Accident Register & Post-Accident Report

On a construction site an accident isn't a question of "if", but "when". Someone will fall off scaffolding, catch their hand in a saw, slip on a wet slab. And then days don't count - hours do. What you do in the first day decides whether you'll have peace of mind, or drag this through courts and PIP (Polish Labour Inspectorate) inspections for the next two years. In this article I show you step by step what to do after a workplace accident, what the accident investigation team looks like, the report, the register and that dreaded Z-KW card. And if you don't want to piece this together from the internet through the night - in the BudoReady package you've got ready-made templates: the post-accident report, the accident register and a procedure guide, you just fill in the details.

Key points at a glance

• The order after an accident is rigid: help the injured person → secure the scene → report. Not the other way round.
• The accident scene must not be altered until the inspection. Tidying up "to make it clean" is one of the most common and most dangerous mistakes.
• A serious or fatal accident you report without delay to PIP and the prosecutor's office.
• You appoint an accident investigation team that establishes the circumstances and draws up the report - usually within 14 days.
• You keep an accident register and draw up a statistical accident card (Z-KW) for the Central Statistical Office (GUS).

The basis: what the law says and why this isn't "paperwork for show"

The employer's duties after a workplace accident are governed primarily by Article 234 of the Labour Code and the Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 1 July 2009 on establishing the circumstances and causes of workplace accidents. That's where the whole procedure comes from: securing the scene, the investigation team, the report, the register.

And it makes no difference whether you employ two people or twenty. If you have a worker on an employment contract and something happens to them at work - these duties apply to you just as they do to a big firm. The PIP inspector doesn't care that you're "small". They care whether you have the documentation. If you don't - you're already into criminal liability (Article 220 of the Penal Code), and that's a completely different league from a fine.

The first minutes: save the person, not the papers

Sounds obvious, but in a panic people do foolish things. First the injured person. Give first aid, call the ambulance (112 or 999) if the situation requires. A first-aid kit must be on the site, must be stocked, and someone has to know where it hangs. This is not the moment to go searching.

If there's still a hazard - gas, electricity, an unstable structure, a hanging element - move the other people away. You don't want a second casualty because someone went to "see what happened".

Secure the accident scene - and move nothing

This is the point most firms trip up on. After giving help, the accident scene stays as it is. You don't tidy up, don't move the scaffolding, don't put away the saw, don't sweep. Until the inspection by the investigation team (and, in serious and fatal cases, also by PIP and the prosecutor), the scene must be untouched.

I know the reflex: "we need to sort this out, the client's waiting". But disturbing the accident scene works against you. If someone later challenges the circumstances - and the injured person or their family can - then a disturbed scene and no photos looks as if you were hiding something.

What to do instead of tidying:

• Take photos from several angles - a wide shot and details (tool, safeguards, surface, markings).
• Note down or record who the witnesses were - name, surname, contact.
• Cordon off or mark the zone so nobody accidentally moves anything.

Changing the layout of the accident scene is permissible only when it's necessary to save people or prevent a further hazard - and even then it's worth documenting it with photos before the change.

Reporting the accident: to whom and when

Here it splits into two paths, depending on severity.

Minor accident

The worker reports the accident to their supervisor, you launch the internal procedure - you appoint the investigation team and you carry on establishing the circumstances. There's no duty to call PIP for an ordinary, minor accident.

Serious, fatal or collective accident

Here it's firm: without delay you notify the competent district labour inspector (PIP) and the prosecutor. "Without delay" means straight away, as soon as you find out - not the next day, not "once I get to it". This stems directly from Article 234 of the Labour Code.

Failing to report is one of the gravest mistakes you can make. The inspector will find out anyway - from the hospital, the ambulance service, the social insurance institution (ZUS). And then, on top of the accident itself, comes a charge of concealment.

The investigation team: who establishes it

The circumstances and causes of the accident are established by the accident investigation team. In the standard composition that's an OSH service employee and a social labour inspector.

And here the micro-firm problem appears: you have neither your own OSH person nor a social labour inspector. Relax - the regulations foresee this. In a small firm the OSH service function can be performed by a specialist from outside the workplace (an external OSH provider you have a contract with), and where there's no social labour inspector, the team includes another worker trained in OSH. In practice, at a small contractor the team is most often an external OSH specialist plus a designated worker.

Important: the injured person and the person responsible for the event should not rule on themselves. That's why it's good to have someone from outside on the team - it also protects you, because the report is more credible.

The post-accident report - on time and without gaps

The team establishes what happened, why, whether it was a workplace accident and whether the injured person contributed to the event. It all lands in the post-accident report.

