Posted By Paul Leadbetter Mark The alleged conditions would only be reportable under RIDDOR if the diagnoses were made by a doctor. Paul

Posted By Kieran J Duignan Mark The first thing to address is whether any of the complaining employees has suffered severe pains for over a year; if he/she has, it's a good idea to send him/her to a rheumatologist reasonably soonq. Otherwise proceed systematically and ask for some medical evidence in writing if you are in doubt. The nightmare scenario is when none show you anything in writing but prefer to trade in hearsay: one of them quotes at second hand what their physiotherapist allegedly says, another quotes what their osteopath allegedly says and a third says their chiropractor says something else again. The serious difficulty underlying your question is that vulnerability to WRULD differs amongst employees according to their ages, body measurements and musculoskeletal history. So, exactly the same workstation, even with adjustable seating, worksurfaces and lighting, may well present different hazards and different risks to different employees. The health and safety issue is further complicated by the impact of disability and age discrimination and by the unfortunate fact that the training of HR professionals is so weak about health and safety. From a legal perspective, one or more of your employees may have a valid claim under any or all of the HSC Management of Health and Safety at Work Regs 1999, the HSE Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 as amended in 2002, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Age Equality Regulations 2005. Responding appropriately to the situation as you outline it may be as much a matter of diplomacy as it is of technical proficiency. If you commission a registered ergonomist who's a chartered safety practitioner and has experience as an expert witness on MSD claims. he or she should be able to make a contribution which provides you with a specification for a robust path ahead or with robust evidence you can use in a county court or employment tribunal, depending on the whether you get a claim for damages for personal injury or illegal discrimination or both. Make sure that you and your HR colleagues (if you have any) consider the discrimination issues as well as the safety/health ones, as claims under the discrimation heading are generally far higher than in the OSH field.