The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has put in place changes designed to make the mandatory reporting of workplace injuries simpler for businesses.
The changes to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995, which took effect from 1 October, are intended to clarify reporting requirements while ensuring that the data collected gives an accurate and useful picture of workplace incidents.
The change affects all employers, including the self-employed. The main changes are:
- the major injuries classification has been replaced with a shorter list of specified injuries, including amputations, crush injuries to the head or torso and serious burns covering more than ten per cent of the body
- a list of 47 types of industrial disease has been replaced with a much shorter list of reportable work-related illness, including occupational cancer, carpal tunnel syndrome and occupational dermatitis
- fewer types of dangerous occurrence now require reporting.
There are no significant changes to the reporting requirements for:
- fatal accidents
- accidents to members of the public
- accidents resulting in a worker being unable to perform their normal work for more than seven days.
The process for reporting an incident at work and the criteria for establishing whether an incident should be investigated is unchanged.
