Straight from HSE - School activities section in RIDDOR

Q. Are sporting injuries reportable?

A. No, most are not, since they arise out of the normal participation in a sporting activity (eg a heavy tackle in football). Only report injuries if they arise out of or in connection with a work activity, such as those due to defective equipment or failings in the organisation and management of an event.

I'm not sure I understand the second part of your original question - if its reportable, do we have to report? Something lost in typing!

However, the test about work related reportability is described above. But you need to first decide whether this was a work activity before you examine whether the accident was work-related. Were they required (explicitly or implicitly) to take part or was it a personal choice. That sets you down a route of whether they were an employee at that time or not - although if they were supervising children etc. at the time then may I suggest that declaring them 'not an employee' is fraught with a bunch of other questions... ;) PE teachers have some at least vague involvement with sporting activity and I would suggest that this is a rather inherent part of their day to day work! I've always assumed that the quote above is targeted at students.

Functionally though, if they are an employee, then the employer is the dutyholder for RIDDOR. But if you determine they were, for the purposes of this activity, a member of the public, then the venue is.

The injury however is but the outcome of an accident - it is not the accident itself.  You need to examine the accident and decide if there were any defects in equipment, environment or management that contributed to it. If so, then likely work-related and the appropriate organisation as per the above should report.

So...

If it was found that the incident wasn't initially RIDDOR reportable because it's a sporting injury and there were no defects, adequate supervision etc. would it then become RIDDOR if the teacher was away from work for more than 7 consecutive days?

Not sure if that's true. If an employee trips over a trailing cable at work and twsits their ankle, this is in itself not a specified injury and so is not RIDDOR reportable. However, if the employee is off work for more than 7 consecutive days as a result then it becomes reportable.

The test here on whether its reportable or not is whether the I.P. was directed by the school to facilitate / take part in the sporting activity - if they were it meets the criteria of work related and therefore it's reportable, but if they were not directed and they acted on their own volition then its not reportable to RIDDOR.

Edited by user 01 May 2019 12:45:30(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

I think most of it is as above, but needs putting together. Ie

1. Was it work related? Ie firstly, were they asked / expected to take part or did they just join in for a bit of fun?
2. If they were told to take part then it might be work related, so the next question is was the way it was organised / carried out play a part, or did any equipment or anything provided play a part, and lastly did the condition of the premises play a part? If any of it did then it is reportable by the employer and if it didn’t then it is not reportable.
3. If they were not told to take part, did the way the event was organised or the premises play a part, if so, then as a member of the public the sporting event company should report. If not then no report, by anyone.

Remember when asking yourself the above questions is not with regard to blame just did it play a part and contribute to the incident.

chris

Originally Posted by: A Kurdziel

From my reading of the original post the injured party was undertaking an activity on behalf of their employer at another employer’s premises. There they suffered a significant injury which I assume lead to them being taken straight to hospital (do not pass go do not collect £200 but do get actual treatment as opposed to just an assessment). So it is a RIDDOR but it is down to the venue to report it.  

This is my understanding too - in this case it is down to the venue to report not the employer.  Similar analogy is that some recent cases of broken bones at those trampolining places were RIDDOR reportable by the venue and the HSE made some investigations.  Effectively at an off site venue the teacher is classed as a member of the public so becomes the venue's responsibility so as a specified injury in the regs and needing hospital treatment rather than just investigation it is down to them to report.