Rank: Super forum user 
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I can't believe I have a RIDDOR question but I do.
If someone cuts off the very top of their finger - just a tinee weenie little bit (generally these things grow back) and they're not in hopsital for more than 24 hrs is it technically an amputation? Seems a bit overkill to call it an amputation IMO but I'm just checking others thoughts.
I don't go along with the 'report it anyway' brigade so please don't give me that as an answer!! Ta.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Claire
I have always thought that amputation is loss, or partial loss, of a bone so, if this is only a flesh wound, it's not an amputation.
Wikipedia defines 'amputation' as loss of a bodily extremity which fits with my thinking.
LB
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Personally I'd say not - sounds more like a flesh wound.
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I think they may have lost the top bit of the bone too (that too can grow back a bit belive it or not).
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Rank: Super forum user
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Oooh how interesting - according to Blacks Medical Dictionary it is severance of a limb or part of a limb from the rest of the body. So Yes it is - if it has been completely removed. If the skin has not been severed around the entire wound (ie there is still a little tiny weeny bit still attached) then it is not. Thats my twopence worth.
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Rank: Forum user
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Guidance states that amputation is "..either traumatic amputation at the time of the accident or surgical amputation after the accident" HSE 2012, page 40.
'Trauma' is generally referred to as "serious" and "life changing" in most medical dictionaries, in fact in the US there are different grades of trauma (1-5) depnding on the amount of after care that is required to deal with trauma.
If the indicated body part will grow back and not cause an alteration to pre-accident living standards it is therefore not classed as an amputation...
..and hence not reportable under RIDDOR.
B R
Ian
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Rank: Forum user
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Rank: Super forum user 
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It's the Black Night from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, isn't it?
[after slicing one of the Black Knight's arms off]
King Arthur: Now stand aside, worthy adversary.
Black Knight: 'Tis but a scratch.
King Arthur: A scratch? Your arm's off.
Black Knight: No it isn't.
King Arthur: What's that, then?
Black Knight: [after a pause] I've had worse.
King Arthur: You liar.
Black Knight: Come on ya pansy.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Rank: Forum user
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We had a similar incident (although in his case it was 3 finger tips to halfway down the nail). The HSE inspector stated that they did not regard it as an amputation unless it was below the first joint. In my case it was just regarded as an "over 3 day" injury.
The inspector said they had to draw the line somewhere and they drew it at the loss of at least a whole joint.
BTW, his fingers didn't grow back!
Hope that helps
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Probably a bit late to game - but here goes - we had a similar incident a few years ago and I was advised by the HSEInfoline (do/can you remember back that far) that I should report it as part of the bone had been removed (finger tip and bit of bone) - so report it I did.
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Rank: Super forum user
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I can't believe I'm responding to a thread about RIDDOR because I normally avoid doing so. Anyhow, for what it's worth, I'd go along with the majority of responses that the injury involved is effectively a flesh wound and not an amputation. Part of this assertion is based on recollection, albeit sketchy, that one of my former colleagues sought clarification from HSE, perhaps an inspector, and was told that "amputation" for RIDDOR purposes involved clear severing of bone rather than slicing of the ends of bones in fingers or toes.
On a general note, RIDDOR in my opinion is a fairly messy piece of OS&H legislation derived from reporting requirements intended for manufacturing industry and stretched in an attempt to cover all forms of work places and activities in the UK. It's no wonder that there are so many threads about RIDDOR on this forum.
Also, many thanks to ron hunter for providing amusement with his apt extract from the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail".
Graham - 'Aspiring to brevity - sometimes!'
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Well for what it is worth my two penny’s. I have been accused on here of being overzealous, because I would report just because the words say so. However I would not report this unless the person was off for more than 7 days. I think you could easily call it either way if you wanted to, so I always go with the view:- would my conscience be ok with me stood talking to an inspector and stating I don’t believe it is bad enough to be called an amputation. I think if it was near the first joint I would, but not from what you describe. RIDDOR puts amputation in the major category, which I don’t think this fits in with the other listed injuries and conditions.
For what my opinion is worth, I like you do not report to be on the safe side, I need a reasoned argument one way or the other ( even if proven to be eventually flawed). This way I would always feel I made the best call I could. I would however be urging the relevant organisation not to treat it as a minor injury (even if not reportable), which in some organisations may become lost in the ether.
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Claire et al,
For those of you that can remember RIDDOR 1985, a definition of "amputation" was given, but when the Regs were changed in 1995, this was omitted.
I actually wrote to the HSE asking for an actual definitive answer & after about 6 months I received a response & basically it was "if it's not going to grow back, then it's an amputation"!
I received several queries from managers about employees "losing the tips of their fingers" when trying to remove blockages from lawnmowers & there was always a pregnant pause when I asked "was it the fleshy bit or the bony bit"!!
Zyggy
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Very interesting topic and clear that the advice from the HSE has been at the very least "interpretive". I had a similar incident about two years ago where an engineer caught the end of his index finger between a winch cable and the drum. He went to the hospital for stitching of the wound and during the cleaning process a piece of bone, no more than 1mm that had been chipped off was washed out. The hospital decided that this piece was to small to reset itself and left it out when stitching the wound.
To cut a long story short, the HSE when I rang them said that as the IP had lost a piece of bone it was classed as an amputation and had to be a RIDDOR. They also said that if the hospital had replaced the bone it wouldn't have been a RIDDOR unless he missed his shifts over the following three days
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Rank: Forum user
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The advice i received when I contacted the HSE about this some time ago following an accident when an operative lost the tip of his thumb on a table saw; if the amputation was beyond first joint then reportable.
As an aside to Claires query; our insurers also informed me any subsequent payout to the lad would have been substantialy higher if he had cut even slightly beyond the first joint; especially with a thumb.
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