Facilities Management Association

 

The HSE has agreed to the publication of consultation documents on proposed changes to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR).

 

In his report on health and safety, Lord Young recommended that RIDDOR be amended 'by extending to seven days the period before an injury or accident needs to be reported'. In line with commitments made in the Government's formal response to the report, the HSE will open a three-month consultation in January 2011.

 

Under current rules, when an employee is absent from work for more than three days following an incident or injury at work, employers are required to report the incident to the relevant enforcing authority – either the HSE or the local council.

 

The proposed amendment increases this 'over three day' period to over seven consecutive days. This change would align the incident reporting threshold with that for obtaining a 'fit note' from a GP for sickness absence, and would ensure that someone who has suffered a reportable injury has had a professional medical assessment.

 

Judith Hackitt, HSE Chair, said:

 

"The Board discussed the proposals at length, and asked for some additional work to be done prior to the launch of the consultation in January.

 

"Whilst there will be some obvious advantages in reducing the reporting requirements on business, there will be other factors which need to be taken into account. We hope that interested parties will use the consultation exercise to provide the range of perspectives we need to consider in order for us to advise the Government appropriately."

 

The consultation paper will be published on www.hse.gov.uk in the week commencing 17 January 2011. The deadline for responses will be 11 April 2011. The HSE will then consider the responses, and expects to be in a position to submit recommendations to the Secretary of State by the end of May.

 

Also as a result of Lord Young’s review of health and safety, a new national register of occupational safety consultants will be set up to help employers access ‘good quality, proportionate advice’, the HSE has confirmed.

 

The Occupational Safety Consultants Register (OSCR) will go live in January 2011. It will provide firms with details of consultants who have met the highest qualification standard of recognised professional bodies and who are bound by a code of conduct that requires them to only give advice that is ‘sensible and proportionate’.

 

The register has been developed by the HSE and a network of professional bodies representing safety consultants across Britain. Employers will visit a single website to help them find local advisers with experience relevant to their sector.

 

 

Finally, from March 2011 a consultation on consolidating the current raft of health and safety legislation into a single set of accessible regulations gets underway.

 

In his Review of Health and Safety, Lord Young recommended that ‘the current raft of health and safety regulations is reviewed in order to consolidate them into a single set of accessible regulations. There is evidence that there has been significant regulation ‘creep’ over the years with the original principles of health and safety relating to hazardous environments being extended to relatively low risk activities and businesses.

 

‘This is particularly the case where the EU is concerned where the tendency has been to look first at extending prescriptive regulation rather than examining ways of ensuring risk is managed in a proportionate way, focusing on process rather than outcomes.’

 

 

As disruption caused by snow and ice continues, Facilities Managers are being advised to take steps to prevent slips and falls on their property and to keep evidence of the precautionary steps they have taken.

 

Falls account for over a third of workplace accidents and employers could risk compensation claims if they fail to prevent them as far as possible.

 

Jeremy Bradshaw, a Personal Injury Lawyer for Mace & Jones, said:

 

“Car parks should be gritted or salted to reduce snow and ice coverage. Extra care should be taken over places where there is a greater risk of danger, such as steps or slopes. Care should also be taken to prevent slipping in instances of transfer of snow or water off shoes on to polished floors as people enter buildings.

 

“Absorbent mats should be placed inside doors to collect water off shoes. Regular checks should be made to ensure that the mats haven't become too damp and are failing to absorb the water."

 

Mr Bradshaw said employers or building managers should keep documentary evidence to show that such procedures are not only in place but are being carried out.

 

He warned:

 

"Failure to carry out these precautions will render an employer or building manager liable to compensate the injured person. The lack of any documentary evidence may mean that an employer or building manager can't satisfy a court that systems were in place to prevent the injury resulting in them being found liable and having to pay compensation."