Data Protection during an accident / incident investigation

[johnrich151]

I work as a trainer / investigator for a company that assists other organisations with carrying out incident investigations, and provides training in same.

While teaching a course this week, we mentioned the importance of gathering information / documentation about employees who have been involved in incidents. A delegate said that if they ring their HR departments and ask for information about employees, the response they usually get is "no sorry, can't tell you anything about them, data protection".

I would deem information about any known physical limitations / previous involvement in incidents / employment history etc. to be potentially relevant to an investigation (depending on the seriousness of the incident).

Given that many investigations after safety incidents are a legal requirement under the Health and Safety at Work Act, am I correct in thinking that these fall under the exemption in the Data Protection Act, more specifically 'Disclosures required by law', or 'Regulatory activity'?

[stevemLS]

Re: Data Protection during an accident / incident investigation

I don't think you can apply such a broad brush exemption and it is wholly dependent on the nature of the incident which is being investigated.

I am a lawyer working in the NHS and frequently have to advise on the release of patient information to people investigating matters of one sort or another and no two answers are the same.

[johnrich151]

Re: Data Protection during an accident / incident investigation

I appreciate the type of investigation will play a large part.

So if I were to use the example of an incident on a building site where a worker is badly injured by a moving digger. There is suspicion that the driver operating the digger had been involved in a similar incident on another site, to which there would be a report in their employee record held by HR.

As an investigator I would want to know about this, along with details of their training record and any disciplinary action taken after the last incident.

Would I be in a position to gain access to this information based on the serious injury and the chance of prosecution? The main issue I'm getting at as well is I think HR departments often refuse to provide information citing the good old excuse of 'sorry, data protection' when actually they don't really know what they are and aren't allowed to disclose.

[Tools]

Re: Data Protection during an accident / incident investigation

Information relating to previous incidents, as you know, should be reported in an accident book or as many companies keep, a "near miss" log. The accident book should be on public display and accessible at all times.