Hi Folks What are you thoughts on this? In June 2012 one of our engineers was working under a machine, as he crouched down he knelt on a bolt that was protruding about 10-15mm from the floor. He mentioned it to his line manager at the time but didn't think any more of it and didn't incur any lost time. As there was no sign of injury there was no accident report completed - it was captured as a near miss and the bolt removed. Fast forward to September 2012 and the engineer comes to see me and informs me that a couple of weeks after the accident he was on holiday abroad when he knee started to swell up and cause him discomfort. He was x-rayed and it was found that his kneecap was damaged - with what was described a 'dent' in the kneecap, not a fracture (still no lost time). Fast forward again to September 2013 and I've now learnt that he is going into hospital for an operation on his knee (apparently to repair the damage), this will result in him being absent for 4-8 weeks. It seems clear to me that it needs to be reported under RIDDOR but I've not been involved in an accident before where there has been such a long period between it actually happening and there being lost time. I am curious to hear your opinions. Thanks

I think if you believe there is a true connection then you may want to report it - with the explanation. The interesting bit is the 3 month initila gap and whether there were other activities the IP undertook in that time (not work-related) that may have caused the damage!