RIDDOR: is a road accident reportable?
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) introduced the requirement for employers, and other people in control of work premises, to report and keep records of:
- Work-related accidents which cause death;
- Work-related accidents which cause certain serious injuries (reportable injuries);
- Diagnosed cases of certain industrial diseases; and
- Certain ‘dangerous occurrences’ (incidents with the potential to cause harm).
The report informs the enforcing authorities (HSE, local authorities and the Office for Rail Regulation (ORR)) about deaths, injuries, occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences, so they can identify where and how risks arise, and whether they need to be investigated.
However, the regulations don’t apply to all accidents or all aspects of someone’s work. For example, those working in the transport and logistics industry may spend much of their working time on the road but only aspects of their work are considered relevant to the regulations.
RIDDOR only requires you to report accidents if they happen “out of or in connection with work”. The fact that there is an accident at work premises does not, in itself, mean that the accident is work-related – the work activity itself must contribute to the accident. An accident is 'work-related' if any of the following played a significant role:
- The way the work was carried out;
- Any machinery, plant, substances or equipment used for the work; or
- The condition of the site or premises where the accident happened.
Road accidents are generally out of scope for RIDDOR. There are, however, four exceptions; these are reportable incidents involving a train; work alongside the road (e.g. road works); the escape of a substance being conveyed by a vehicle; or the loading or unloading of a vehicle.
The HSE provides the following examples of when accidents involving vehicles are or are not reportable under RIDDOR.
Q. A driver was seriously injured in a collision with another vehicle on a motorway. Is this reportable?
A. No. The accident should be reported to the police, who have primary responsibility for enforcing road traffic legislation. Most injuries resulting from vehicle movement on public roads are not reportable under RIDDOR.
Q. Two of our staff received major injuries when one, driving our delivery truck, collided with a lift truck the other was driving. The accident happened on the private road around our site. Is this reportable?
A. Yes. The exemption for reporting road traffic accidents only applies to vehicles on a 'road', as defined in s.192 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. If the site road is genuinely 'private', and the public do not normally have access, it is not within this definition and you must report the accident.
Q. Two shoppers were injured and taken to hospital for treatment when their cars collided on a supermarket car park. Is this reportable?
A. No, unless the circumstances were directly linked to supermarket's work. Just because an accident takes place on work premises, this does not make it a work-related accident. It could be work-related, if supermarket staff had contributed to the circumstances of the collision by, e.g. directing traffic movements, or by erecting an advertising board that obscured drivers' visibility.
Q. A car hit our delivery driver when he was unloading his van on the road and he broke his leg. Is this reportable?
A. Yes. If an accident involves the loading or unloading of a vehicle, you must report deaths and injuries as normal. The exemption in Regulation 14(3) does not apply.
Q. A road worker was injured when a car crashed through the coned-off area where he was working and has been unable to work for more than seven days. Is this reportable?
A. Yes. If an accident involves maintenance or construction work on the road, its verges or an adjacent building or structure, you must report deaths and injuries as normal. The exemption in Regulation 14(3) does not apply.
Q. A security guard suffered a broken arm when a thief hit him while making a getaway in a car. Is this reportable?
A. If the car was being driven on a road, it is not reportable. If this was in a private area, it would be reportable as an act of non-consensual violence to a person at work.
Find out more about the RIDDOR regulations here.
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