Hi Chelle
Sounds like a clear YES to me.
The question is whether this person has been incapacitated from "routine work" and that has been the subject of much dispute (and MANY threads on these Forums!!) for many years including before the current iteration of RIDDOR.
People have found excuses NOT to report (or record) accidents at work which have resulted in injuries since the first reporting legislation was introduced in the UK in the 19th Century and will probably continue to look for excuses.
Hence over the years the wording has been tightened but people STILL look for loopholes.
One of the big arguments has always been which DAYS to count and not count.
So, you do NOT count the day of the accident, but you DO count days when the victim would not be due to work IF they were incapacitated on such days. So, if someone works Monday to Friday you DO count the Saturday and Sunday.
Then there is the issue of what "routine work" means and the general view (including that in HSE guidance) is that this means what is "routine" for the person involved.
So, suppose their normal day job is to drive fork trucks but that involves a bit of paperwork, if the person is injured and cannot drive a fork truck but can do more paperwork then they are no longer doing what is "routine" work" for THEM.
In your particular scenario you apppear to have that question of what they are actually deployed to do whilst recovering but also reduced hours.
So, let's suppose that their "routine work" pattern is 5 days a week for 8 hours a day, but they are given a return to work plan that says that they work for only 6 hours a day, then if that is because they are "incapacitated" from working 8 hours, then they fall within scope. In contrast, if the reduced hours are some sort of compensation - "have some shorter days, you've earned it" then may be you are in a grey area. That coujld lead to a heated debate, but if their "routine work" involves mostly driving fork trucks and they are doing shorter days of paperwork, then case closed in my book!
Edited by user 08 April 2025 10:09:56(UTC)
| Reason: Lazy finger typo