Agency worker RIDDOR responsibility procedure

Applicability

Use this procedure where the school uses agency workers or hosts workers supplied by an employment agency. The responsible party must be determined from the particular employment relationship and the circumstances of the incident.

Procedure

1. Identify the arrangement

For the worker concerned, establish the employment-status information and the arrangements under which the worker was supplied to or hosted by the school. Consider whether the employment agency is the legal employer and who was in control of the premises where the incident occurred.

2. Determine the responsible party

Where the employment agency is the legal employer, consider the agency as the party responsible for reporting accidents and ill health to its employees, subject to the particular facts of the employment relationship and incident.

Where the worker is self-employed, consider whether the host business is responsible for reporting an accident as the person in control of the premises where it occurred. A self-employed person is responsible for reporting accidents occurring on their own premises and ill-health conditions.

3. Assign responsibility clearly

Assign reporting responsibility to the appropriate person or organisation based on the particular facts of the employment relationship and the incident. The allocation should distinguish the responsibilities of the agency, the school and the worker where relevant.

4. Record the decision

Record the employment-status information, the relevant employment and premises-control arrangements, the incident circumstances considered, and the resulting allocation of RIDDOR reporting responsibility.

5. Communicate the allocation

Ensure that the agency, the school’s relevant managers and the workers understand who is responsible for reporting under RIDDOR. Review the allocation for each relevant incident rather than relying only on a general agency arrangement.