Posted By Jonathan Breeze Depends. Can you give us some more info? E.g. does the individual work in Apiculture? Was the individual just sitting at their desk typing when they got stung?

Posted By Peter Wright more info - person working on shop floor and is stung (or possibly biten) by an insect of some discription.

Posted By Jonathan Breeze Peter, Was the sting or bite, one of the recognised inherent risks of the job (e.g. bee keeping, pest control & cutting roadside verges) , or was it incidental to the situation? I would be inclined to say not reportable based on the info you have given, but I might be missing some vital piece of information. As John says the individual might have suffered from anaphylactic shock which resulted in an over 3 day illness, but unless their job description actually involved dealing with stinging or biting organisms then it would not be RIDDOR reportable.

Posted By Jonathan Breeze Stuart, I accept your point about the insects being animals. On reflection, you would definitely report a worker bitten by an animal in the course of their duty if they triggered any of the usual RIDDOR rules (hospitalisation/ over 3 days etc). Also, this particular case may possibly be covered by Schedule 1, 10: "Acute illness which requires medical treatment where there is reason to believe that this resulted from exposure to a biological agent or its toxins or infected material." It seems to me that sting or whatever was injected by the critter is definitely a toxin or infected material because of the reaction caused. The biological agent is in this case the bee/insect or other arthropod of choice. Peter, if in doubt you could always contact the RIDDOR helpline & ask them. After all they are the experts in this case.

Posted By Iain Milne At my last Company, one of my Electricians was bitten by a spider (not normal in UK because of spider size and the way native spiders 'bite' but I saw the body). A couple of hours later he was taken to hospital because of creeping paralysis affecting his left arm and neck. Hospital admitted him for 5 hours while they monitored his condition and tried to find a serum just in case. When the effects did not get any worse and he was only left with a cold sensation in his neck they discharged him. He had the following day off work at the Doctor's recommendation. I reported on-line to Riddor! It only took a few minutes and maybe someone reading the report would or could have linked to other incidents. The incident happened in an H.V. switchroom. The premises were close to old Leith Docks. There was no follow up by HSE, and since the Company was closed at the end of 2004 there is now unlikely to be. Maybe some of the above information will help someone in the future. Kind regards, Iain Milne

Posted By Jack Stuart, I think John's point was that it would only be if it arose out of or in connection with work, which means that some such assaults are not reportable.

Posted By Pete Moran I can't see what the confusion is about.....this is an injury sustained whilst at work that should be recorded as an accident....if there is a three day absence resulting from the injury however minor the initial injury might be then it is reportable under RIDDOR.....

Posted By Charlie Gunter Advice given to me by an HSE Inspector was, "If in doubt report it. No one ever got into trouble for reporting something unnecessarily." That works for me.