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Julian Powell  
#1 Posted : 05 November 2019 06:41:14(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Julian Powell

Had a manager have a stroke while sat at his desk.

Was taken to 'drop in' centre by colleague, then taken by colleague to hospital.

Stroke diagnosed, now off work on long term sick.

Is this reportable or not?

Zyggy  
#2 Posted : 05 November 2019 07:14:13(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Zyggy

Julian, absolutely not RIDDOR reportable as it was a medical episode & not an injury.
Roundtuit  
#3 Posted : 05 November 2019 09:36:17(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Roundtuit

Not caused by a workplace accident and not a specified injury = Not  RIDDOR

Roundtuit  
#4 Posted : 05 November 2019 09:36:17(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Roundtuit

Not caused by a workplace accident and not a specified injury = Not  RIDDOR

A Kurdziel  
#5 Posted : 05 November 2019 09:55:16(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
A Kurdziel

Unless he was doing something at (for work) that caused the stroke absolutely not

hilary  
#6 Posted : 05 November 2019 10:58:16(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
hilary

Totally agree, not RIDDOR.  However, not RIDDOR doesn't mean don't make a detailed record for your own files, taking all factors into account just in case the IP (or his representative ambulance chaser) wants to come back and say that it was work related stress that was the catalyst for the stroke or some other such stuff that people claim for these days.

Just get your documents in order, find out what he was working on and make a dossier - just in case.

thanks 5 users thanked hilary for this useful post.
jmaclaughlin on 05/11/2019(UTC), CptBeaky on 05/11/2019(UTC), Natasha.Graham on 05/11/2019(UTC), jwk on 05/11/2019(UTC), Swygart25604 on 06/11/2019(UTC)
Hsquared14  
#7 Posted : 05 November 2019 13:21:57(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Hsquared14

RIDDOR applies only to work related injuries and very specific work related / caused illnesses, strokes do not fall under the remit of RIDDOR and should not be reported

O'Donnell54548  
#8 Posted : 05 November 2019 13:34:40(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
O'Donnell54548

Originally Posted by: Hsquared14 Go to Quoted Post

RIDDOR applies only to work related injuries and very specific work related / caused illnesses, strokes do not fall under the remit of RIDDOR and should not be reported

As far as I know, stress is not reportable

John Carver  
#9 Posted : 06 November 2019 22:07:25(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
John Carver

First of all, I hope that your manager is able to recover from the medical condition.

The medical condition is not reportable under RIDDOR.

zurek554  
#10 Posted : 01 December 2022 14:33:47(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
zurek554

Hi all,

We had a very similar situation whereby one of the employees had a stroke. They recovered but were unable to perform their normal work. Unfortunately, at the time we had no alternative work for them and had to let them go. The person is now accusing us of negligence and threatening with a claim for compensation.

When they had a stroke, their co-worker reacted quickly, ambulance was called and they were taken to hospital. We did not report under RIDDOR as this was a medical episode and they were performing their normal day to day work.

However, now I wonder what chances they have to make a successful claim against the company?

Thanks

Kate  
#11 Posted : 01 December 2022 14:44:02(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Kate

In what way is it alleged that the employer was negligent?

zurek554  
#12 Posted : 02 December 2022 07:42:37(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
zurek554

Kate,

There is no official allegation as yet. However, they are claiming their stroke was caused by lifting at work which was part of their normal working day, task assessed and risk controlled.

I do not feel this claim would be succesful, but thought I would ask if anyone had similar experience.

Kate  
#13 Posted : 02 December 2022 08:57:41(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Kate

Now I am curious to know if anyone has ever put "Stroke" as one of the hazards in a risk assessment about lifting!

