Posted By David Whaley
Alan,

Working on the principle that it's always better to report than not, I would report, assuming you are sure the original injury is work related. Reporting is not a big issue.

But that is only the start, if not already done make sure the investigation is carried out, risk assessments updated and any corrective actions carried out. If you are concerned about a possible claim consider requesting a medical opinion on the injury.

Hope this helps.

David

Posted By J Knight
Sorry, but nowhere in the regs or guidance does it say that the absence has to be immediately following the day of the injury; I have been advised by HSE in the past to report an absence which occurred some eighteen months after an accident as there was a clear link between the incident and the absence. I would certainly report in the example given,

John

Posted By ITK
Totally agree with John, I find it worrying someone who works for a consultancy believes this is not reportable, it most certainly is.

Posted By Steve B
I too agree with Don, It is reportable. and Ditto to ITK.

Regards
Steve B

Posted By Steve B
Of course I meant to say Agree with John.

Sorry

Posted By Ian_P
Are you saying there you cannot be incapacitated after a time delay and it has to be immediate? Nonsense!

Man hurts his arm, continues work for an hour without realising how bad it is - then goes off work for a week. You'd reoprt that.

What's the difference if he continues to work (without realising the extent of his injuries) for 2 hours, 8 hours, another shift??

As long he is incapacitated as a result of an injury caused by an accident should you not report it in line with the reg's??

Posted By Colin Reeves
"Is back at work the next week ok too, the week after self-certifies to say they are off due to the original incident."

Maybe I am being cynical, but did the person play football etc in the intervening week. I agree with others that it is reportable IF it is a work related injury, but with that time gap I would want to be certain that the injury requiring time off was the self-same injury that occurred at work. Not a clear answer ....

Colin

Posted By PeterL
Ian,

I am only using the regs to their full extent, if the I.P. suffered bruising as diagnosed by A&E and then returned to work for a full week and subsequently signed off sick as a result of original accident for the second week as suggested, then I believe this not reportable on the basis that it was not the original injury that incapacitated the I.P. but a possible new or other injury not established as work related and therefore I would not report (proof needed).

I maintain that bruising would be clearing up by this stage and not getting worse, based remember on A&E diagnosis.

Secondly to rattle another cage was the accident work related (i.e. carrying out a task or fault or defect in premises etc.) or did the I.P. just fall, not all falls in the workplace are work related.

Pete

Posted By holmezy
Hi All,

I have a similar dilemma. An employee says that he had last week off due to an injury he picked up at work 2 months ago, (not reported incidentally). I think I should report it but am reluctant.......because this is the second time something like this has happened (different employees), last time I reported it and recieved a very, very stern warning from the HSE saying it was reported late, 10 days etc etc and if it happened again, we be liable to further action. Our argument that we didnt know about it until months after the alleged date of occurence didnt make a hoot of difference.

so I'm going to sit on the fence with this one and watch how it progresses!!

Holmezy

Posted By Alan E McKerns
I have the HSE inspector on site for the week and didn't necessarily want show a degree of incompetence by asking, i have however and the response is if in doubt keep yourself right and report it.

I have.

I must admit i was going with the 3 consecutive days route - anytime.

With regard to the response about why would i feel cagey about reporting, i never do and report DO's on a weekly basis but feel it is unnecessary to bog down an overstretched enforcement agency with detail that may not have been required.

Oh and the lady in question definately does not play football.

P.S.
Would it be unreasonable to suggest that the original diagnosis by A&E staff may not have been quite correct?!

Many thanks for all the responses, RIDDOR is a funny one indeed.

Regards
A

Posted By LizzieB
Hi All

The extent of a person's injuries may not always be obvious or even generally detectable immediately after an accident has occurred and not reporting could catch you out.

I speak from personal experience at a previous employer's site before I knew much about accident reporting and virtually nothing about RIDDOR (still struggling with that one!)

I fell backwards off of a small step on a split level floor at one of their sites. Suffered extreme embarrassment as there were loads of witnesses, hobbled back to base, developed some fantastic bruises but, in true stiff upper lip fashion (as well as various other stiff bits), I soldiered on at work and e-mailed the other site to ask for an accident form to be completed.

Ten days later I went down with a major headache, I was taken to A & E by my husband and they diagnosed it as a cluster migraine. The following day I was rushed to A & E by my husband and spent 2 weeks in a darkened room whilst they diagnosed, using some very high-tech equipment, a split carotid artery causing nerve damage with a high probability that I would suffer a stroke/death. Thankfully neither the former(nor the latter!)happened. They determined that it was as a result of my fall.

When I was well enough to return to work 15 months later I discovered that it had never been reported to the HSE, nor even on site and, in spite of the employer receiving all my Hospital/Drs' certificates, my sickness absence had been recorded as 'Stress'.They obviously couldn't read the Docs writing!

Don't know what would have happened if I'd not recovered. I suppose it would have depended whether they were 'found out' or not.

This prompted me to get involved much more in H & S in the vain hope that I can help prevent something similar happening to someone else.

I don't believe that their non-reporting was deliberate. They were generally a good employer with large HR and H & S departments but their systems let them down.

It does, however, highlight the importance of recording all accidents and enquiring/reporting under RIDDOR if you're unsure.

It does concern me that some companies base bonus payments on the number of RIDDORs reported as this will inevitably lead to under reporting.

The issue of whether the activities of the individual between the time of the accident and the sickness absence were the cause can be argued at a later date and concerns can always be mentioned in the initial reports. Indeed, insurance companies will pick up on this as well.

For my part, I can honestly say that I didn't play football, go to the Gym or undertake any other strenuous activity in the interim as I was too stiff to move very fast!

Sorry to ramble on but one other thing that stuck in my mind immediately after falling, as I lay in a heap on the floor, were the immortal words of one of the security guards who said,

'Don't worry, dear. You're not the first person to have done that'............


Lizzie

Posted By Bob Thompson CMIOSH
I agree it is reportable in this instance but you dont say in your post if when he returned to work he was on full duties or not. People often forget that if a person returns on reduced duties then that is reportable after 3 days.

Bob

Posted By J Knight
Safety Medic,

'Strue what you say, as it happens the latest outbreak of HSE in one of our Care Centres was fruitful, and will lead to some changes in the way we do things; mainly in filing and acess to records as it happens, but useful nonetheless. And we should never be afraid to report, unless we know deep in our own hearts that we have been remiss, and then we probably have good cause to be afraid,

John