The HSE has amended its RIDDOR reporting guidance to avoid penalising businesses in relation to Covid-19 cases. Under the new reporting guidance, employers must judge, based on available information, whether a confirmed case of Covid-19 in an employee is likely to have been caused by occupational exposure.
The FTA said the amendment provides employers with the flexibility to decide if submitting a report is required. The association said it had campaigned for the HSE to change its reporting guidance following concerns by members that the advice left them open to legal action.
Elizabeth de Jong, FTA policy director said: “Before this addition, our employer members were concerned that the lack of clarity on the guidance would have left them vulnerable to excessive or unfair litigation, as well as facing an administrative burden when resources are already strained. It would have hindered the return to work and created apprehension among both workers and their employers, impacting ultimately the nation’s economic recovery.”
RIDDOR puts duties on employers, the self-employed and people in control of work premises to report occupational diseases, including Covid-19, among the workforce.
Transport lawyers have previously warned that employment and public liability claims are likely to be brought where it is demonstrated that a person probably contracted Covid-19 from their employment or another premises (CM 28 May).
