Posted By Glenn Taylor I've had this in the past, there is no specific duty for his personal information to be contained in a visible format, indeed he (the employee) has protection from this under the Data Protection Act...details of the accident/incident can be recorded but not his personal data, at least not in a visible format, information regarding the accident/incident can be placed within his/her medical file if they have one.........at least this is my understanding of this having touched on the same subject....if that personal information was visible and not with-held then you could find yourself in a spot of bother, or the company not necessarily yourself. One has to respect his personal details as private..... Of course someone else may have a much more detailed answer but that was my experience...........hope it helps..... Glenn

Posted By Stupendous Man A point to bear in mind on this subject - many people think that the Data Protection Acts means that they do not have to disclose their personal details. This is incorrect. The Data Protection Act provides protection for data once it has been collected. I know that many on this forum will be aware of this, but it sometimes needs putting very plainly and bluntly to other members of the workforce. As for the other 'weapon' used in this situation - "I don't have to answer that, human rights"... don't get me started!...

Posted By Stupendous Man I stand to be corrected here, but I am sure that the Data Protection Act allows for personal details to be disclosed where there is a legal requirement. As such, you do not need an employees permission to put their address, age etc. on the RIDDOR report.

Posted By Pat Hannaway Hi Mike, we used to have an occasional grumble about this from staff when we used the "old style" accident books. Being in Northern Ireland some staff were reluctant to record personal details in a common book because of (sometimes justified) security fears. With the introduction of the "new style" accident books with the tear out pages, we have had no problems. (The new books specify at box 1 : About the person who had the accident: Give full name, home address and occupation".) This is a legal duty under the Social Security legislation outlined in the Accident Book. Regards Pat

Posted By Helen Horton I think the original requirement for home address details etc on the reports is to do with the Social Security Acts and benefit claims for industrial injury benefit. Certainly the DWP will check with the HSE if a RIDDOR report was recieved in order to check that a claim is bona fide - checking by the HSE has lead to a number of employers being prosecuted for not reporting under RIDDOR.

Posted By Mike grey Dear all, thanks for your responses. We have confirmed with the HSE that there is no requirement to provide home addresses. With this information we have decided that work addresses are ok. Our legal department only use work addresses on any claims documentation, sadly out Data Protection officer did not release any information on the matter! Thanks Mike

Posted By DaveTripp The other thing that needs to be taken into account, the data protection act requires you to make the information secure, completed accident reports should be locked away, unscrupulous claims companies are targeting construction sites just to get at the accident records, it is big business for them and this claim culture we now have encourages a lot of people to claim for the sake of it, other employees in the same company can copy accident records and forward on to claims Lawyers, for a commission fee, who will then contact the injured party and pressure them into making a claim, so be aware and be secure, identity theft is not the only problem!