Injury Reporting at Work

When an employee is injured it is necessary to create a report on the injury if they are incapacitated for over three days under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995. However as from April 6 2012 the new reporting time is going to change to incapacitation of over 7 days subject to being approved in parliament.  The 7 day period doesn’t include the first day, and all accidents that cause more than 3 days of incapacitation to employees will still need to keep a record of this in the work accident report book.

The changes to RIDDOR mean that employees now need to report any injury within 15 days from the date of the incident.

How to Report an Injury

If you need to make a report you have a variety of ways to do so. Firstly it is possible to go online and visit the Health and Safety Executive website and fill in one of the forms relating to the type of incident that occurred. Your choices are:

• An injury
• Dangerous occurrences
• Offshore injury
• Dangerous occurrence offshore
• Flammable gas incident
• Dangerous gas fitting
• Disease

If you prefer to use alternative methods it is also possible to put in your report over the telephone. However, telephone reporting is only to be used if the incident was fatal or if the injuries sustained were major.  The phone line is open between 8.30am and 5pm Monday to Friday.

Keeping Records

When you report an injury or an occurrence you have to keep a record of the report for your own records. Before you submit your form online be sure to make a copy of it and save it in your files and preferably print off a copy too. Once you send off the form to the HSE you should also receive an email with a copy of the form however if you have incorrectly entered your email address on the form you will not receive one. Your SPAM filter may also stop the email from reaching your inbox so it is advisable to make your own copy just to be on the safe side.

If you make a report over the phone or do not make an online copy you will still need to have a record. Create a document stating the time and the date that you placed the report, how you reported the incident as well as:

• Personal Details of the People Involved
• Brief Description of the Event or the Disease
• Where the Incident or Injury Occurred
• Time and Date of the Incident

All employees have to keep an accident report book so this is a good place to store your report record. However if you are reporting a disease you will need to create a new method of saving a record.  You may also need to report the incident for insurance purposes, the HSE do not do this for you so you will need to take of this yourself.

To find out more about RIDDOR and your responsibilities as an employer when it comes to reporting accidents contact your health and safety consultants. Call 0800 1488 677 for further information today.

About David Cant

A chartered (fellow) safety and risk management practitioner with 20+ years of experience. David provides a healthy dose of how-to articles, advice and guidance to make compliance easier for construction professionals, Architects and the built environment. Get social with David on Twitter and Linkedin.