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It
is usually clear whether or not a death involved an
"accident" and whether or not it arose "in
connection with work", but this is not always
the case.
The
regulations do not define accident in any clear way,
but section 2(1) does say that an "accident"
includes:
| (a) |
an
act of non-consensual physical violence done to
a person at work; and |
| (b) |
an
act of suicide which occurs on, or in the course
of the operation of, a relevant transport system; |
Therefore
most suicides - other than those on the railways -
are not reportable.
Section
2(2) also says that:
"an
accident ... shall include a reference to an accident
.... attributable to the manner of conducting an
undertaking, the plant or substances used for the
purposes of an undertaking and the condition of
the premises so used or any part of them."
Because
the term 'accident' is not properly defined it may
be necessary to consider what is the normal dictionary
definition of the word. This says that:
"anything
that happens by chance without an apparent cause."
"Arising
out of or in connection with work"
To determine whether or not this is the case it
is important to consider the work activity of the
duty holder.
| The
CCA was involved in advising on a case where a
person died from a heart attack in a health club
after using a running machine. The evidence suggested
that a trainer at the club had told him to continue
using the machine despite the man informing him
of a pain in his chest. When the man subsequently
had a heart attack in the changing room, the health
club did not use its defribulator. The question
arose whether or not this death was (a) an accident
and (b) arose out of or in connection with work.
We argued that it was an accident, and that it
arise out of the work activities of the health
club. The Local Authority involved accepted that
it was reportable - and as a result an investiation
took place by the local authority and an inquest
was heald in front of a jury. |
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