Reportable and non reportable accidents

What is a reportable accident?

A reportable accident is an accident with serious injury. With serious injury is meant death (within a year after the accident), permanent injury and injury with hospitalisation within 24 hours and for 24 hours (or a night). This means that an accident resulting in a broken leg and a day-visit at the hospital with the victim recovering at home for 6 weeks is not a reportable accident.

Non Recordable Incident

Definition

A non recordable incident is the workplace incident which does not involve death, injury or illness that requires medical treatment beyond first aid, days away from work, restricted work, transfer to another job, loss of consciousness, a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional. Non recordable incidents are those which are outside the scope of Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) record keeping requirements.

explains Non Recordable Incident

Non recordable incidents include one or more of the following criteria:

• Visit to a physician solely for observation or counseling
• The conduct of diagnostic procedures
• Incidents which require first aid, such as:
• Using a non-prescription medication
• Administering tetanus immunizations
• Skin - wound cleaning, flushing or soaking, using bandages, removing splinters or foreign materials,
• Eye - using eye patches, taking out foreign bodies from the eye
• Using hot or cold therapy
• Using any non-rigid means of support - elastic bandages, wraps, belts etc.
• Draining fluid from a blister, fingernail or toenail
• Using finger guards
• Using physical therapy or massages
• Drinking fluids for relief of heat stress

Non reportable vehicle accidents VS reportable vehicle accidents

Questions are often asked about when police are required to investigate vehicle accidents. In Pennsylvania, there are two types of vehicle accidents, reportable and non -reportable crashes. Here is the difference between the two:

Reportable crashes: These crashes MUST be reported to PENNDOT for reporting purposes and must be investigated by the police. This means that a vehicle received damage to the degree that it can NOT be driven away under its own power, (towed) OR any type of injury or death is reported, this includes complaint of pain. If EITHER one or BOTH criteria is met, then this is a reportable accident and PENNDOT must be advised of such, along with vehicle insurance companies. In rare cases, if a police department does not investigate this type of accident, then it is the responsibility of the drivers of the vehicles to fill out a PENNDOT accident form and mail it in to the department. All of these type accidents must be reported by police or drivers to the state. That form can be found on line at PENNDOT's website.

Non-reportable crashes: Everything else that does not fall under the above category. These types of crashes fall under "fender bender" accidents. The police departments  are NOT required to investigate or even respond to these type crashes. Most departments will do so as a courtesy to the drivers, but nothing requires them to handle them. These types of accidents are when drivers exchange information with each other directly. After doing so, the drivers have an option to go through their insurance company or they can handle it themselves without insurance company involvement.  These type of accidents dont require a police report to be kept on file. Again, most departments will respond and handle these types, but there is NO requirement to do so.

Also, if you are involved in a non-reportable crash, the law requires you to MOVE the vehicle from the roadway or travel lane as quickly as possible. Drivers can actually be fined under PA law if their vehicle can be moved off the road and they refuse to do so. Drivers sometimes think that when they are involved in an accident, the vehicles must NOT be moved until the officer arrives on scene to observe the vehicle positions. This is NOT true anymore, the law requiring drivers to move them off the road, if possible, is for the safety of the occupants involved and the other motorists on the highway. If the vehicles can not be moved due to the damage, abandoned the vehicle, (if your not injured) and get off the highway for your own safety until help arrives. Do not stand on road or by your car or you risk being injured by another motorist on the roadway.