Grant - Thanks for sharing the information. Do any other users of this forum share my dismay at the cessation of fax as a method of reporting under RIDDOR? Using fax may not be modern or trendy but it has some advantages. These include the fact that sending a fax can be used for notifications which need to be made "forthwith" and simultaneously providing the requisite basic details on a F2508. It is also a lot quicker than phoning or notifiying online. In addition, it helps to keep the amount of paper involved to a minimum. Some people may say that fax machines have difficulty coping with documents which include shading: However, it's not difficult to obtain non-shaded versions of F2508 or for HSE to devise a version with shading in the form of dots which don't cause problems. Though fax (facsimile) machines have been around for many years, they are still used to a notable extent by some people, including lawyers and estate agents. Before typing this reply, I had a quick word with two members of my employer's legal dept. They confirmed that their dept still makes considerable use of faxes because of their particular advantages. If others think there is a case for retaining fax for making RIDDOR notifications, would they be willing jointly or individually to ask HSE to change its intention to cease accepting fax notifications? To avoid any misunderstanding, I am not a 'dinosaur' with a particular penchant for using fax. As with various other communication methods, it has its pros and cons. Also, the references to on-line reporting seem to reflect a creeping assumption by some organisations and persons within the UK that everybody everywhere has constant access to a computer. Also, it may surprise some people that my colleagues and I within a sizeable local authority don't make RIDDOR notifications ourselves. However, as managers are responsible for making notifications, we are ready to advise them if required about the mysteries and intricacies of RIDDOR. p.s. Time will tell if this topic will reap many replies or just a few and then rapidly gets relegated from page 1 of this forum!

In my personal opinion and irrespective of all else ensure that U have your back covered so report in as many ways as U think fit and ensure that U have adeqauate records to prove that U have reported As for the banning of faxes etc --- well enough said as those at the top are interested in one thing only

Some forum readers may be interested to learn that the first prototype fax machine incorporating clocks, electric currents and electrochemically sensitive paper was made as early as the 1840s by Alexander Bain (1811-1877), an inventive crofter's son from Caithness. Bain also invented the first electric clock. Adam Hart Davis demonstrated a working pair of Bain's fax machine made for one of his TV programmes about inventors a few years ago. Unfortunately, technical shortcomings prevented Bain's machine from becoming commercially viable. The first effective version is reported to have been devised by Giovanni Caselli an Italian inventor in the 1860s and used between Paris and Lyon. Enough of the historical snippet. To echo my earlier question, what do others think about the intended abolition of fax as a means of making RIDDOR notifications? If HSE think fax is an outdated obsolete method, their reported intention to send paper copies, perhaps multi-page ones, by post (alias snail mail) as subsequent confirmation to notifiers also seems a bit bizarre.