Good morning all. I need advice and opinion on a RIDDOR matter. 

I have a member of staff who recently got a peice of debris in his eye when working outside our offices. The debris was not work related and blew into his eye due to the wind being high that day. 

As a result of this he has been off work for over 7 days with a badly infected eye. 

I contacted him to discuss details for the F2508 and he informed me that he had been back to hospital that day and the key issue with his eye was an absess which may or may not have been in existence since before the incident. 

I need opinion please. How does this fit into the reporting requirements of RIDDOR? 

Do I report or not. 

Many thanks

I agree with RayRapp

To be RIDDOR reportable, the work activity itself must contribute to the accident to make it strictly "work related".  The fact that something (unrelated to work) simply blew into his eye could be considered more an "Act of God" in the first instance, and given that it has also since transpired that the incident itself may not even have been the root cause of his absence leads me to the conclusion that it's not work related, and therefore not reportable.

Edited by user 24 May 2018 10:29:32(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

I agree with the other guys - if the foreign body didn't arise from the work then the injury isn't work related.  To give you another example - when I worked in a chemical factory we had someone get a chemical in their eye, we sent him to the eye hospital in Birmingham to be sure he was OK,  they put some drops in his eyes to which he was incredibly allergic.  Off work for 3 months while his eyes recovered - not RIDDOR because the issue was caused by the eye drops not the chemical.

Assuming they were off work for more than 7 days, then yes, it's RIDDOR reportable because the connection with work applies in this case.

Not RIDDOR - unless the debris was generated by the work activity and the work activity caused it to go in his eye.  Let me give you a real example - worker gets paint in his eye from a splash when opening a tin.  We wash out the eye and send him to hospital - they put drops in his eye and he has a severe allergic reaction resulting in him being in hospital for two weeks and off work 3 month.  I checked that one with the HSE and they said NOT RIDDOR.

Edited by user 17 July 2018 12:43:57(UTC)  | Reason: I hadn't realised I'd already responded once!

Originally Posted by: hilary

The abrasion - yes RIDDOR, but for the abrasion he would not have had the infection - one is a direct result of the other which was an accident arising out of a working activity.

The feedback I got from the HSE for an almost identical injury (knee abrasion) was that the infection that caused the lost time had nothing to do with the way the work was organised, carried out or supervised; any machinery, plant, substances or equipment used for work; and the condition of the site or premises where the accident happened.  It was secondary so they were not interested but having said that, I have also phone up in the past 3 times one call after the other and got three different answers..... can't phone them anymore though