RIDDOR Regulations - Legal Question

[charlievictorbravo]

This thread is in the general section as I could not find anywhere more appropriate to put it.

A bee group to which I belong is negotiating a licence for an apiary with a local authority. The draft licence from the licensor's solicitor states the licensee shall "record and report all accidents, injuries and dangerous occurrences to the .... manager ... in accordance with the 'Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013'."

My question is do the Regulations apply to charities at locations where there are no employees? Guidance on the internet says "Only ‘responsible persons’ including employers, the self-employed and people in control of work premises should submit reports under RIDDOR." I suppose the question is, would an apiary be considered "work premises" in that guidance?

The licence area is situated in a larger land holding which is a place of employment so it's possible that the intention is that the manager makes the RIDDOR report to the HSE but that is not clear from the above wording.

Is there any forum member who has come across this issue and has had guidance as to whether RIDDOR applies to an apiary run by a charity and operated by volunteers? My initial reaction is that it's probably not advisable to have a clause written into the licence that imposes those regulations on us when they would not normally apply.

Thanks for any help.

CVB

 

[gbee]

I am neither a lawyer nor an experienced beekeeper and I don’t entirely understand your question so please forgive my ignorance. As far as I am aware you don’t need a license to run an apiary, so what exactly is the bee group applying for? Are they already a registered charity or is this some condition of applying? Are they seeking funding?

I believe organised charitable work is still considered work and thus the usual legal obligations apply. Otherwise those poor volunteers would be chopping off arms with no legal recourse!

 

[yeogi75]

Its all about health and safety it just means anyone having an accident of any kind being put in a accident book for risk assessment , some one has to do a risk assessment on what is in the accident book, it applies to all on site as I understand

 

[JWF]

The RIDDOR Regulations apply in the main to people at work, or to members of the public visiting a place of work (e. g. a member of the public visiting a shop).

As such, an apiary, run by a voluntary group with no employees, is not subject to the requirements of RIDDOR, unless it is located on land which could be otherwise be considered to be a place of work (e. g. if the apartment is located on land owned by an organisation such as a University or a business). If this is the case then the responsibility for reporting would rest with the land owner, rather than the apiary. However, there are very restricted reporting requirements for people not at work when it comes to reporting accidents under RIDDOR, so it is unlikely to arise in the context of the apiary itself.

If you appoint an apiary manager, and pay them to carry out the role, it's possible that they could be considered to be an employee, even in the absence of any formal contract of employment. Paying reasonable expenses for the role would not constitute pay in this context.

So, in summary, as long as you don't pay anyone to 'work' at the apiary, RIDDOR does not apply.

You therefore have no obligations and it is easy to meet the requirement to "record and report all accidents, injuries and dangerous occurrences to the .... manager ... in accordance with the 'Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013'." as stipulated by your insurers, simply by doing nothing.

You would be well advised, however, to keep an accident book to record any accidents which do occur, and also have risk assessments in place which consider the risks posed both by beekeeping itself, ancillary activities such as carpentry, and authorised or unauthorised access to the apiary.

 

[Popparand]

This thread is in the general section as I could not find anywhere more appropriate to put it.

A bee group to which I belong is negotiating a licence for an apiary with a local authority. The draft licence from the licensor's solicitor states the licensee shall "record and report all accidents, injuries and dangerous occurrences to the .... manager ... in accordance with the 'Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013'."

My question is do the Regulations apply to charities at locations where there are no employees? Guidance on the internet says "Only ‘responsible persons’ including employers, the self-employed and people in control of work premises should submit reports under RIDDOR." I suppose the question is, would an apiary be considered "work premises" in that guidance?

The licence area is situated in a larger land holding which is a place of employment so it's possible that the intention is that the manager makes the RIDDOR report to the HSE but that is not clear from the above wording.

Is there any forum member who has come across this issue and has had guidance as to whether RIDDOR applies to an apiary run by a charity and operated by volunteers? My initial reaction is that it's probably not advisable to have a clause written into the licence that imposes those regulations on us when they would not normally apply.

Thanks for any help.

CVB

Their solicitor is picking nits, but there again don't they all. It's how they justify their fees.

No point in arguing the case. It's good practice to have an accident reporting book (stung visitors etc) and if you have non-beeking visitors or beginners you should also have briefing notes. I assume your group keeps a log to record what's going on with each colony.

