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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]
South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in England. It is the southernmost county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region and had a population of 1.34 million in 2011. It has an area of 1,552 square kilometres (599 sq mi)[2] and consists of four metropolitan boroughs, Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. South Yorkshire was created on 1 April 1974 as a result of the Local Government Act 1972.[3][4] Its largest settlement is Sheffield.
Lying on the east side of the Pennines, South Yorkshire is landlocked, and borders Derbyshire to the west and south-west, West Yorkshire to the north-west, North Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire to the east and Nottinghamshire to the south-east. The Sheffield Urban Area is the tenth most populous conurbation in the United Kingdom, and dominates the western half of South Yorkshire with over half of the county's population living within it. South Yorkshire lies within the Sheffield City Region with Barnsley also being within the Leeds City Region, reflecting its geographical position midway between Yorkshire's two largest cities.
South Yorkshire County Council was abolished in 1986 and its metropolitan boroughs are now effectively unitary authorities, although the metropolitan county continues to exist in law.[5][6][7] As a ceremonial county, South Yorkshire has a Lord Lieutenant and a High Sheriff.
South Yorkshire was created from 32 local government districts of the West Riding of Yorkshire (the administrative county and four independent county boroughs), with small areas from Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
