‘A Day in the Life’ – RIDDOR Reportable?
September 2024
Health and Safety (H&S) accidents can happen to businesses of all shapes and sizes as well as across any industry. Unfortunately, the larger organisations are often all too familiar with the protocol when accidents do happen and will hire internal Health and Safety Directors, Managers and Officers to handle the fallout. The priority needs to be safety of employees, but there are regulations that UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Law mandates that needs to be followed. So how does a business without an internal Health and Safety team know what to do? Luckily, there are plenty of resources readily available and the Harwood H&S Portal is here to help guide you through them.
An Accident at Work: What Next?
Hi Lois,
I wonder if you can help with a quick query. One of my employees had an accident at work last week. As you know we renovate small spaces and in this instance he misjudged the space and cut his face with a power drill. I was surprised as he’d worked with the business for a long time and was fully trained. We got him to a hospital straight away and he ended up staying overnight.
The doctors have assured him that there will be no lasting damage although there is likely to be a scar. He is currently off work and we have given him the rest of the week to so he can focus on his recovery before he has to worry about work. We’ve updated the accident book but do we need to report this to RIDDOR – is there anything else we need to do?
Thank-you
Paul – Small Space Reno’s Ltd
Understanding RIDDOR
Hi Paul,
RIDDOR is very specific about what counts as a reportable injury.
Over-7-Day Injuries – “Any work-related injury that leads to the employee’s or worker’s incapacity for work for more than seven consecutive days. This includes weekends and rest days but not the day of the accident itself.”
Under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) in the UK, when it refers to a person being incapacitated for seven days, it does not necessarily mean that they must be signed off by a doctor. The requirement is based on their inability to work for more than seven consecutive days. If the person can return to work before the end of the seven-day period, the incident does not need to be reported under RIDDOR.
The seven days do not need to be continuous. They can be non-consecutive days, if they result from the same injury. A doctor’s note or sick leave certificate is not necessarily required to determine the incapacity. The key factor is whether the employee or worker is unable to work for seven consecutive days as a direct result of the injury. If there is uncertainty or concern about the severity of an injury, it may be advisable to seek medical advice or consult a healthcare professional to assess the employee’s condition and provide guidance on their ability to return to work.
A RIDDOR report needs to be made within a maximum of 15 days following the incident so there is no rush at the moment to get it submitted – it is worth waiting to see how long the employee is off for. However there are several steps I recommend you do take to cement your commitment to Health and Safety within your business:
Responding to the Incident
The first step is always to provide appropriate medical care to the injured party. This needs to be first aid or emergency services. We don’t want a situation where an injury is made worse through a slow response from the employers.
Investigation and Documentation
Documenting the incident should be done through the accident book but make sure you get detailed records such as date, time, location, and circumstances. Record the names and contact details of those involved, including witnesses. Document any safety measures taken after the incident. If the accident book doesn’t prompt you for these details, document them and keep them with the accident record.
Without delay, the business needs to conduct an internal investigation to identify the root causes of the incident. A full accident investigation guide is provided by the HSE
Some basic questions to ask though are:
- Was the Injured Person (IP) competent and authorised to use this piece of equipment? Can you prove it? (training records, permit to work etc)
- Was the equipment fully maintained and appropriate for use in this task? Can you prove it? (maintenance schedule, risk assessment, safe system of work)
- Was this task being carried out in the safest way possible? Can you prove it? (risk assessment, safe system of work)
- Did the IP have everything needed to keep them safe? Can you prove it? (e.g., Guarding on the power tool, PPE?)
Communication and Lessons Learned
You will want to manage communications to the other employees to make sure that a similar incident doesn’t happen again in the future. If this does need to be reported to RIDDOR they will want evidence that the company communicated effectively so if it is done in a written format (even an email), make sure it is dated and a record is kept. If it is a face-to-face communication, then a sign-off sheet from people who received the message will help show the steps that were taken. You don’t only want to show evidence of preventing another incident but also additional support for any affected employees such as counselling or just a forum to voice their concerns.
I would recommend re-briefing the injured person on the safe use of power tools, perhaps through a Toolbox Talk. It doesn’t need to be patronising as you could ask the employee if there is anything they would like to add to the training or Toolbox Talk now that they’ve had this experience so that the whole business can learn from it.
All the best, Lois