Questions and Answers - based on RIDDOR

In this month’s question and answer section, Mike Ellerby looks at some of the issues associated with reporting workplace accidents and incidents under RIDDOR.

Q - What is RIDDOR?

RIDDOR stands for the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995.

These regulations place a legal duty on employers (and self-employed people and people in control of premises) to report:

• work-related deaths
• major injuries
• over-three-day injuries
• certain work related diseases, and
• certain dangerous occurrences (near miss accidents)

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Q - Who do I need to report to under RIDDOR?

Originally, under RIDDOR, reportable and notifiable incidents needed to be reported to your enforcing authority. In most instances, this will be either the HSE or the Local Authority. This information should be filled in in the relevant box on the Health & Safety Law Poster displayed within your premises. Reporting can now be done through the Incident Contact Centre (see below).

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Q - What is reportable under RIDDOR?

Deaths

Workplace deaths (including those to employees and to members of the public) are notifiable to the enforcing authority without delay. Without delay can be considered to mean “by telephone”. After the initial notification, the completed incident form must be submitted within ten days.

Major injuries

Where a workplace accident to an employee results in a major injury (or when a member of the public suffers an injury and is taken to hospital from the site of the accident) the employer must notify the enforcing authority without delay (see below.

Reportable major injuries include:

• fracture (other than to fingers, thumbs and toes)
• amputation
• dislocation of the shoulder, hip, knee or spine
• loss of sight (temporary or permanent)
• chemical or hot metal burn to the eye or any penetrating injury to the eye
• injury resulting from an electric shock or electrical burn leading to unconsciousness, or requiring resuscitation or admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours
• any other injury: leading to hypothermia, heat-induced illness or unconsciousness; or rquiring resuscitation; or requiring admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours
• unconsciousness caused by asphyxia or exposure to harmful substance or biological agent
• acute illness requiring medical treatment, or loss of consciousness arising from absorption of any substance by inhalation, ingestion or through the skin
• acute illness requiring medical treatment where there is reason to believe that this resulted from exposure to a biological agent or its toxins or infected material

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Reportable Over Three Day injuries (or three day loss time accidents)

Reportable over three day injuries are those related to an accident connected with work (including an act of physical violence) where the employee (or self-employed person working on your premises) suffers an over-three-day injury. In this instance, the incident must be reported to the enforcing authority within ten days. To be counted as an over-3-day injury, the incident must be one that is not major (else it would be reportable anyway) but results in the injured person being away from work or unable to do their full range of their normal duties for more than three days. This last part is important and is the part often overlooked by employers.

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Diseases

If a doctor notifies the employer that one of their employees is suffering from a reportable work-related disease, then the employer must report it to the enforcing authority.

A full list of reportable diseases may be found in Schedule 3 of the Regulations, but in essence these include:

• Certain poisonings;
• Some skin diseases such as occupational dermatitis, skin cancer, chrome ulcer, oil folliculitis/acne;
• Lung diseases including: occupational asthma, farmer's lung, pneumoconiosis, asbestosis, mesothelioma;
• Various infections, such as: leptospirosis; hepatitis; tuberculosis; anthrax; legionellosis and tetanus;
• Other conditions such as: occupational cancer; certain musculoskeletal disorders; decompression illness and hand-arm vibration syndrome.

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Dangerous Occurrences

Reportable dangerous occurrence are a form of near miss (or near hit) accident that did not result in a reportable injury, but which could have done so. Schedule 2 of the Regulations contains a large list of such reportable dangerous occurrence.

In précis, these include:

• Collapse, overturning or failure of load-bearing parts of lifts and lifting equipment;
• Explosion, collapse or bursting of any closed vessel or associated pipework;
• Failure of any freight container in any of its load-bearing parts;
• Plant or equipment coming into contact with overhead power lines;
• Electrical short circuit or overload causing fire or explosion;
• Any unintentional explosion, misfire, failure of demolition to cause the intended collapse, projection of material beyond a site boundary, injury caused by an explosion;Accidental release of a biological agent likely to cause severe human illness;
• Failure of industrial radiography or irradiation equipment to de-energise or return to its safe position after the intended exposure period;
• Malfunction of breathing apparatus while in use or during testing immediately before use;
• Failure or endangering of diving equipment, the trapping of a diver, an explosion near a diver, or an uncontrolled ascent;
• Collapse or partial collapse of a scaffold over five metres high, or erected near water where there could be a risk of drowning after a fall;
• Unintended collision of a train with any vehicle;
• Failure of any load-bearing fairground equipment, or derailment or unintended collision of cars or trains;
• Explosion or fire causing suspension of normal work for over 24 hours;
• Sudden, uncontrolled release in a building of quantitative of flammable gases or liquids
• Accidental release of any substance which may damage health.

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