Hi,

I’m looking for some guidance. Would a sports student (aged 16–19) at a college who breaks their collarbone while playing rugby be considered a RIDDOR-reportable incident? The injury is confirmed as a fracture, and the student has undergone surgery to have a plate fitted.

Given the full-contact nature of rugby, do the usual injury reporting rules still apply in this case?

violence = we call it physicality in rugby... even when you are punching...;)

Hi Kate

.....which in a roundabout way is a good reminder that RIDDOR reportability is NOT about whether someone has broken the law but a means of collecting data on defined types of accident and other outcomes.

However, in terms of RIDDOR most cases of deliberate assault are outside the scope of the Regulations.

Which from a RIDDOR perspective means that "assault" only comes within the definition of "accident" when a specific condition is met:

“accident” includes an act of non-consensual physical violence done to a person at work;

Hence, if e.g. the referee is "at work" then if they are thumped by one of the players (in a school amateur game) then reportable if the other criteria for reportability are met.

In contrast, the reckless challenge by one amateur player on another, that results in serious injury, is not within the scope of RIDDOR but might be of interest to the Police for the same reason that they might be called in to sort out a punch up outside a pub.