Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the duty of employers to report cases of COVID-19 to the Health and Safety Executive under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 where the employees have tested positive in a healthcare setting.

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) provides the national reporting framework for responsible persons (usually employers) to report certain cases of injury, disease and dangerous occurrences to the Health and Safety Executive.

In relation to the current pandemic, where an individual has either been exposed to or contracted coronavirus (SARS- COV-2) as a direct result of their work, those instances are reportable under RIDDOR either as a Dangerous Occurrence (under Regulation 7 and Schedule 2, paragraph 10) or as a disease attributed to an occupational exposure to a biological agent (under Regulation 9 (b)) or as a death as a result of occupational exposure to a biological agent under Regulation 6 (2).

For an incident to be reportable as a Dangerous Occurrence, the incident must result (or could have resulted) in the release or escape of the coronavirus.

For an incident to be reportable as a disease due to occupational exposure to a biological agent there must be reasonable evidence suggesting that a work-related exposure was the likely cause of COVID-19.

Where any person dies as a result of occupational exposure to a biological agent, such as coronavirus (SARS- COV-2) this must also be reported by the responsible person.