Retaining first aid, accident and medical records

Learn what records you need to keep following incidents in school that need first aid, as well as how long to keep the records to make sure you're complying with UK GDPR and relevant legislation.

updated on 26 May 2023

School types: All · School phases: All

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Contents

All schools must have a health and safety policy, where you outline how you retain accident and first aid records.

Download and adapt our model policy to suit your school's context, so you can stay compliant.

The Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979 require schools with 10 or more employees to keep an accident book, and to retain records in this book for at least 3 years.

The Information and Records Management Society (IRMS) toolkit says accident books should be kept for 3 years after the last entry in the book.

Learn more about accident recording and reporting in another of our articles.

This is not the same as the