The report is drawn up on time - as a rule within 14 days of the accident being reported. If for justified reasons you can't make it (e.g. you're waiting for an opinion), this has to be described in the report. Don't bury your head in the sand and don't leave blank fields - an unfinished report is worse than none.

The report must include, among other things:

• details of the injured person and the employer,
• a description of the circumstances and causes of the accident,
• a finding of whether it was a workplace accident,
• identified breaches of the regulations (or the absence of any),
• conclusions and preventive measures so it doesn't happen again.

The injured person (or the family in the case of a fatal accident) has the right to read the report before it is approved and to raise comments. You, as the employer, approve the report. You keep a copy together with the rest of the documentation.

The workplace accident register and the Z-KW card

After the report there are still two things micro-firms routinely forget.

Workplace accident register

This is a record kept by you of all workplace accidents. There you enter, among other things, details of the injured person, the date and place of the accident, the consequences, information from the report, the date the Z-KW card was submitted. The register must be kept on an ongoing basis - it's not a document you make up "when an inspection comes".

Statistical accident card Z-KW

This is a statistical form for the Central Statistical Office (GUS). You draw up the statistical accident card Z-KW on the basis of the approved report and submit it by the set deadline. The card splits into a part completed straight away and a part filled in later (e.g. once the consequences are established). It's a duty that's easy to forget - and a missing card is another point the inspector will tick against you.

Step-by-step procedure - the first 24 hours

Cut this out and pin it up in the container. This is how it should go, in order:

1. Give first aid to the injured person, call the ambulance if needed (112 / 999).
2. Remove further hazard - move people away, cut the power/machine, secure the structure.
3. Secure the accident scene - don't tidy or move anything. Take photos, note the witnesses.
4. Assess the severity. If the accident is serious, fatal or collective - notify PIP and the prosecutor without delay.
5. Appoint the investigation team (OSH specialist + designated worker / social labour inspector).
6. Carry out the inspection and gather evidence - photos, witness statements, the injured person's account (if they can give one).
7. Draw up the post-accident report on time (usually within 14 days) and give it to the injured person to read before approval.
8. Approve the report, enter the accident into the register and draw up the Z-KW card for GUS.

Points 1-4 are that first day, where the most is decided. The rest unfolds more calmly, but still to deadlines.

How documentation protects you, not just the worker

Many foremen think the report and register are "for ZUS and for the worker". Not true. This is your shield.

If you have the circumstances properly written up, photos, witness statements and a report with conclusions - then in a dispute, a PIP inspection or a case under Article 220 of the Penal Code, you show that you reacted correctly. That the worker had training, had equipment, had an instruction, and the accident happened despite the procedures being followed, or through the injured person's own fault. Without documentation you're defenceless - your word against the other side's, and the court looks at paper, not declarations.

That's why a well-drawn-up report can turn a case around 180 degrees. It's the difference between "the employer was negligent" and "the employer fulfilled all their duties".

The most common mistakes that cost the most

• Disturbing the accident scene. Tidying up "to make it clean" before the inspection. A classic that looks like hiding evidence.
• Failing to report to PIP and the prosecutor in a serious or fatal accident. The gravest mistake - on top of the accident comes a charge of concealment.
• No team formed with an external OSH specialist - the injured person "rules on themselves", the report is open to challenge.
• An unfinished report with blank fields or overdue without explanation.
• No register and no Z-KW card. The inspector ticks that off on the spot.
• No photos and no witness details. After a few days nobody remembers anything, and the scene is long since dismantled.

And one more thing from a calendar perspective: from 8 July 2026 the PIP reform comes in, strengthening the Inspectorate's powers. All the more reason not to enter inspection season with holey accident documentation. If you want to check whether you're ready for the inspector's visit, here's a ready-made pre-inspection PIP checklist.

Have these templates ready before you need them - the STANDARD package

After an accident you don't have time to cobble together a report from scratch or hunt through forums for what a register looks like. That's when it has to be ready. So in the STANDARD package from BudoReady (449 zł) you get a complete set of accident documentation for a construction firm: a post-accident report template, a workplace accident register and a step-by-step procedure guide - plus all the basic OSH documentation from the STARTER package. The templates are bilingual (Polish and Ukrainian), so a crew from across the eastern border also knows what's going on.

You fill in your company details and you've got the papers a PIP inspector expects - without overpaying for a full-time OSH officer. The promotional price applies until 7 July 2026, just before the PIP reform comes in.

See the STANDARD package and safeguard your firm against an accident →

This article is informational and does not replace individual legal advice or consultation with an OSH specialist. Document templates require individual adaptation to the realities of your company and specific job posts, and the current legal position is worth verifying as of the date of use.