Carol, I am sorry that I can't give a difinitive answer. The investigation could begin immediately if it is directly related to the incident. Alternatively, the incident may simply have 'flagged-up' to the HSE the need for an inspection the next time an Inspector is in the area/has the time. Regards. DJ

Carol, as the other replies, "How long is a piece of string?" It depends entirely on the circumstances of the accident reported to them. Over the years we have had one or two major injuries duly reported to the HSE via RIDDOR which were never investigated by them as they have read our submission and proposed remedial actions to prevent recurrence. However, following a shattered abrasive wheel incident that caused a severe cut / broken bone injury, the HSE carried out a thorough investigation and came to site within 2 days.

Though the actual circumstances being reported under RIDDOR have a significant bearing on whether HSE or an LA will investigate, there are other factors at play. Think about what happens to the information reported: It will be passed/copied to whichever part of HSE or an LA has enforcing responsibility for the premises/work activity involved. In HSE managers, usually principal inspectors, will look through the notifications received and then decide which should be investigated either by themselves or members of their teams. Such decisions are based on a variety of things. These will include knowledge of the companies/organisations involved and their OS&H performance/record. Also for each calendar year HSE may/will have special initiatives regarding some industry sector problems or types of accidents (e.g. slips and trips), so inspectors will be required to investigate all or a proportion of relevant notifications. In addition, such managers need to consider if they have inspectors available or with time to carry out investigations in relation to other demands. At any one time, inspectors can be away on training courses, annual leave, sickness absence or already tied up with detailed investigations of serious matters or court cases. At a time when HSE inspector numbers and finance are significantly reduced, it must a difficult and unenviable task to decide what accidents/incidents can and should be investigated while others which merit invesigation have to be left uninvestigated. In some cases HSE inspectors will ask for more information before deciding whether or not to investigate. This can include more details about the circumstances and also what internal investigation has been carried out and with what findings and any subsequent actions. Thus, if resources don't permit an HSE investigation, inspectors might be satisfied with the responses to their queries and take no more action other than keep a record of the responses. On the other hand, inspectors might decide from the extra information received that they will investigate. This may prompt some forum debate as to how much information inspectors can insist on getting and to what extent they can rely on it ("piggybacking" might be a suitable term) when conducting their own investigations!

Carol I believe DJ provided the only real answer "sorry that I can't give a definitive answer" because I don't believe there is one. Unfortunately I have had to make a few major accident calls, some responses have been "secure the scene and we will be there in an hour", "need to see if we have an inspector available so will call you back tomorrow", " send us your report and we will get back to you". I haven't seen any pattern as to what gets reported or not, perhaps resources is playing a part?