Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995
Legislation
Introduction
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 apply to events (deaths or injuries resulting from accidents, instances of disease and dangerous occurrences) which arise out of work activities covered by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. They provide the information upon which the effectiveness of health and safety legislation and the health and safety performance of all sections of industry is checked.
Accidents arising from or in connection with work include accidents associated with:
- The way the undertaking is conducted.
- Any plant or substance used.
- The condition of the premises.
- Acts of physical violence to the employees.
- Suicides associated with certain transport activities.
National Reporting
All accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences may be reported to the Incident Contact Centre. The Contact Centre was established on 1st April 2001 as a single point of contact for receiving all incidents in the UK.
You can report incidents by any of the following routes:
- Telephone - 0845 300 9923
- Internet - www.hse.gov.uk/riddor
- Form - by completing the relevant hard copy form and sending:
- By Facsimile - 0845 3009924
- By post to:
Incident Contact Centre
Caerphilly Business Park
Caerphilly
CF83 3GG
Reportable Events
The law changed on 6 April 2012. If a worker sustains an occupational injury resulting from an accident, their injury should be reported if they are incapacitated for more than seven days. There is no longer a requirement to report occupational injuries that result in more than three days of incapacitation, but you must still keep a record of such injuries.
The following events must be reported by a responsible person in writing to the enforcing authority i.e. the Health and Safety Executive and a record of the event must be kept. If the event is of type 1,2 or 3 then the enforcing authority must be notified immediately by the quickest possible means i.e. by telephone. The telephone call must be followed up by a written report (on form F2508 revised) within 10 days. If an employee dies as the result of a reportable accident within 1 year of its occurrence the employer must report it as soon as it becomes known to him.
- The death of ANY person, whether or not they are at work, as a result of an accident arising out of or in connection with work.
- Any person suffering a specified major injury or condition arising out of an accident connected with work.
- One of a list of specified dangerous occurrences arising out of or in connection with work.
- A person at work being incapacitated for their normal work for more than seven days as a result of injury caused by an accident at work. (An 'over seven day' injury)
- The death of an employee if this occurs some time after a reportable injury which led to that employees death, but not more than one year afterwards.
- A person at work being affected by one of a number of specified diseases, providing that a doctor diagnoses the disease and that a persons job involves a specified work activity.
Responsible Person
The responsible person may be the employer of the person involved, a self employed person, or someone in control of premises where work is carried on. The reporting of any of the events described above would not constitute an admission of liability of any kind, either by the person making the report or anyone else.
Interpretation
Interpretation of the phrase 'arising out of or in connection with work' is important especially in respect of accidents involving members of the general public and others who are not at work at the time. For example a person visiting premises in which construction works are taking place trips over an extension cable of an electric drill and suffers a reportable injury. A motorist driving past a construction site adjacent to a road suffers major injuries after being struck by a falling scaffolding component.
Immediately Reportable Injuries:
- Fracture of the skull, spine or pelvis.
- Fracture of any bone in the arm or wrist but not in the hand and any bone in the leg or ankle but not in the foot.
- The amputation of a hand or foot or a finger, thumb or toe providing the bone or joint is completely severed.
- The loss of an eye or a penetrating injury to an eye, or a hot metal or chemical burn to an eye.
- Injury requiring immediate medical attention or loss of consciousness resulting from an electric shock from any electrical circuit or equipment.
- Loss of consciousness resulting from asphyxia or exposure to harmful substances including biological agents.
- Decompression sickness requiring immediate medical attention.
- Acute illness requiring medical treatment or loss of consciousness resulting from the 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 infected material.
- Any other injury which results in the injured person being admitted into hospital for more than 24 hours.
Dangerous Occurrences
Dangerous occurrences which must be reported include:
- The collapse of, overturning of ,or the failure of any load bearing part of any lift, crane, derrick or mobile powered access platform, but not any winch, teagle, pulley block, gin wheel, transporter or runway. Any excavator or any pile driving frame or rig having an overall operating height of more than 7 metres.
- The explosion, collapse or busting of any closed vessel including a boiler or boiler tube, in which the internal pressure was above or below atmospheric pressure, which might have been liable to cause the death of or serious injury to any person or which resulted in the stoppage of the plant for more than 24 hours.
- Electrical short circuit or overload attended by fire or explosion which resulted in the stoppage of the plant for more than 24 hours or which might have resulted in the death or serious injury of any person.
- An explosion or fire occurring at place which results in the stoppage of work in that place for more than 24 hours where such occurrence was due to the ignition of process materials, their by-products or finished products.
- The collapse or partial collapse of a scaffold which is more than 5 metres high which results in a substantial part of that scaffold falling or overturning. Where the scaffold is slung or suspended, a collapse or part collapse of the suspension arrangements which causes the work platform or cradle to fall more than 5 metres.
- Any unintended collapse or partial collapse of any building or structure under construction, reconstruction, alteration or demolition, or of any false-work, involving the fall of more than five tonnes of material, or, any floor or wall of any building being used as a place of work which is not under construction, reconstruction, alteration or demolition.
- Any incident in which plant or equipment either comes into contact with an uninsulated electric line in which the voltage exceeds 200 volts, or causes an electrical discharge from such a line by coming into close proximity to it.
Reportable Diseases
The list of reportable diseases is extensive and cannot be reproduced here but they include poisonings, skin diseases, lung diseases, cancers, infections of various sorts and conditions such as white finger caused by vibration.
Record Keeping
The regulations require various records to be kept for a minimum period of 3 years. Such records must be kept at the place where the work to which they relate is carried on or, if this is not practicable, at the responsible persons place of business. Such records must include:
- The date and time of the occurrence.
- Full name and occupation of the person affected.
- The nature of the injury.
- Where the affected person is not an employee the following is also required:
- The full name and status (Visitor etc) of the injured person.
- Nature of the injury.
- Place accident occurred.
- Description of the circumstances.
- Date incident was first reported and the method used.
- In the case of a reportable disease the records must show:
- Date of the diagnosis of the disease.
- Name and occupation of the person affected.
- Name or nature of the disease.
- Date the disease was first reported.
- Method used for the first report
In addition to these requirements all injuries, no matter how minor, must be recorded in an accident book and kept for a minimum period of three years.