Our association is a registered charity and we have gone the whole hog with GDPR, health and safety (bees and people), etc. It protects us if anyone tries to sue, even though we are covered by BBKA public liability insurance.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

I am neither a lawyer nor an experienced beekeeper and I don’t entirely understand your question so please forgive my ignorance. As far as I am aware you don’t need a license to run an apiary, so what exactly is the bee group applying for? Are they already a registered charity or is this some condition of applying? Are they seeking funding?

I believe organised charitable work is still considered work and thus the usual legal obligations apply. Otherwise those poor volunteers would be chopping off arms with no legal recourse!

Sorry, my bad for not explaining well enough. The apiary is situated on land owned by a local authority and it is giving us a licence (as opposed to a tenancy) to use the area of land of the apiary which is surrounded by other land owned by the LA, where employees of the LA carry out work (i.e. it's a place of work). Our group is a registered charity - a CIO in fact - and I was concerned that signing up for this clause in the licence agreement could create onerous conditions that otherwise would not exist. In this respect, JWF's contribution is relevant and I will respond to that separately.

CVB

 

[beebopper]

Yes of course it applies to charities - I work for a charity and we have all this safety/accident legislation.
Think about it - are workers of charties consider to have a lower level of protection.

Just agree it really not difficult - set up a accident book and have somebody responsible for checking it is filled in.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

The RIDDOR Regulations apply in the main to people at work, or to members of the public visiting a place of work (e. g. a member of the public visiting a shop).

As such, an apiary, run by a voluntary group with no employees, is not subject to the requirements of RIDDOR, unless it is located on land which could be otherwise be considered to be a place of work (e. g. if the apartment is located on land owned by an organisation such as a University or a business). If this is the case then the responsibility for reporting would rest with the land owner, rather than the apiary. However, there are very restricted reporting requirements for people not at work when it comes to reporting accidents under RIDDOR, so it is unlikely to arise in the context of the apiary itself.

If you appoint an apiary manager, and pay them to carry out the role, it's possible that they could be considered to be an employee, even in the absence of any formal contract of employment. Paying reasonable expenses for the role would not constitute pay in this context.

So, in summary, as long as you don't pay anyone to 'work' at the apiary, RIDDOR does not apply.

You therefore have no obligations and it is easy to meet the requirement to "record and report all accidents, injuries and dangerous occurrences to the .... manager ... in accordance with the 'Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013'." as stipulated by your insurers, simply by doing nothing.

You would be well advised, however, to keep an accident book to record any accidents which do occur, and also have risk assessments in place which consider the risks posed both by beekeeping itself, ancillary activities such as carpentry, and authorised or unauthorised access to the apiary.

Thanks for your insightful post. I have read that for instance charity shops treat their volunteers as employees as far as H & S is concerned because they are working alongside employees and it would clearly be wrong for them to be treated differently but that is not the case with us.

I am wondering whether I have misinterpreted the intent of this poorly worded clause - maybe they are saying we report accidents etc. to the manager of the whole LA site, who has a legal duty to do the RIDDOR report to HSE because our apiary is situated within the 'place of work' for which he/she has H & S responsibility, which includes RIDDOR. Sound plausible? Maybe all that's needed is a slight rewrite of the clause making clear what the reporting process is.

What comes out of this discussion is the need for our trustees to give some detailed thought to documenting risk assessment, accident book procedures, lone working, etc..

CVB

 

[yeogi75]

that's right you don't have to keep one yourself just report it to the manager of the estate, any one who has a accident of any sort weather an employee or just a visitor has to put any accident in a accident book, part of the estate managers work for risk assessment hope that helps

 

[JWF]

I am wondering whether I have misinterpreted the intent of this poorly worded clause - maybe they are saying we report accidents etc. to the manager of the whole LA site, who has a legal duty to do the RIDDOR report to HSE because our apiary is situated within the 'place of work' for which he/she has H & S responsibility, which includes RIDDOR. Sound plausible? Maybe all that's needed is a slight rewrite of the clause making clear what the reporting process is.

CVB

I think that it is less "poorly worded" and more "barely relevant".

I'd be inclined to respond and say that you're happy for the clause to remain, but note that you do not consider that the majority of the reporting requirements will apply to you, as you have no employees, and neither do you carry out any work.

I'm happy for you to PM me if you like, rather than going into the fine detail on here.

 

[REDWOOD]

My understanding is work is work, payed or not. The whole purpose of HSE is to prevent further accidents and fatalities.

If you have an accident book one of the questions that should be there is " what have you done to prevent further accidents happening"

People take the mickey out of health and safety but it is there to protect you and others from injury and death