVO in German), the information entered in a first aid book is considered health data. This must be treated sensitively because it contains personal information. Due to its high level of protection, this data may only be viewed and processed under strict conditions. The first aid book should be stored in such a way that only authorised people have access to it. It is also stipulated that the documentation of every first aid measure is kept for five years, locked away or encrypted and then destroyed in accordance with data protection regulations.
A digital first aid book eliminates all of these hurdles. You document each work accident separately, you treat personal data confidentially, and you can easily assign access rights. However, this is not the only advantage of a digital first aid book.
Six reasons for a digital first aid book
Monitoring of injuries and accidents
In an emergency, the first aid book can quickly be forgotten. Conversely, minor injuries are not reported because the effort required to find the book is too high or the person responsible is not on site. When using a digital version, employees can make their entry regardless of location and time. This flexible access also lowers the inhibition threshold for reporting even small incidents.
Flexible access
In an emergency, the first aid book can quickly be forgotten. Conversely, minor injuries are not reported because the effort required to find the book is too high or the person responsible is not on site. When using a digital version, employees can make their entry regardless of location and time. This flexible access also lowers the inhibition threshold for reporting even small incidents.
Compliance with data protection regulations
A digital first aid book allows the company to distribute access authorisations to its employees. Users can only view data, make changes, or view accident statistics if they have the appropriate access authorisations, which can be set in advance. This means that each user only sees what they are actually allowed to see. This allows you to document injuries and work accidents in a legally compliant and data protection-compliant manner.
Legal basis for the collection of health data
The accidents and first aid measures documented in a digital first aid book are necessary written proof that an insured employee has suffered damage to their health. This stored information is the prerequisite for an accident at work to be recognised as such by the responsible professional association and for entitlement to benefits tobe enforced. This can become important at a time when long-term consequences occur. Through digital documentation, you can store everything centrally in one system – which is particularly useful for cross-site evaluations.
Create accident reports digitally
According to Section 193 of the Social Code VII (Sozialgesetzbuch), companies are obliged to report work-related and commuting accidents to the accident insurance provider if they result in the insured person being unable to work for more than three days or in the death of the insured person. A digital first aid book allows accident reports to be created electronically and necessary preventive and corrective actionsto be initiated for everyday work. A template system saves those responsible much effort.
Efficient documentation process
You must comprehensively record (near) accidents and first aid services in the workplace and then document them properly. Digital solutions promise clear input masks and intuitive menu navigation so routine processes can be completed quickly and easily. A digital first aid book lets all information be recorded and managed centrally in one system. Appropriate measures can then be prepared and derived.
Digital accident reporting with iManSys
A digital first aid book offers various advantages that should be weighted and prioritised according to the company’s internal requirements. It is advisable to use a holistic software solution. The “Risks & Hazards” software world of our compliance management software, iManSys, offersexactly such a solution.
The digital first aid book in iManSys allows you to create entries quickly and easily. The user-friendly interface allows you to quickly specify the body part and type of injury and fill in personal data. All employees can independently create entries for themselves or someone else, which only authorised people can view.
iManSys can also be used to prevent accidents. Employees can indicate dangerous situations and appropriate solutions, which allows the risk of accidents to be identified early on. If you would like to learn more about these and other functions, please feel free to find out more about our software solution! Take a look at our software solution “Risks & Hazards”.
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