BOHS welcomes RIDDOR reversal

Posted on Friday 1 January 2010

The BOHS (British Occupational Hygiene Society) has welcomed the HSE’s decision to retain the need for employers and duty holders to continue to report occupational cancers, diseases attributable to biological agents and six short-latency diseases in the workplace.

The HSE had initially proposed to remove this requirement but after a public consultation exercise has decided to change its decision. Reform of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrence Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) initially arose from the HSE’s ‘fundamental review’ of the regulations, which was recommended by the Young Review in 2010 and endorsed by the Löfstedt Review in 2011. A formal public consultation took place between August and November 2012.

In response to the public consultation, BOHS as The Chartered Society for Worker Health Protection, set out three main areas why reporting occupational diseases such as occupational cancer should remain a key part of RIDDOR.

The three main areas of concern were:

Lack of surveillance data for epidemiological purposes
Lack of intelligence for HSE inspection
Sending a message to Industry about priorities.

Commenting on the HSEs announcement, Steve Perkins, BOHS chief executive, said: “BOHS welcomes HSE’s decision to retain the requirement to report occupational cancers, diseases attributable to biological agents and six short-latency diseases (handarm vibration syndrome, dermatitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, severe cramp of the arm, tendonitis and occupational asthma). These account for 90% of all illhealth RIDDOR reports to the HSE. It is therefore important these are retained under RIDDOR reporting requirements.”