HSE casts net wider to capture more incidents
Kimberley Mitchell sheds light on a major review of reporting obligations
Great Britain-wide, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) is the regulator for workplace health and safety. An important part of its operation is the system for the reporting of injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences (RIDDOR), under which duty-holders must report certain work-related incidents.
This year, HSE consulted on adding to the list of matters that must be reported. This consultation represents the most significant review of RIDDOR in over a decade. Whilst any reforms are unlikely to take effect before 2028, this article considers some of the proposals which would, very broadly, make significantly more incidents and diseases reportable and would also allow more professionals to make relevant occupational health (OH) diagnoses.
On dangerous occurrences, the proposals include adding tunnelling incidents, occurrences of construction plant overturning, and situations where pipework or hosing uncoils or projects material. Perhaps the widest category added is incidents where an object falls from a building or structure under demolition or construction where it could cause death. If implemented, this would mean a wider variety of incidents that would previously have been managed internally, will attract regulatory attention, particularly for the construction sector.
HSE also proposes expanding existing categories of incidents that need to be reported. For example, by amending the definition of “offshore installation” to capture relevant situations on offshore marine and wind farms.
Another area for proposed expansion of the reporting regime is diseases. At present, only six diseases need to be reported – carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic cramp in the hand or forearm, occupational dermatitis, hand arm vibration syndrome, occupational asthma, and tendonitis/tenosynovitis of the hand or forearm. The proposal is to increase the number of reportable diseases to 19, by reintroducing nine and adding four new ones. The four proposed new diseases are noise induced hearing loss, bronchiolitis obliterans, occupational allergic rhinitis (an inflammatory nose condition caused by an immune system reaction to allergens found in the workplace), and occupational contact urticaria (an acute skin reaction triggered by direct exposure to allergens or irritants in the workplace).
For sectors like construction, agriculture and manufacturing, this would be a substantial expansion of reporting obligations. The proposal is indicative of HSE’s continued interest in occupational ill-health although whilst HSE considered proposing work-related stress and suicide as reportable, they have not done that. Nonetheless, HSE note their continued interest in these matters, and will continue to monitor them through other channels.
Aside from the increased reporting requirements, HSE proposes to expand the number of professionals who can diagnose a reportable occupational disease. At present, this must be by a registered, licensed doctor. The proposal would allow diagnoses by registered nurses and physiotherapists, reflecting the wider range of professionals now involved in the management of OH.
As has always been the case, the question of whether an organisation, or person, may be at fault for a situation requiring to be reported is not relevant to the need to report. It is useful for HSE to be aware of all reportable incidents so that trends may be noted and action taken to highlight certain risks in the context of guarding against them. Of course, questions on whether the law has been broken and whether action should be taken because of that do arise in respect of workplace incidents and often HSE investigations are triggered by the submission of a report. Whenever there is any such question, or possibility of it, the best advice is always for legal advice to be sought at the earliest opportunity.
Kimberley Mitchell is a Legal Director, Clyde & Co