Change accident reporting for business, say health and safety experts

3 May 2011

A CHANGE in the type of work-related accidents businesses must report has been backed by members of the UK’s leading independent health and safety body.

Around 65 per cent of responding members of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) supported Government plans to move from a “three-day injury” reporting regime to seven days.

At present, employers must contact the regulator when an employee is incapacitated for more than three days with an injury sustained at work.

But many IOSH members – who advise on health and safety across industry – think this  can be unhelpful for some firms.

They are calling on the Government to link reporting to the ‘fit note’ to trigger action and save bosses time by only requiring  reports for incapacity of over seven days.

The move, said IOSH members, would:

• allow a link to ‘fit notes’ – doctors are able to advise people who are on sick leave for more than seven days whether, with extra support from their employer, they could return to work earlier
• reduce the amount of time employers spend on reporting to the authorities
• be a more proportionate regime, which is more indicative of the severity of the injury
• address any confusion surrounding shift-working and working at weekends
• help the Health and Safety Executive prioritise as it addresses a 35 per cent cut in funding

But IOSH wants to see any reporting change supported by clear guidance, advising that businesses must still record “three-day injuries” and still need to prevent them.

IOSH Head of Policy and Public Affairs Richard Jones said: “Health and safety needs to seen to be proportionate, with the amount of time and energy spent on reporting accidents reflecting the severity of the failures. And of course we also need to increase the number of serius accidents that do actually get reported by employers.

“That’s why most of our member respondents – health and safety professionals working across every sector of industry – believe we should move from a ‘three-day’ to a ‘seven-day injury’ reporting regime.

“But we mustn’t trivialise workplace accidents that mean workers are absent for less than seven days. This would give completely the wrong message. Employers still need to treat them seriously, record them in the accident book and make sure they don’t happen again. Often, the same failures could easily have led to far worse harm and should act as a wake-up call.

“It is vital bosses still look to reduce all accidents at work.”

IOSH launched a consultation of its members in February in response to the Government’s reform plans for accident reporting under RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations).

Hundreds took part in contributing to the Institution’s response (PDF 80kb), which has been sent to the Health and Safety Executive in time for the Government’s May 9 deadline.

IOSH also recommends:

• The Government ensures that the new Incident Contact Centre provisions for RIDDOR reporting are at least equivalent to the outsourced service
• Should RIDDOR reporting change to over seven days, the fit note is modified to provide a reminder to report work-related accidents
• Serious injuries and deaths from work-related road traffic accidents are reportable under RIDDOR – a long-standing recommendation by IOSH
• The introduction of a Government database for sharing anonymised safety lessons from a range of accidents, so that organisations can benefit from the experience of others

Read our response to the RIDDOR consultation (PDF 80kb).

Listen to Richard Jones talk about our response to the RIDDOR consultation on our Audioboo channel.