TUC Calls for RIDDOR Reporting for Work-Based Psychosocial Harms

The Trades Union Congress (TUC), representing 5.5 million workers, is calling for reporting of psychological harms such as sexual harassment and burn-out to be included under requirements of The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR).

The TUC response to the RIDDOR consultation which closed in June, states, “If RIDDOR is to reflect modern workplace risks, it must take account of the fact that harm at work is not limited to physical injury but also includes serious and sustained psychological harm arising from workplace behaviour, including sexual harassment.”

The current reporting framework is heavily focused on physical injury and disease whilst failing to adequately capture many of the harms now recognised as serious workplace health and safety risks, the TUC argues.

These include:

• Sexual harassment and gender-based violence.
• Workplace violence, threats and abusive behaviour including harassment from customers, patients, service users and members of the public.
• Psychological trauma, bullying and intimidation.
• Work-related stress, anxiety and other psychosocial hazards.

Call for RIDDOR Reporting

The TUC says the RIDDOR process should be more transparent and workers should be able to report harms themselves. It says workers should have the ability to check if their employer has completed a RIDDOR report of near-misses and harms at work.

The organisation criticises HSE for excluding suicide, stress and burn-out from the RIDDOR consultation when these are major harms experienced by many as a result of their work.

It also says there is significant under-reporting by employers who may fear reputational harm for their business if a RIDDOR report is made.

It also recommends a specific framework for public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The HSE estimates changing RIDDOR reporting will push the cost up to businesses of completing RIDDOR form, from £12 per incident to £31.

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