Accident Reporting

Death or major injury:

• If there is an accident connected with work and your employee, or a self-employed person working on your premises is, killed or suffers a major injury (including the result of physical violence); or a member of the public is killed or taken to hospital
• You must notify the enforcing authority without delay (e.g. by telephone). They will ask for brief details about your business, the injured person and the accident
• Within 10 days you must follow this up with a completed accident form (F2508).

Over three day injury:

• If there is an accident connected with work (including an act of physical violence and your employee, or a self-employed person working on the premises, suffers an over three day injury you must send a completed accident report form(F2508) to the Incident Contact Centre (ICC) within 10 days. An over three day injury is one that is not a major but results in the injured person being away from work or unable to do their normal work for more than three days (including non-working days).

Disease:

• If a doctor notifies you in writing that your employee suffers from a reportable work-related disease then you must send a completed disease report form (F2508a) to the enforcing authority. A self-employed person notified verbally by his or her doctor that they have suffered from a reportable work related disease is obliged to report the matter to their enforcing authority. A overview of reportable diseases is provided later.

Dangerous Occurrences:

• If an incident takes place which does not result in a reportable injury, then it may be a dangerous occurrence which must be reported immediately. (e.g. by telephone). A summary of reportable dangerous occurrences is given later
• Within 10 days you must follow this up with a completed accident report form (F2508).

What if I am self-employed?

• If you are working in someone else’s premises and suffer either a major injury which means that you cannot do your normal work for more than three days, then you will be responsible for reporting your injury
• If you or a member of the public is injured while you are working on your own premises, or if there is a dangerous occurrence there, or if a doctor informs you that you have a work related disease or condition, then you need to report it. However, as a self-employed person you do not need to notify immediately if you suffer a major injury on your own premises. Either someone acting for you should send in the report form within 10 days.

The reporting procedure has recently been simplified, now all reportable accidents are collated at one single point, the Incident Contact Centre based at Caerphilly.

Reportable accidents must be reported within 10 days. You can report an accident to the RIDDOR Incident Contact Centre (ICC) by:

• Completing a report form on-line on the ICC website, or
• Telephoning 0845 300 9923 Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.00pm (the form will be completed for you over the telephone and a copy sent to you for your records), or
• Downloading or printing the form from the Health and Safety Executive Website and sending it to:

Incident Contact Centre,
Caerphilly Business Park,
Caerphilly
CF83 3GG

Reports submitted to the Incident Contact Centre will be forwarded to your enforcing authority – either Fylde Borough Council or the local office of the Health and Safety Executive, depending on the type of premises.

All completed copies of F2508 report forms must be kept for 3 years after the date of which the accident happened.

What are reportable injuries?

• Fracture other than to fingers, thumbs or toes
• Amputation
• Dislocation of the shoulder, hip, knee or spine
• Loss of sight (temporary or permanent)
• Chemical or hot metal burn to the eye or any penetrating injury to the eye
• Injury resulting from electric shock or electrical burn leading to unconsciousness requiring resuscitation; or requiring admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours
• Unconsciousness caused by asphyxia or exposure to harmful substance or biological agent
• Acute illness requiring medical treatment, or loss of consciousness arising from absorption of any substance by inhalation, ingestion or through the skin
• Acute illness requiring medical treatment where there is a reason to believe that this resulted from exposure to a biological agent or its toxins or infected material

What are reportable dangerous occurrences?

Included in the list below are the most likely dangerous occurrences to occur in local authority enforced premises:

• Collapse, overturning or failure of load bearing parts of lifts and lifting equipment
• Explosion, collapse or bursting of any closed vessel or associated pipework
• Electrical short circuit or overload causing fire or explosion
• Accidental release of any substance which may damage health

What are reportable diseases?

These include certain poisonings, some skin diseases such as occupational dermatitis, skin cancer, oil folliculitis/acne, lung disease including occupational asthma, asbestosis, mesothelioma, certain infections (e.g. leptospirosis) and other conditions (e.g. occupational cancer, certain musculoskeletal disorders). Advice on medical conditions is available from the Employment Medical Advisory Service (EMAS): Contact the Health and Safety Executive www.hse.gov.uk.

A proforma copy of the injury/dangerous occurrences reporting form (F2508) can be downloaded from the RIDDOR website www.riddor.gov.uk.