The government has dismissed calls to require businesses to report long term sickness due to stress as a health and safety issue.
It said doing so would not be appropriate because “stress is not always work-related but can be connected to many other issues outside of the workplace”.
However, the current list of diseases which must be reported includes various types of cancer, Lyme Disease and Tetanus which can also be commonly contracted outside the workplace.
At present under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (Riddor) there are 47 diseases and conditions which must be reported by all workplaces and a further 25 which must be reported by offshore workplaces.
And none of these 72 listed diseases is a mental health condition.
‘Not always work-related’
The issue was raised by Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Daisy Cooper who asked if the government would undertake a public consultation on amending Riddor to require businesses to report long term sickness due to stress as a health and safety issue.
Parliamentary under-secretary of state for work and pensions Mims Davies responded: “The Health and Safety Executive keeps the regulations, including the specified injuries and reportable diseases under review.
“The list of current reportable occupational diseases will be considered as part of the next formal post-implementation review of Riddor, which is due to report in 2023.
“Stress is not always work-related but can be connected to many other issues outside of the workplace and as such it would not be appropriate to require stress to be reported under Riddor.”
