RIDDOR (reporting of injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences regulations) is used in various workplaces to define and report when and where a dangerous incident has occurred. The current regulation stipulates that driving-related incidents that occur on a ‘road’ do not need to be reported in line with RIDDOR regulations.
However, it is estimated that between a quarter and a third of road traffic accidents that occur involve someone driving for work purposes. This worrying statistic is why the GMB general trade union is calling for work-related traffic incidents to be made RIDDOR reportable.
The calls are due to the increasing issue of driver safety for workers
Driver safety is an issue concerning health and safety that is often not thought of a huge amount as incidents often do not occur within the confines of a physical workspace, however, the high number of work-related road incidents mean many have been pushing for more clarity around the issue.
It is thought that making incidents reportable under the RIDDOR regulations will help to measure the number of incidents that occur along with potentially insightful parameters such as the location of the incident, the types of vehicle involved and the frequency with which certain incidents occur.
There is currently ‘no way of identifying how many people are killed in work-related road accidents’
According to the health and safety director of GMB, Dan Shears there is currently no way to reliably measure the exact number of work-related incidents that occur in the UK. Putting a legal obligation on employers to report these incidents will help get some exact figures which can be learnt from. The introduction of RIDDOR style regulations for road safety is viewed as a ‘long overdue first step’.
The additional steps are viewed as a cost that has to be incurred
Making incidents RIDDOR reportable and transferring responsibility to the HSE will cost a lot in terms of time and money however many feel the potential benefit in the long run in terms of saved lives and fewer working days lost will be well worth the investment.
For more information on keeping drivers safe, our article discusses the key points around fostering driver safety in businesses. Additionally, we also discuss the different RIDDOR regulations and what they mean here.
