What is reportable under RIDDOR?


Employers, the self-employed and anyone in control of work premises must report and record particular categories of work-related accidents and “near misses” under RIDDOR.



Safety reporting was downgraded under the coalition government of 2010-15. Most importantly, a requirement to report “over-seven-day” injuries replaced “over-three-day” injuries.


Employers are still under a duty to report occupational cancers, diseases attributable to biological agents, hand-arm vibration syndrome, dermatitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, severe cramp of the arm, tendonitis and occupational asthma. Together these account for around 90% of all ill-health RIDDOR reports to the HSE.


Even so, the 2013 RIDDOR regulations significantly reduced the number of major injuries requiring an automatic RIDDOR report. The classification of “major injuries” to workers was replaced with a shorter list of “specified injuries”; the previous list of 47 types of industrial disease was replaced with eight categories of reportable work-related illness (listed above); and fewer types of dangerous occurrence now require reporting.


They also downgraded the requirement to report injuries to members of the public. This now only applies to incidents where “they are taken from the scene of the accident to hospital for treatment for that injury”.



In summary, work-related incidents which are reportable under RIDDOR are those that include:



• any fatality (Regulation 6);



• specified injuries to workers (see below) (Regulation 4);



• injuries to workers which result in their incapacitation for more than seven days (Regulation 4);



• injuries to non-workers which result in them being taken directly to hospital for treatment, or specified injuries to non-workers which occur on hospital premises (Regulation 5);



• occupational diseases (Regulation 8 and 9); and



• dangerous occurrences (Schedule 2 of RIDDOR).



There are also special reporting requirements for gas incidents.



The list of specified injuries includes the following:


• a fracture, other than to fingers, thumbs and toes;


• amputation of an arm, hand, finger, thumb, leg, foot or toe;


• permanent loss of sight or reduction of sight;


• crush injuries leading to internal organ damage;


• serious burns (covering more than 10% of the body, or damaging the eyes, respiratory system or other vital organs); scalpings (separation of skin from the head) which require hospital treatment;


• unconsciousness caused by head injury or asphyxia;


• any other injury arising from working in an enclosed space, which leads to hypothermia, heat-induced illness or requires resuscitation or admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours.


According to the HSE, “stress” is not reportable as an occupational injury, even when accompanied by a medical certificate stating that it is work-related, because it does not relate to a single definable accident.



Injuries must be reported within 15 days (up from 10 days).



A record of all notifiable events under RIDDOR must be kept for three years. Employers are obliged to record over-three-day injuries, even though they are no longer obliged to report them, and they should use this information to review their health and safety procedures.



Acceptable recording arrangements include using the accident book, keeping photocopies of completed forms for reporting purposes in a suitable file, or recording the details of each accident or reportable disease on a computer, as long as the details can be retrieved and printed out easily.



Details about the extent of the reporting obligation, including detailed guidance on what amounts to a “specified injury”, an “occupational disease” and a “dangerous occurrence”, can be found on the RIDDOR page of the HSE website (www.hse.gov.uk/riddor).


Guidance on these areas is also contained in the HSE’s Reporting accidents and incidents at work — a brief guide to RIDDOR 2013, available from the website (www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg453.pdf).