Should I or Shouldn’t I?
We all have the odd accident at work, whether it’s spilling hot tea on our hand or trapping our fingers in the filing cabinet drawer, hopefully nothing serious; there are also the odd time when everyone seems to be getting affected by a bug that’s going round. But what constitutes a serious incident /accident and at what point do you have to report it by law? In April 1996, the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences was introduced this is commonly known as the RIDDOR Regulations. Under these regulations all employers, self employed and those in control of premises are required by law to report specific workplace accidents and incidents that arise out of, or in connection with their work activities to the Health and Safety Executive or the Local Authority. The regulations apply to all organisations based in Great Britain, but not Northern Ireland where separate procedures apply. These regulations were introduced to help the enforcing authorities identify where and how risks arise within industry as well as provide them with the necessary information to enable them to undertake investigations when serious accidents occur. The regulations have been subsequently amended in 2012 with a change to the reporting process. Naturally, we all hope that the need to report accidents or incidents under these regulations will seldom occur. Although, even in organisations with the highest health and safety standards accidents can and will arise. It is therefore important that you are familiar and comply with the regulations to prevent any possible prosecutions. The first requirement is to ensure that there is a responsible person appointed within your organisation who can report any incidents or accidents that occur to the enforcing authority as well as a deputy who can fulfil this role if the main person is off work due to annual leave or sickness. These positions are usually given to senior members of the organisations management team. If you are unfortunate enough to have an incident which has resulted in someone being killed as a result of the work activity, then it is important to ensure that it is reported to the enforcing authority immediately. This will often be done by the police when they arrive on the scene, following any call to the emergency services, however it is still the responsibility of the employer or the person in control of the premises to ensure that this action has been completed. Under these circumstances it will be imperative to telephone the enforcing authority so that they can visit the scene as early as possible to undertake their investigations. When an incident occurs and a person suffers a major injury as a result or in connection with a work activity, it will again be important to report the incident to the enforcing authority by the quickest practical means. This should be done as soon as possible after the injured party has received first aid treatment or gone to hospital. This should be followed up by sending the approved form within 10 days to the relevant enforcing authority. If an injury occurs and a member of staff is incapacitated and is unable to carryout his/her normal duties, for more than seven consecutive days then the incident must be reported. When calculating the time off, the day of the accident is not counted, however, the period afterwards is and this includes weekends. The responsible person should report the incident as soon as practicable and in any event within 15 days of the accident. On occasions you may find that a person who is not in your employment is injured i.e. a customer, hotel or care home resident, student, pupil, etc. Following your investigations, if you identify that they were injured as a result arising out, or in connection with the organisation then it must be reported to the authority. The quickest and easiest way to notify the authority is to complete and send an appropriate report online. This can be done at www.hse.gov.uk/riddor and by clicking send it will be submitted directly to the RIDDOR database. Once complete a copy of the report will be sent back for your future records. In the event of a fatal or major injury these must be reported by telephone by contacting the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 9923 between the hours 8:30am to 5pm. It is advisable to take a note of the telephone conversation including the time, the name of the call handler and details that were given relating to the incident being notified. The RIDDOR Regulations also cover Dangerous Occurrences. These are incidents that have the potential to cause a possible fatality or serious injury such as: - Collapse, overturning or failure of load-bearing parts of lifts and lifting equipment; explosioncollapse or bursting of any closed vessel or associated pipe workfailure of any freight container in any of its load-bearing partsplant or equipment coming into contact with overhead power lineselectrical short circuit or overload causing fire or explosion 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. This list is not exhaustive and further reference should be made to the HSE web site. In the unfortunate event of an accident, within your organisation it is imperative that you undertake a thorough investigation to establish what and why it has happened. This investigation may highlight some areas that need addressing or may indicate that your risk assessments are slightly incorrect and additional safety measures are required to be implemented. Prior to disturbing any accident scene it will always be wise to contact the enforcing authority as they may be required to visit the premises to undertake an investigation. Suitable records should be made and kept on file of all investigations that are carried out as well as copies of any reporting forms compiled. These may be required in the event of a claim at a later date. Although there is no legal requirement to notify your insurance brokers it is always wise to inform them you have had an accident within your organisation as this will enable them to deal with any future potential claims that may arise as a result of the accident.