Draft Guidance for Review

RIDDOR 2013

(Draft guidance for review)

Sections

1.  Accident Reporting Requirements – Key Points & Exemptions

2.  Who is the responsible person?

3.  Types of Reportable incidents

4.  When do I need to make a report?

5.  Ways to submit a RIDDOR report

6.  Specified Injuries to Workers

7.  Occupational Diseases

8.  Exposure to carcinogens, mutagens and biological agents

9.  Dangerous Occurrences

10. What must be reported - Examples

Note: Purpose of This Document

This document contains the draft text of the proposed web-based guidance for RIDDOR 2013. As ultimately, this guidance will be published in web-format, users will be channelled to the appropriate sections via hyperlinks. The vast majority of users will only need to refer to that section of guidance, which is relevant for their needs. Therefore, it should not be considered as a linear document, which users will read from start to finish. Each section is essentially self-contained, and whilst most are aimed at a generic business audience, some present more specialist content, such as those relating to offshore reporting requirements.

Current information at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/key-elements.htm

Accident Reporting Requirements – Key Points & Exemptions

Key Points

Regulations 4 - 6 cover work-related deaths and injuries, other than for certain Gas Incidents {link} RIDDOR requires deaths and injuries to be reported only when:

·  There has been an accident which caused the injury;

·  The accident was work-related; and

·  The injury is of a type that is reportable.

What is “an accident”?

In relation to RIDDOR, an accident is a discrete, identifiable, unintended incident which causes physical injury. This specifically includes acts of non-consensual violence to people at work.

Injuries themselves, e.g. “feeling a sharp twinge,” are not accidents. There must be an identifiable event, external to the body which causes the injury, e.g. being struck by a falling object. Cumulative exposures to hazards which eventually cause injury (e.g. repetitive lifting) are not classed as “accidents” under RIDDOR.

What is meant by “work-related”?

RIDDOR only requires accidents to be reported if they arise “out of or in connection with work.” The fact that an accident occurs at work premises does not, of itself, mean that the accident is work-related -there must be some indication that the work activity contributed to the circumstances of the accident. An accident should be considered as “work-related” if any of the following factors played a significant role:

·  the way the work was carried out;

·  any machinery, other plant, substances or equipment used for the work; or

·  the condition of the site or premises where the accident happened.

What are “reportable” injuries?

The following injuries are reportable under RIDDOR:

·  The death of any person (Regulation 6)

·  Specified Injuries to workers (Regulation 4)

·  Injuries to workers which result in their incapacitation for more than 7 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)

Exemptions

Reports are not required under RIDDOR in relation to the following: (Regulation 14)

·  Accidents during medical or dental treatment or during any examination carried out or supervised by a doctor or dentist.

·  Accidents involving the movement of a vehicle on a public road (other than those associated with: loading or unloading operations; work alongside the road such as road maintenance; escapes of substances from the vehicle; and accidents involving trains.)

·  Accidents to members of the armed forces on duty;

Reports are not required under RIDDOR where this would duplicate other similar reporting requirements as listed. These include reports required under:

·  Nuclear Installations Act 1965

·  Merchant Shipping Act 1988

·  Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999

·  Civil Aviation (Investigation of Military Air Accidents at Civil Aerodromes) Regulations 2005

·  Civil Aviation (Investigation of Air Accidents and Incidents) Regulations 1996

·  The Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002

Can HSE grant an exemption to RIDDOR?

HSE has limited power to grant exemptions to the requirements of these Regulations. Exemptions can only be granted where the provisions of European legislation allow and where the Executive is satisfied that the health and safety of any people likely to be affected by them will not be adversely affected.

Current information at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/are-you.htm

Who is the responsible person?

The page explains who should and should not report incidents underthe reporting regulations (RIDDOR).

An employer or in control of premises

If you are an employer

If you are an employer, you must report any work-related deaths,and certain work-related injuries, cases of disease,and near misses involving your employees wherever they are working.

