When is an ‘Accident’ Reportable; even the Health and Safety authorities can’t agree, so how can companies be expected to get it right? (By Abby Miller)
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In April 2012 RIDDOR reporting requirements in England, Wales and Scotland change to over 7 days but HSE Northern Ireland (HSENI) plan to keep ‘over 3 day’ RIDDOR reporting until April 2013 which means from April this year, business’ with branches in Northern Ireland will have to administer 2 different versions of RIDDOR.
The proposed changes are broadly welcomed by business particularly those that have a large part time workforce who may only come into work once a week.
Over 7 days makes perfect sense it is already the trigger for a doctors certificate and means less chance of reporting relatively minor incidents when other factors which some commentators have referred to, such as the cup final, bank holiday weekends and sunny weather may have influenced the time it takes to recuperate.
It also means there is no need to try and contact people at home or college to see if they are fit to work before their next shift and or have set off for their fortnight in Spain.
Companies that effectively manage health and safety already investigate all accidents and near misses whether RIDDOR or not and calculate lost time so the change will have little impact on what they do internally. What the changes do is make it easier for them to legally comply and potentially reduces the amount of unnecessary visits to compliant companies by enforcers responding to RIDDOR reports.
Two versions of the same rules will make it more complex for UK businesses.
So come on HSENI help us to get it right and provide consistency across the UK move to over 7 days reporting in April 2012.
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