Five step guide to RIDDOR

We all know how important it is to keep people safe and healthy at work; but when accidents occur do you know and understand the RIDDOR process and how this will be enforced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)?

What is RIDDOR?

RIDDOR stands for the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. If you are an employer, self-employed or responsible for the work premises, RIDDOR is the law that makes it your responsibility to report and keep records of work related death and serious injury including acts of physical violence to a worker, as well as some industrial diseases and other dangerous occurrences.

What must be reported?

• Work-related accidents

• Occupational diseases

• Dangerous occurrences

• Gas incidents.

Work-related accidents - a RIDDOR report is required when a work-related accident has resulted in death or serious injury to workers and non-workers. Types of reportable injury include amputations, permanent loss or reduction of sight, some fractures, serious burns and injuries to non-workers who are taken to hospital for treatment.

Occupational diseases - diagnosis of certain occupational diseases must be reported. These include carpal tunnel syndrome, hand arm vibration syndrome, occupational asthma, any occupational cancer and any other diseases caused by the workplace.

Dangerous occurrences are ‘near miss events’ with the potential to cause harm, for example plant or equipment coming into contact with overhead power lines.

Reportable gas incidents - if you are a distributor, filler, importer or supplier of flammable gas and you learn that someone has died, lost consciousness, or been taken to hospital for treatment to an injury arising in connection with the gas you distributed, filled, imported or supplied.

Timescale for reporting

RIDDOR law requires the responsible persons to report to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) or other appropriate enforcing authority within ten working days of an incident.

You will also need to provide a report when workers have been off sick for over seven days. In these circumstances, you have 15 days from the day of the incident to report it to the enforcing authority.

What must be recorded?

You must keep a record of:

Any accident, occupational disease or dangerous occurrence which requires reporting under RIDDOR.

Any other occupational accident causing injuries that result in a worker being away from work or incapacitated for more than three consecutive days (not counting the day of the accident but including any weekends or other rest days).

Remember - you must produce RIDDOR records when asked by an enforcing authority.

How to Report

Online - complete the appropriate online report form at www.hse.gov.uk/riddor. The form will then be submitted directly to the RIDDOR database. You will receive a copy for your records.

Telephone - a telephone service is provided for reporting fatal and major injuries only. Call the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 9923 (opening hours Monday to Friday 8.30 am to 5 pm).

Reporting out of hours - it is not usually necessary to report an incident out of hours but the HSE does have an out-of-hours duty officer to respond to a major incident.

More information on when, and how, to report very serious or dangerous incidents, can be found here: www.hse.gov.uk/contact.

HR Hotspot. Theresa Pruvost from Harris HR Consultancy Ltd say’s,

“If you are reporting or recording an accident under RIDDOR then it may follow that an employee will be absent from work because of their illness or injury.

Employees have a right to statutory sick pay (SSP)if they are eligible. Employers may provide a sick pay scheme which offers more. Details are usually found in the employees’ contract of employment or the company’s sickness absence policy.

Employees who qualify for SSP will become eligible for the payment when they are sick for at least four days in a row (including non-working days). SSP it is paid from the fourth ‘qualifying day’ (a day an employee is normally required to work and get paid for). The first 3 qualifying days are called ‘waiting days’.

SSP it is paid for up to 28 weeks".