If you are in control of premises,

If you are in control of premises, you must report any work-related deaths, certaininjuries to members of the public and self-employed people on your premises, and dangerous occurrences (some near miss incidents) that occur on your premises.

Self-employed

If you are working in someone else’s work premises and suffer either a specified injury or an over-seven-day injury, then the person in control of the premises will be responsible for reporting, so, where possible, you should make sure they know about it.

If there is a reportable accident while you are working on your own premises or in domestic premises, or if a doctor tells you that you have a work-related disease or condition, then you need to report it.

Members of the public, employees, injured persons and their representatives

The RIDDOR reporting system is only; for notification of those incidents which require reports under the RIDDOR regulations. Reports should only be submitted "Responsible Persons" with duties under these regulations, such as employers, the self-employed, and those in control of work premises where incidents occur. It is not appropriate for injured persons, members of the public or others who do not have duties under RIDDOR to use this reporting system.

If you are an employee and have suffered a work-related injury, or have been diagnosed as suffering from a work related reportable disease, you should inform your employer. If you are concerned that your employer or other Responsible Person has not made a required report you should:

·  ask them if they have reported the incident, and/or;

·  approach your employee or TU representative

If you still feel that your accident or work related disease has not been properly reported, you may raise your concern with HSE[3].

If you wish to tell HSE about an incident, or have concerns about ongoing risks to health and safety, please refer to our advice[4].

An Employment Agency

The employment status of agency workers is not always clear to the worker, or to the organisations that are supplied with labour. In many cases, the employment agency is the legal employer, and is under the same legal obligations as any other employer to report accidents and ill health to their employees. In other cases, for instance where workers are self-employed, the duty is on the host business to report accidents as the person in control of the premises where an accident occurs. Self-employed persons are responsible for reporting accidents, which occur on their own premises, and ill-health conditions.

In practice, agencies should ensure that responsibility for reporting under RIDDOR is clearly assigned to the appropriate person based on the particular facts of the employment relationship. Agencies should ensure that reporting responsibilities are clearly understood by host businesses and the workers.

A gas supplier

If you are a distributor, filler, importer or supplier of flammable gas and you learn, either directly or indirectly that someone has died, lost consciousness or has been taken to hospital because of an injury suffered in connection with the gas you distributed, filled, imported or supplied, then this must be reported. In practice the reporting duties are usually undertaken by the gas Emergency Service Providers (ESPs) representing gas conveyors.

Online form[6]

A gas engineer

If you are a gas engineer registered with the Gas Safe Register, you or your employer must provide details of any gas appliances or fittings that you consider to be dangerous, to such an extent that people could die or suffer a major injury, because the design, construction, installation, modification or servicing could result in:

·  an accidental leakage of gas;

·  inadequate combustion of gas or ;

·  inadequate removal of products of the combustion of gas.

Online form[7]

Working offshore

·  For most incidents at an offshore installation, the responsible person will be the duty-holder under the Offshore Installations and Pipeline Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995.

·  For diving projects, the responsible person in relation to accidents and dangerous occurrences is the diving contractor.

HSE Offshore Safety Division can provide specialist advice on the reporting procedure for offshore workers.

Special Cases (Mines, Quarries, Pipelines & Wells)

In the following special cases, the responsible person is:

·  In relation to a mine, the manager of that mine;

·  In relation to a closed tip, the owner of the mine associated with that tip;

·  In relation to a quarry, the operator of that quarry

·  In relation to a dangerous occurrence:

o  At a pipeline, the operator of that pipeline;

o  At a well, the person appointed to supervise operations, or where no person is appointed, the licensee under Section 3 of the Petroleum Act 1998.

Current information at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/what-must-i-report.htm

Types of Reportable incidents

·  Deaths and reportable injuries

·  Occupational diseases

·  Dangerous occurrences

·  Gas incidents

Deaths and reportable injuries

If someone has died or has been injured because of a work-related accident this may have to be reported.

