UK Minister praises changes in work injury reporting
10 April 2012
Employers no longer have to report injuries to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) injuries if they keep workers off normal duties for up to seven days, against anything over three days previously.
UK Employment Minister Chris Grayling
The Department for Work and Pensions says changes to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995 regulations affecting England, Scotland and Wales will save businesses 10,000 hours a year.
Employment Minister Chris Grayling said: "These changes are all about bringing common sense back to health and safety. We want less red tape for business, and these measures should save companies thousands of hours a year.
"We are freeing them from the burdens of unnecessary bureaucracy, while making sure serious incidents are properly investigated." Employers will also be given 15 days, rather than 10, to report an incident.
But Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB union, said: "This will do absolutely nothing to improve the health and safety record of UK employers or make workplaces safer. There will be 30,000 fewer accidents reported, which is not the same as 30,000 fewer accidents."
And John Longworth, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said the changes were relatively insignificant.
“Extending RIDDOR to seven days is a welcome step in the right direction, as it will go some way to reducing the administrative burden many businesses face when dealing with health and safety regulation. However, the government’s own figures show that this will only save firms £240,000 annually, which in the grand scheme of things, is tiny,” he said.
“If the government really wants to get tough on deregulation, it will need to go much further in reducing cost and compliance around health and safety legislation.”
The changes were a key plank of the 'Common Sense, Common Safety' report by Lord Young of Graffham, who conducted a review into the UK’s health and safety rules two years ago. David Cameron has since then promised to "tackle the health and safety monster" strangling British business with red tape.