As far as I know, strokes have causes internal to the body and are not caused by work activities.  This is backed up by the NHS account of the causes and prevention of stroke: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stroke/

It seems likely that the real issue is that the person feels aggrieved about how they have been treated by the company.

thanks 2 users thanked Kate for this useful post.
HSSnail on 02/12/2022(UTC), zurek554 on 07/12/2022(UTC)
Roundtuit  
#14 Posted : 02 December 2022 09:04:06(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Roundtuit

There are many underlying conditions and health issues which a business can not know, nor control - as exampled by recent reports of what would have been deemed fit & healthy footballers hanging up their boots due to medical incident or screening identifying underlying heart problems.

A relative worked as a nursing auxilliary for many years lifting patients - what we did not know was she also had an aortic aneurysm that could have killed her at any time before undergoing succesful corrective surgery.

Lifestyle, diet, age all affect the inner body - if solely lifting resulted in stroke the human race would have long since moved on.

As Kate says someone has had time to brood and is now seeking to lash out over the life that could have been

thanks 4 users thanked Roundtuit for this useful post.
HSSnail on 02/12/2022(UTC), zurek554 on 07/12/2022(UTC), HSSnail on 02/12/2022(UTC), zurek554 on 07/12/2022(UTC)
Roundtuit  
#15 Posted : 02 December 2022 09:04:06(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Roundtuit

There are many underlying conditions and health issues which a business can not know, nor control - as exampled by recent reports of what would have been deemed fit & healthy footballers hanging up their boots due to medical incident or screening identifying underlying heart problems.

A relative worked as a nursing auxilliary for many years lifting patients - what we did not know was she also had an aortic aneurysm that could have killed her at any time before undergoing succesful corrective surgery.

Lifestyle, diet, age all affect the inner body - if solely lifting resulted in stroke the human race would have long since moved on.

As Kate says someone has had time to brood and is now seeking to lash out over the life that could have been

thanks 4 users thanked Roundtuit for this useful post.
HSSnail on 02/12/2022(UTC), zurek554 on 07/12/2022(UTC), HSSnail on 02/12/2022(UTC), zurek554 on 07/12/2022(UTC)
A Kurdziel  
#16 Posted : 02 December 2022 09:19:04(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
A Kurdziel

At a previous employer we had an employee who was diagnosed with breast cancer. She blamed the business, including suggesting “the dirty desks” in the shared office were responsible for her condition.

thanks 2 users thanked A Kurdziel for this useful post.
HSSnail on 02/12/2022(UTC), zurek554 on 07/12/2022(UTC)
HSSnail  
#17 Posted : 02 December 2022 12:35:58(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
HSSnail

Originally Posted by: Kate Go to Quoted Post

Now I am curious to know if anyone has ever put "Stroke" as one of the hazards in a risk assessment about lifting!

Never done it never seen it and would not expect to see it! 

thanks 1 user thanked HSSnail for this useful post.
zurek554 on 07/12/2022(UTC)
achrn  
#18 Posted : 02 December 2022 15:58:43(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
achrn

https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/173/3/330/129869

If I've read that right, regular physical activity reduces your chances of having a particular sort of stroke, but people who did have a stroke of that sort were found to have been more likely than average to have been doing something strenuous immediately prior to the stroke.  The difference is even more pronounced among people who normally aren't normally physically active. 

Within 1 hour of physical activity, the the risk of stroke onset was on average 2.3 times higher compared with periods of lower activity or rest, though actually it's 2x higher for regularly active people and 6.8x higher for sedentary people.  That is, among active people who had a relevant stroke, 5% of them had been doing something strenuous within the previous hour, though on average only 2.5% of similarly-active people would have been doing something strenuous in the hour before a randomly selected daytime time (when they didn't have a stroke).

So possibly, regular physical activity (such as regular lifting at work which is part of your normal working day) makes you less likely to have a stroke, but if you're going to have one it will be more likely after physical activity than not.

I'm still not going to add stroke to my manual handling risk assessments.

thanks 2 users thanked achrn for this useful post.
Kate on 02/12/2022(UTC), zurek554 on 07/12/2022(UTC)
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