Work-related accidents

The accident that caused the death or injury must be connected to the work activity. {LINK}

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Types of reportable injury

The death of any person

All deaths to workers and non-workers, with the exception of suicides, must be reported if they arise from a work-related accident, including an act of physical violence to a worker.

Specified injuries to workers

The list of ‘specified injuries’ in RIDDOR 2013 replaces the previous list of ‘major injuries’ in RIDDOR 1995. Specified injuries are (regulation 4):

·  fractures, other than to fingers, thumbs and toes;

·  amputations;

·  any injury likely to lead to permanent loss of sight or reduction in sight;

·  any crush injury to the head or torso causing damage to the brain or internal organs;

·  serious burns (including scalding) which:

o  covers more than 10% of the body; or

o  causes significant damage to the eyes, respiratory system or other vital organs

·  any scalping requiring hospital treatment;

·  any loss of consciousness caused by head injury or asphyxia;

·  any other injury arising from working in an enclosed space which:

o  leads to hypothermia or heat-induced illness or

o  requires resuscitation or admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours;

For further guidance on specified injuries, please see {Link}

Over-seven-day incapacitation of a worker

Accidents must be reported where they result in an employee or self-employed person being away from work, or unable to perform their normal work duties, for more than seven consecutive days as the result of their injury. Thus, seven-day period does not include the day of the accident, but does include weekends and rest days. The report must be made within 15 days of the accident.

Over-three-day incapacitations

Accidents must be recorded, but not reported where they result in a worker being incapacitated for more than three consecutive days. If you are an employer, who must keep an accident book under the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979, that record will be enough.

Non-fatal accidents to non-workers (e.g. members of the public)

Accidents to members of the public or others who are not at work must be reported if they result in an injury and the person is taken directly from the scene of the accident to hospital for treatment to that injury. Examinations and diagnostic tests do not constitute ‘treatment’ in such circumstances.

There is no need to report incidents where people are taken to hospital purely as a precaution when no injury is apparent.

If the accident occurred at a hospital, the report only needs to be made if the injury is a ‘specified injury’ (see above).

Occupational diseases

Employers and self-employed people must report diagnoses of certain occupational diseases, where these are likely to have been caused or made worse by their work: These diseases include (regulations 8 and 9):

·  carpal tunnel syndrome;

·  severe cramp of the hand or forearm;

·  occupational dermatitis;

·  hand-arm vibration syndrome;

·  occupational asthma

·  tendonitis or tenosynovitis of the hand or forearm

·  any occupational cancer

·  any disease attributed to an occupational exposure to a biological agent.

For further guidance on occupational diseases, please see {Link}

Specific guidance is also available for:

·  occupational cancers {Link}

·  diseases associated with biological agents {link}

Dangerous occurrences

Dangerous occurrences are certain, specified near-miss events. Not all such events require reporting. There are 27 categories of dangerous occurrences that are relevant to most workplaces, for example:

·  the collapse, overturning or failure of load-bearing parts of lifts and lifting equipment;

·  plant or equipment coming into contact with overhead power lines;

·  the accidental release of any substance that could cause injury to any person.

For further guidance on these dangerous occurrences, please see {Link}

Additional categories of dangerous occurrences apply to mines, quarries, relevant transport systems [and offshore workplaces.

Gas incidents

Distributors, fillers, importers & suppliers of flammable gas must report incidents where someone has died, lost consciousness, or been taken to hospital for treatment to an injury arising in connection with that gas. Such incidents should be reported using the online form[7].

Registered gas engineers (under the Gas Safe Register,) must provide details of any gas appliances or fittings that they consider to be dangerous, to such an extent that people could die, lose consciousness or require hospital treatment. The danger could be due to the design, construction, installation, modification or servicing of that appliance or fitting, which could cause: