Reporting Accidents at work (RIDDOR)

RIDDOR is the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995.

This legislation requires the reporting of specific work-related accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences.

The legislation covers all work activities but not all incidents. This page will give you a guide to which incidents should be reported. 

What's new
How to report an incident
Why should I report incidents?
What do I need to report?
Death or major injury
Over-three-day injury
Reportable work-related disease
Reportable dangerous occurrence (near miss)
I'm self-employed. What do I need to do?
What happens after an incident has been reported?
Keeping records
Further information

What's new?

From 12th September 2011 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will be moving to a predominantly web based system of incident reporting. Employers will still be able to notify the HSE of fatal and major incidents by phone but all other incidents will be required to be reported via new online forms. The online system is designed to make the process quick and easy. Under the new arrangements, employers will no longer be able to notify the HSE of incidents by post or fax.

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How to report an incident

All incidents can now be reported via online forms available on the HSE website. Once completed the form is submitted directly to the RIDDOR database and you will be given a copy for your records.

Fatal and major injuries can still be reported to the Incident Contact Centre (ICC) over the telephone. Please call the ICC on 0845 300 9923 (opening hours Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:00pm).

For further information on reporting accidents or incidents, including emergency out of hours contact details, please check the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/index.htm?

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Why should I report incidents?

Reporting accidents and ill health at work is a legal requirement. The information enables the enforcing authorities to identify where and how risks arise and to investigate serious accidents. 

If you are an employer, self-employed or in control of work premises you will have duties under the RIDDOR regulations. 

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What do I need to report?

You only need to report the most serious incidents. For most businesses a reportable incident is a rare event. You need to report: 

• Deaths
• Major injuries
• Accidents resulting in 3 days off work
• Accidents involving members of the public that are taken to hospital
• Diseases
• Dangerous occurrences
• 
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Death or major injury

If there is an accident connected with work and your employee, or a self-employed person working on your premises is killed or suffers a major injury (including as a result of physical violence); or a member of the public is killed or taken to hospital; you must notify the enforcing authority without delay. You can either telephone the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 99 23 or complete the appropriate online form.

Reportable major injuries:

• Fracture other than to fingers, thumbs or toes
• Amputation
• Dislocation of the shoulder, hip, knee or spine
• Loss of sight (temporary or permanent)
• Chemical or hot metal burn to the eye or any penetrating injury to the eye
• Injury resulting from an electric shock or electrical burn leading to unconsciousness or requiring resuscitation or admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours
• Any other injury: leading to hypothermia, heat-induced illness or unconsciousness; or requiring resuscitation; or requiring admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours
• Unconsciousness caused by asphyxia or exposure to harmful substance or biological agent
• Acute illness requiring medical treatment, or loss of consciousness arising from absorption of any substance by inhalation, ingestion or through the skin
• Acute illness requiring medical treatment where there is reason to believe that this resulted from exposure to a biological agent or its toxins or infected material.

Over-three-day injury

If there is an accident connected with work (including an act of physical violence) and your employee, or a self-employed person working on your premises, suffers an over-three-day injury you must report it to the enforcing authority within ten days via the appropriate online form.

An over-three-day injury is one which is not major but results in the injured person being away from work or unable to do their normal work for more than three days (including any days they would not normally be expected to work such as weekends, rest days or holidays) not counting the day of the injury itself.

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Reportable work-related disease

If a doctor notifies you that your employee suffers from a reportable work-related disease then you must report it to the enforcing authority via the appropriate online form.

Reportable diseases include:

• certain poisonings;
• some skin diseases such as occupational dermatitis, skin cancer, chrome ulcer, oil folliculitis/acne;
• lung diseases including: occupational asthma, farmer's lung, pneumoconiosis, asbestosis, mesothelioma;
• infections such as: leptospirosis; hepatitis; tuberculosis; anthrax; legionellosis and tetanus;
• other conditions such as: occupational cancer; certain musculoskeletal disorders; decompression illness and hand-arm vibration syndrome.

Reportable dangerous occurrence (near miss)

If something happens which does not result in a reportable injury, but which clearly could have done, then it may be a dangerous occurrence which must be reported to the ICC immediately using the appropriate online form. 

Reportable dangerous occurrences include:

• collapse, overturning or failure of load-bearing parts of lifts and lifting equipment;

• explosion, collapse or bursting of any closed vessel or associated pipe work;

• failure of any freight container in any of its load-bearing parts;

• plant or equipment coming into contact with overhead power lines;

• electrical short circuit or overload causing fire or explosion;

• any unintentional explosion, misfire, failure of demolition to cause the intended collapse,  projection of material beyond a site boundary, injury caused by an explosion;

• accidental release of a biological agent likely to cause severe human illness;

• failure of industrial radiography or irradiation equipment to de-energise or return to its safe position after the intended exposure period;

• malfunction of breathing apparatus while in use or during testing immediately before use;

• failure or endangering of diving equipment, the trapping of a diver, an explosion near a diver, or an uncontrolled ascent;

• collapse or partial collapse of a scaffold over five metres high, or erected near water where there could be a risk of drowning after a fall;

• unintended collision of a train with any vehicle;

• dangerous occurrence at a well (other than a water well);

• dangerous occurrence at a pipeline;

• failure of any load-bearing fairground equipment, or derailment or unintended collision of cars or trains;

• a road tanker carrying a dangerous substance overturns, suffers serious damage, catches fire or the substance is released;

• a dangerous substance being conveyed by road is involved in a fire or released;

• The following dangerous occurrences are reportable except in relation to offshore workplaces:

• unintended collapse of: any building or structure under construction, alteration or demolition where over five tones of material falls; a wall or floor in a place of work; any false-work;

• explosion or fire causing suspension of normal work for over 24 hours;

• sudden, uncontrolled release in a building of: 100 kg or more of flammable liquid; 10 kg of flammable liquid above its boiling point;

• 10 kg or more of flammable gas; or of 500 kg of these substances if the release is in the open air;

• accidental release of any substance which may damage health.
  
  Note: additional categories of dangerous occurrences apply to mines, quarries, relevant transport systems (railways etc) and offshore workplaces.

I'm self-employed. What do I need to do?

If you are working in someone else's premises and suffer either a major injury or an injury which means you cannot do your normal work for more than three days, then they will be responsible for reporting, so, where possible, you should make sure they know about it.

If you or a member of the public is injured while you are working on your own premises, if there is a dangerous occurrence there, or if a doctor tells you you have a work-related disease or condition, then you need to report it. 

However, as a self-employed person you don't need to notify immediately if you suffer a major injury on your own premises. Either you or someone acting for you should report it within 10 days. 

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What happens after I report an incident? 

All relevant incidents should be reported to the Incident Contact Centre (ICC) using the contact details above. 

The ICC will then forward details of incidents to the relevant enforcing authority. This will be our Health and Safety Team if your business is:

• office-based;
• retail or wholesale;
• warehousing;
• hotel and catering;
• sports or leisure;
• residential accommodation, excluding nursing homes,
• concerned with places of worship
• pre-school child care
• mobile vending

For all other types of business it will be the area office of the Health and Safety Executive.

The responsible person, usually the employer or the person in charge of the premises should report incidents in the following time scales:

• Death, major injury or dangerous occurrence - without delay

• Over-three day injuries - within ten days of the incident occurring

• Cases of disease - as soon as a doctor notifies you that your employee suffers from a reportable work-related disease.
  

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Keeping records

You must keep a record of any reportable injury, disease or dangerous occurrence. This must include the date and method of reporting; the date, time and place of the event, personal details of those involved and a brief description of the nature of the event or disease. You can keep the record in any form you wish.

You could, for example, choose to keep your records by:

• keeping copies of report forms in a file
• recording the details on a computer
• using your accident book entry
• maintaining a written log.

If you choose to report the incident by telephone or through the web site, the Incident Contact Centre will post you a copy of the record held within the database. You will be able to request amendments to the record if you feel the report is not fully accurate. 

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Further information

A Guide to the reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995. (L73) ISBN 0 7176 2431 5.

Available from HSE Books, PO Box 1999,
Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 6FS
Tel: 01787 881165 Fax: 01787 313995

For additional information please check the HSE website at www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/index.htm.

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