Hi All, Well like the subject states, I'm looking for some information on whether a broken nose should be reported. No X-ray's, only a GP stating an IP has a broken nose. Thanks in advance

Ok, should of stated man at work. Ceiling tile fell with light fitting attached whilst pulling a cable.

A work related incident that led to a broken bone (with the exception of fingers and toe's) is reportable.

As Toe says its reportable. Fractures other than fingers, thumbs or toes. Generally an assessment by a GP would be acceptable, However to be sure I would get the IP to get an Xray to confirm. Hope that helps.

Jason. The decision about whether to report is yours, as is any justification for doing our not doing so. I've easy it another I very much doubt you'll have the HSE queuing up knock on your door. The one thing I definitely wouldn't be doing is sending this person off for an x-ray. I would suggest that the NHS have better things to do than spending their finite resources on and it would be bordering on perverse to do so. Make your own mind up. Report our not and be prepared to justify.

Ummm. Of course NOBODY has suggested at ANY point that the IP is not 'entitled' to go for hospital. The IP has seen their GP and we can assume that if the GP thought further tests or treatment at hospital was necessary, they would have advised/referred. The IP we can reasonably assume is also able to use their own discretion/initiative to do the same. However, the question is whether 'we' should be encouraging someone to attend hospital for the purposes of determining whether the injury in this case is reportable under RIDDOR or not. I should have thought that the answer to that and the original post is obvious to most.

HSE guidance states that a doctor's opinion that a fracture is present is sufficient evidence to make it reportable. It is highly unlikely that any hospital would allow an x-ray to take place to establish if the nose is broken as their is a greater risk from the amount of radiation required for the x-ray compared to the treatment for the break. As has been said before the nose 'bone' is essentially cartilage and the HSE guidance used to say that a broken nose was not reportable. New guidance doesn't mention this but if you put in "broken nose" in HSE search you will find reference to the statistics initially compiled from the Incident Contact Centre were adjusted because broken noses where being classified as major (as they were then called) injuries when they should not have been. Take care John C

" For example, there was a tendency to mis-classify injuries that resulted in a broken nose " Ref: http://www.hse.gov.uk/st...cs/pdf/discontinuity.pdf

If the GP has stated it is a broken nose then that should be good enough reason to report it as it is not a finger, thumb or toe.