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 From 6 April 2012, subject to Parliamentary approval, the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR’s) over three day injury reporting requirement will change. From then the trigger point will increase from over three days’ to over seven days’ incapacitation (not counting the day on which the accident happened).

Incapacitation means that the worker is absent or is unable to do work that they would reasonably be expected to do as part of their normal work.

Employers and others with responsibilities under RIDDOR must still keep a record of all over three day injuries – if the employer has to keep an accident book, then this record will be enough.

The deadline by which the over seven day injury must be reported will increase to 15 days from the day of the accident.

New guidance that explains the change is available from the HSE website http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l73.pdf

The change to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995 will see a fall of around 30 per cent in the number of incidents that must be reported by law - an average of around 30,000 fewer reports a year. Employers will also be given a longer period in which to report, increasing from 10 to15 days from the time of the incident

By increasing the reporting threshold from three to seven days, the change will also align with the 'fit note' system which ensures that someone who is off work because they suffered a reportable injury has a professional medical assessment.

HSE Chair Judith Hackitt said:

"The change to the RIDDOR regulations will cut paperwork, help employers manage sickness absence and ensure that the reporting system is focused on risks which have resulted in more serious injury.