HSE gives advice on how to report health and safety incidents

HSE Press Release E163:02 - 4 September 2002

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued an updated leaflet giving employers advice on how to report health and safety incidents - and how to use the HSE's new incident contact centre.

All employers have a legal duty to report the following work-related health and safety incidents:

• deaths;
• major injuries;
• over-three-day injuries, where an employee or self-employed person has an accident resulting in them being off work - or unable to do their work - for more than three days;
• injuries to members of the public that require them to go to hospital;
• work-related diseases; and
• dangerous occurrence which could potentially have resulted in a reportable injury.

The incident contact centre (ICC) provides a single point of contact for all employers in England, Scotland and Wales to use, whatever their business. Reports can be made by telephone - the quickest and most straightforward method - or via the internet, e-mail, fax or post.

HSE Director General Timothy Walker said:

"The ICC offers an excellent integrated service to employers and considerable benefits for business. It cuts down on paperwork and helps duty holders to discharge their legal obligations with the minimum of fuss."

Notes for editors

1. The ICC was launched in April 2001. It can receive reports on any work-related health and safety incident from any employer in England, Scotland and Wales (Northern Ireland has its own reporting arrangements).

2. Employers are required by law to report all work-related health and safety incidents specified in the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR).

3. The HSE has sent a recent mailshot to 128,000 businesses in the agriculture, construction, manufacturing and services sector to remind them of the services the ICC provides.

Copies of RIDDOR reporting: what the incident contact centre can do for you (MISC310(rev1) are available from your local HSE office, local authority office or HSE Books.

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