Hi I have just received notifcation of an accident which involved a fall from height (not complete fall to the floor but 1 meters or so and the fall was broken) however, this happened over a year ago and I have only just been notifed that the person has been off work for months. The previous H&S rep had not reported this and I believe it is a RIDDOR because at least because of the over 7 day. However, having dug further it is unclear whether the accident caused the sickness absence directly as the person had come back to work following the incident and then went sick. On that basis I would have reported it as RIDDOR as regardless as to whether they went sick straight after or some time after, but 2 things (apart from the not reporting the incident!) concern me : a) The lateness of this incident - repercussions on late reporting b) It is not clear cut whether this incident was a direct cause of the sickness (although on balance of probabilities it appears it has contributed) Could anyone share their thoughts as I can forsee several potential issues with this.

Thank you. There is some confusion from the manager around the fact that the person returned to work and then went sick some time later. This did not trigger anything from the manager to report as they did not put 2 and 2 together at that point. So this is a learning lesson from my perspective to ensure Managers are aware of RIDDOR requirements going forward. There appears to be no information given at the time of the return to work interviews previously to warrant a review of their risk assessment or changes to be made for work practices. There have been several bouts of leave which could be related and Occ Health have not identified any information of much use. The latest review does lean on the possibility that the incident did cause the injury and I am awaiting a medical report from this. Would the HSE rather have RIDDORS even though it is difficult sometimes to pin point whether the sickness is related? I find this particularly difficult when dealing with incidents that affect Health as often outside work activities or general health may also play a factor. Do we assess on the balance of probability as such?

Lishka0 The duty to report under RIDDOR only extends until 10 (now 15) days. After that, there's no duty (according to the HSE guy who wrote 'em at a conference I attended and spoke at in 1995-ish). In your case you didn't become aware before the 15th day so the duty lapsed. Best advice is for future is to have a signed self-certificate for absence which specifically and clearly asks whether the absence is a result of an accident or ill-health caused by work. that way you can exclude sickness and avoid such confusion. I wouldn't report. The only possible benefit is for the employee's solicitor to request information if a claim is made, and to use this as evidence that you accept an occupational cause, which you may dispute it seems. The HSE seem to be investigating very few RIDDORs now from personal experience and certainly investigating such a doubtful incident is extremely unlikely. There's no other practical reason for reporting.

Lishka0 Paragraph 54 of RIDDOR 1995 states that "there will be cases where the reportable injury or condition resulting from the accident will either be: (a) unrecognisable without a medical examination (eg a case of a fracture of the skull) which is conducted only after some delay; or (b) delayed for some time after the accident (eg some cases of acute illness where a substance has been absorbed). In such cases the notification (and report) required by regulation 3(1) should be made as soon as the injury or condition has been confirmed. I say report it. You will not be penalised for over-reporting, but you may be for failing to report! Safe_ray