RIDDOR
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013, often known by the acronym RIDDOR, is a 2013 statutory instrument of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It regulates the statutory obligation to report deaths, injuries, diseases and "dangerous occurrences", including near misses, that take place at work or in connection with work.[3][4]
One of the worst colliery explosions – the Oaks colliery disaster killed more than 300 people in 1866.[5]
The regulations require "responsible persons" to report deaths at work, major injuries caused by accidents at work, injuries to persons not at work that require hospital treatment, injuries arising from accidents in hospitals, and dangerous occurrences (reg.3(1)). Additionally, the law requires registered gas fitters to report poor and dangerous gas installations (reg.6).
Responsible persons are generally employers but also include various managers and occupiers of premises (reg.2). Though the regulations do not impose a specific obligation on employees, they have a general obligation under section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 to take care of safety. The Health and Safety Executive recommends that they report incidents to their employer and encourages voluntary notification to the relevant regulating authority.[3]
There are specific regulations as to mines and quarries (reg.8/ Sch.5), and offshore installations (reg.9/ Sch.6).
Medical treatments are exempt, as are injuries arising from road traffic accidents[6] and to members of the armed forces (reg.10).
Breach of the regulations is a crime, punishable on summary conviction with a fine of up to £400. If convicted on indictment in the Crown Court, an offender can be sentenced to an unlimited fine.[7] Either an individual or a corporation can be punished[8] and sentencing practice is published by the Sentencing Guidelines Council.[9] For example, in 2000, Salford City Council were fined £115,000 for a breach of the regulations.[10]
It is a defence that the responsible person was not aware of the event requiring reporting or notification and that he had taken all reasonable steps to have such events brought to his notice (reg.11). The burden of proof of such a defence is on the defendant, on the balance of probabilities.[11]
Lichfield (/ˈlɪtʃfiːld/) is a cathedral city and civil parish[2] in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly 16 mi (26 km) north of Birmingham, 8.1 miles (13.0 km) from Rugeley, 9 miles (14 km) from Walsall, 7.9 miles (12.7 km) from Tamworth and 13 miles (21 km) from Burton Upon Trent. At the time of the 2011 Census the population was estimated at 32,219 and the wider Lichfield District at 100,700.[3]
Notable for its three-spired medieval cathedral, Lichfield was the birthplace of Samuel Johnson, the writer of the first authoritative Dictionary of the English Language. The city's recorded history began when Chad of Mercia arrived to establish his Bishopric in 669 AD and the settlement grew as the ecclesiastical centre of Mercia. In 2009, the Staffordshire Hoard, the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork, was found 5.9 km (3.7 mi) south-west of Lichfield.
The development of the city was consolidated in the 12th century under Roger de Clinton, who fortified the Cathedral Close and also laid out the town with the ladder-shaped street pattern that survives to this day. Lichfield's heyday was in the 18th century, when it developed into a thriving coaching city. This was a period of great intellectual activity, the city being the home of many famous people including Samuel Johnson, David Garrick, Erasmus Darwin and Anna Seward, and prompted Johnson's remark that Lichfield was "a city of philosophers".
Today, the city still retains its old importance as an ecclesiastical centre, and its industrial and commercial development has been limited. The centre of the city has over 230 listed buildings (including many examples of Georgian architecture), and preserves much of its historic character.