Report a workplace injury, disease or dangerous occurrence under RIDDOR

What RIDDOR requires you to do

RIDDOR 2013 (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) requires employers to report certain workplace incidents to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Failing to report is a criminal offence with serious penalties.

The regulations apply to all employers in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).

You must report incidents that arise out of or in connection with work. Personal health conditions (like a heart attack at work with no work-related cause) are not reportable.

Reporting deadlines at a glance

Different incidents have different reporting windows. Getting these wrong is a common cause of non-compliance.

Who must report

Under Regulation 3, the 'responsible person' must make RIDDOR reports. This is typically:

• the employer, when an employee is injured at work
• the person in control of the premises, when a non-worker is injured there or a dangerous occurrence happens there
• you, when a self-employed person is injured at your premises; if they are injured at their own premises, they report or arrange for someone else to
• the employer or self-employed person, when an occupational disease is diagnosed

Injured workers (unless self-employed), members of the public and witnesses should not file RIDDOR reports. They can raise concerns with HSE instead.

Deaths and specified injuries (report immediately)

You must report immediately if a work-related accident causes:

Work-related deaths (Regulation 6)

• Any death arising from a work-related accident
• Deaths occurring within one year of a reportable injury (report when the death occurs)

Suicides are not reportable. Deaths from occupational diseases are not reportable under RIDDOR (they are recorded separately).

Specified injuries to workers (Regulation 4)

These 8 categories of serious injuries require immediate reporting:

1. Fractures diagnosed by a doctor, other than to fingers, thumbs and toes.
2. Amputation of an arm, hand, finger, thumb, leg, foot or toe, whether traumatic or surgical following the injury.
3. Any injury a doctor diagnoses as likely to cause permanent blinding or reduction in sight in one or both eyes.
4. Crush injuries to the head or torso causing damage to the brain or internal organs in the chest or abdomen.
5. Burns, including scalding, covering more than 10% of the body's surface or causing significant damage to the eyes, respiratory system or other vital organs. This includes heat, chemical and radiological burns.
6. Loss of consciousness caused by head injury or asphyxia, however short. Fainting from illness is not reportable.
7. Any degree of scalping that needs hospital treatment.
8. Any other injury from working in an enclosed space that leads to hypothermia or heat-induced illness, or needs resuscitation or admission to hospital for more than 24 hours.

Over-7-day incapacitation (report within 15 days)

This is the most commonly misunderstood RIDDOR requirement. You must report when an employee is incapacitated for more than 7 consecutive days.

How to calculate the 7 days

The day of the accident does not count, so start counting from the day after. Include weekends, bank holidays and days the worker would not normally work. Incapacity means being unable to do their normal work; light duties or modified work may not count as normal work.

For example: accident on Monday. You start counting from Tuesday. If the worker cannot do normal duties through the following Monday (7 days), but returns Tuesday, it is NOT reportable. If they cannot return until Wednesday or later, it IS reportable.

Report within 15 days of the accident date, not 15 days from when you realise it has gone past 7 days. You must report online: telephone reporting is not available for over-7-day injuries.

Recording over-3-day injuries

Even though only over-7-day injuries are reportable to HSE, injuries causing more than 3 days incapacitation must still be recorded in your accident book. This threshold changed in April 2012.

Injuries to non-workers (Regulation 5)

You must report if a member of the public, customer, visitor, or anyone else who is not a worker is injured in a work-related accident AND:

• They are taken directly to hospital for treatment
• The treatment includes: dressing, stitches, plaster cast, or surgery
• The injury arose from or in connection with work activity

Not reportable:

• Person goes home and later decides to visit hospital
• Minor first aid treatment only (even if at hospital)
• Injury not connected to your work activity

Dangerous occurrences (Regulation 7)

Dangerous occurrences are 'near misses' with potential for serious harm. They are reportable based on what could have happened, not whether anyone was actually injured.

