Posted By Ron Young Hold your hands up, admit your systems failed and report it. It's going to come out during the claim anyway.

Posted By Dave Daniel A VERY long time ago I went to a briefing on the new RIDDOR regs where a presentation was given by the HSE guy who wrote them. I gave a presentation on accident stats. There was the usual criticism of how impractical RIDDOR was from the audience, many of whom I agreed with. This particular issue was raised. The HSE guy's argument was that there was NO notification requirement. The notification requirement only exists for the first 10 days, he argued. He's right. Reg 11 is a defence for not being aware of the incident, and after the 10 day period, no matter what you do, you cannot comply with the law. Technically you can still be prosecuted under Reg 3 even if you notify on day 11, so late notification does not expunge your guilt. I've advised clients in a similar position not to bother notifying. I don't see what they have to gain, apart from grief from the HSE. They certainly can't remedy any guilt.

Posted By Descarte But you say it is resulting in a claim, are they not going to ask why it hasn't been reported?

Posted By Heather Collins I would report it. Surely this is a case of better late than never and it's better to hold your hands up now than hide your head in the sand. I think the chances of you getting an investigation would be small if you are honest about it but much greater if the claimant's solicitor DOES decide to bubble you. Two examples spring to mind. 1. An accident that slipped throurgh our system during a change of responsibilities and was not reported at the time. Discovered by me 12 months late and reported - added "apologies for the late reporting" and a brief explanation on the bottom of the F2508. Never heard anything further. 2. Claim for a RIDDOR accident where claimant's solicitor wasn't satisified with what was written on the 2508. Solicitor rang up HSE "have you heard about the dangerous machine in facory X which caused my client's accident?" HSE obliged to investigate, agreed with our findings - no further action. Imagine if we hadn't bothered to report that one! No wonder there's under-reporting of accidents if people are being advised it's not worth bothering after ten days...

Posted By Phillipe To answer Descarte, yes it will be discovered by the claimants solicitor as he is requesting a copy of the F2508. As we cannot present it, the answer to that is straightforward. Unless the solicitor informs the EHO then that is as far as it will go. The actual incident that ocurred to be honest was nothing particularly serious in order to warrant an investigation on a grand scale and any EHO that may take it up if I was to report it would only be able "have us" for failing to report.

Posted By peter gotch Phillipe Don't know who trained the Inspector that Dave refers to This is a continuing offence until you report, and subject to the potential for a daily penalty in addition to the penalty for the original offence. See http://www.major-hazards...l/preparing/drafting.htm So I would report with covering letter to apologise. Regards, Peter

Posted By Dave Daniel Peter - I wouldn't know who trained the HSE inspector I cited - probably no-one! They don't even get that much training today... What I do know was that he actually drafted RIDDOR 1985 which first set out this provision and had clearly thought out this issue. His answer was well rehearsed. The requirement is to report within 10 days. If you haven't achieved this you have broken the law and even if you report late, this is not remedied. There is no ongoing duty to report beyond 10 days, and there is a defence of not knowing anyway. I don't think that the issue of statistics is relevant - after all they would have already been prepared. There is no additional liability in respect of a claim - the solicitor merely wants to see if he can get extra info to nail down fault. HSE inspectors may well bellyache - One of my Safety Engineers was even threatened with personal prosecution when he refused to report a death as an accident so they could get involved in the investigation (Death by a Reckless Act - he was vindicated, although CPS refused to pursue manslaughter). I still can see no great worth in late reporting however.