The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued changes to its workplace regulations in order to ‘clarify and simplify’ reporting requirements for businesses, including those in waste management. Changes to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995, which requires employees to report and keep record of workplace related-deaths and injuries, were first proposed in July. RIDDOR 2013 sees the classification of major injuries to workers replaced with a shorter list of specific injuries, including serious burns covering more than 10% of the body, amputations, fractures (excluding thumbs, fingers and toes) and injury leading to permanent or reduced loss in sight. The revised regulations also see the existing schedule detailing 47 types of industrial disease replaced with eight categories of reportable work-related illness. Fewer types of ‘dangerous occurrence’ will also need reporting, so as to obtain information primarily about incidents with a high potential to cause death or serious injury, but which happen "relatively infrequently." There are however, no significant changes to reports of fatal accidents, accidents suffered by members of the public, or accidents resulting in a worker being unable to perform their normal range of duties for more than seven days. Based on Professor Löfstedt’s recommendations to the Government in a report entitled ‘Reclaiming Health and Safety for All’, HSE hopes the changes will mean data collected gives an accurate and useful picture of workplace incidents.
