How To Clear Up After An Accident

The most important time zone for a first aider is the arrival at the scene of the accident, and then dealing with the casualties themselves. However the period that often gets forgotten is the process of clearing up. After an accident has taken place there is a lot to consider, which may well be your responsibility if you are part of the work force. It can also be a team effort whereby everyone can have a job to do.

Clearing up is one of those tasks where people will often step forward and remark "that it's not my job to clear up". However if everyone did this then no clearing up would be done at all. If an accident happens in the public domain e.g. on the road, shopping mall or stadium then the first aider may not have a part to play. In these situations local council representatives have the responsibility of clearing the way. It is not however there responsibility to clear up an accident in the workplace and in these situations a team of first aiders may need to help.

One of the first jobs to do is to make the area as safe as possible. The last thing anyone would want is another accident occurring, and therefore efforts should be made to clear up any hazardous materials. This may involve making calls to waste disposal experts or local tradesman. A good example of this is in the event of someone being electrocuted. Someone would need to take responsibility to make an urgent call out to a electrician, who is qualified to make the area safe again.

Other hazardous materials include blood and bodily fluids. Any materials like this need to be removed from the scene and disposed of safely. In a workplace setting it is useful to stock some of the yellow biohazard bags, which safely seal any hazardous items. The alternative is to put the items in a normal bin, which opens up the risk of infection to other workers. If none of these bags are present then it could be possible to dispose of the items with the ambulance crew.

Part of the clearing up process also involves the filling out of the accident book. This is an important job, which is designed to protect all parties involved at the scene. It seems fickle, but time and time again people have been known to miss work, only then to surface several months later blaming the first aider for their part in the accident. If the accident book has been filled out correctly it will contain witness statements that can back up any false accusations. It is also worth scribbling out any gaps underneath your writing, so that no one can add anything to the events.

Finally after all this hard work it's time to take a break and reflect on what's just happened. It's not the time to go back to work, where you could potentially have an accident yourself. In more serious cases it is also important to chat to others who were present. Keeping things bottled up never helps things going forward.


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Bill Casserley is an experienced first aider, who truly believes “life is for learning”. Would you know how to clear up after an accident? If not then visit the 3 day first aid course blog @ http://www.train-aid.co.uk for video tutorials.



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