THE Government is set to take the next step in a major review in the way workplace injuries are reported.

And this could mean companies would be forced by law to provide details of drivers involved in accidents.

The data collected from such information would create a comprehensive picture of the scale of injuries from at-work road accidents and could lead to a huge amount of extra administration work for fleet managers.

Fleets were invited to give their views on proposals for change to the review of Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) put forward by the Health and Safety Commission (HSC).

The consultation period has now ended and officials at the HSC will start sifting through hundreds of responses that came from sectors involved in occupational health and safety.

In 2001, the Work-Related Road Safety Task Group recommended at-work road accidents were included in the regulations and the review document shows the authorities are acting on its advice.

The review asked whether to make road accidents reportable under the regulations and, despite the risk of ‘an unnecessary burden on businesses’, it said ‘reports could be used to target investigations by the enforcing authorities’.

In its discussion document, the HSC said: ‘We do not generally seek to apply Health and Safety at Work legislation where there is more specific and detailed law (in this case, the Road Traffic Acts and related regulations administered by other enforcing agencies) that adequately protects public and workers safety.

‘Road traffic law is enforced by the police and others – eg, the highways authorities and traffic commissioners. ‘The police will, in most cases, take the lead in the investigation of road traffic incidents. HSE would only make limited use of this information to target enforcement action.’

HSC chairman Bill Callaghan said the review would seek to ascertain whether RIDDOR was the best means of gathering information on occupational health, including driving and for the purpose of health and safety statistics.

The Health and Safety Executive will now analyse responses to the review and hold an internal consultation before submitting a report to the HSC at the end of the year.