‘Fill out forms yourself or put your claim at risk’

1 July 2024

“Please fill out accident reports yourself or risk having your claim dismissed’, warns the Federation’s health and safety lead.

Patrick McBrearty is urging members to follow up on any near misses, and on-duty accidents by completing their own post-incident forms, rather than a colleague doing so.

His calls come after he was contacted by a solicitor - who works closely with West Midlands Police Federation and other branches supporting officers - who explained that cases are being dismissed due to inaccurate post-incident reporting. 

“Ultimately, if you have an accident or a near miss, then you must complete all post-incident forms, including the near-miss reports and e-safety forms - at the earliest possible convenience,” said Patrick.

“If you cannot, for whatever reason, fill out the form yourself, you need to get a copy of the reports ASAP so you can verify, challenge or change the information and ensure it is all accurate.”

Supervisor

When a West Midlands officer is assaulted, a 10-point plan is followed, which involves the incident being investigated - with the same care, compassion, and commitment as an assault on a member of the public.  The plan states that reports must be filled out by the supervisor. It also states that ‘to achieve a successful prosecution, the best evidence must be presented.  

Patrick explained that it is becoming more common for colleagues or supervisors to fill out the forms on behalf of someone else when an accident or near miss occurs - without input from the officer involved - which can seriously impact the quality of the evidence presented during the investigation. 

“I appreciate that the intentions of those completing a form on behalf of someone else are good because they are wanting to help out a colleague, however, what they might not realise is that by doing so, they can seriously impact that person’s claim,” continued Patrick. 

“I’m not suggesting that they would be lying on the form, but we must remember that two people can have two very different accounts of the same incident.