Common reportable dangerous occurrences

• collapse, overturning or failure of any load-bearing part of lifting equipment
• failure of a pressure system with potential to cause death, for example by scalding or chemical exposure
• an electrical fire or explosion that puts equipment out of action for more than 24 hours
• collapse of a scaffold more than 5 metres high
• a structural collapse involving a fall of more than 5 tonnes of material
• an explosion or fire that suspends work for more than 24 hours
• a release of hazardous gas of 10kg or more inside a building, or 500kg or more in the open air
• an uncontrolled escape of a hazardous substance that exposes people to significant risk
• a breathing apparatus malfunction that puts the user at significant risk
• contact with uninsulated overhead electric lines over 200 volts

The full list is in Schedule 2 of RIDDOR 2013. Some dangerous occurrences are sector-specific (mines, quarries, offshore, railways).

Occupational diseases (Regulation 8)

You must report when a doctor diagnoses an employee with a work-related disease AND the work involves specific exposures. Report as soon as you receive written confirmation of diagnosis.

Reportable occupational diseases

• carpal tunnel syndrome from regular use of percussive or vibrating power tools such as drills, sanders, grinders and chainsaws (not typing-related cases)
• chronic cramp of the hand or forearm from prolonged repetitive finger, hand or arm movements
• occupational dermatitis from significant or regular contact with skin irritants such as epoxy resins, latex, rubber chemicals and cleaning products
• hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) from regular exposure to high vibration from power tools or vibrating materials
• occupational asthma from significant or regular contact with respiratory sensitisers such as epoxy fumes, solder fume, grain, wood dust and flour
• tendonitis or tenosynovitis of the hand or forearm from frequent, repetitive, physically demanding movements

Occupational cancers (Regulation 9)

Report cancers with established causal link to work-related carcinogen or mutagen exposure:

• Mesothelioma from asbestos exposure
• Bladder cancer from aromatic amines
• Lung cancer from silica exposure
• Leukaemia from benzene exposure

Diseases from biological agents

Report infections causally linked to occupational exposure:

• Legionnaires' disease from cooling towers
• Leptospirosis (Weil's disease) from rat urine exposure
• Hepatitis from needlestick injuries
• Q fever from farm animal contact

Gas incidents (Regulation 11)

Special reporting requirements apply to incidents involving flammable gas.

Who must report gas incidents

• Gas conveyors (distributors)
• Gas fillers, importers, and suppliers
• Gas Safe registered engineers (for dangerous fittings)

What to report

• anyone who died, lost consciousness or was taken to hospital in connection with gas, including carbon monoxide from combustion
• gas fittings classed as 'immediately dangerous' under the Gas Industry Unsafe Situations Procedure
• a sudden, unintentional release of 10kg or more of gas inside a building, or 500kg or more in the open air

Incidents caused by vandalism, attempted suicide, or theft or unauthorised interference are not reportable under RIDDOR, though they may need reporting under the Gas Safety Regulations.

Report immediately to HSE, then send a written report within 14 days using the gas incident form.

How to report

Report online at any time, for any type of incident, using HSE's RIDDOR forms. You receive a RIDDOR reference number and can download a PDF copy.

For fatal accidents and specified injuries to workers only, you can also phone 0345 300 9923, Monday to Friday during office hours. Report everything else, including over-7-day injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences, online.

Information required

• Date and time of incident
• Location of incident
• Details of injured person(s)
• Nature of injury or disease
• Description of what happened
• Details of any dangerous occurrence
• Responsible person details

Record-keeping requirements (Regulation 12)

You must keep records of all RIDDOR reports and certain other incidents for a minimum of 3 years from the date of entry.

What to record

• All reportable injuries
• Over-7-day injuries
• Occupational diseases diagnosed
• Dangerous occurrences

Required particulars for incidents

• Date and time of accident/occurrence
• Full name of injured person
• Occupation of injured person
• Nature of injury
• Place where incident occurred
• Description of circumstances
• Date and method of notification/reporting

Acceptable record methods

• Downloaded PDF copy of online RIDDOR form
• Accident book (BI 510) for injuries
• Separate records system for diseases

Keep records at the workplace or at the responsible person's usual place of business, and store them in line with data protection law.

What is NOT reportable

Understanding exclusions helps avoid unnecessary reporting:

Exemptions under Regulation 14

• injuries from medical or dental treatment carried out or supervised by a registered practitioner
• road traffic accidents involving moving vehicles on public roads, except during loading or unloading, roadside work or an escape of a substance from a vehicle
• accidents to members of the armed forces on duty

Where parallel legislation applies

Some incidents are reported under other specific legislation instead:

• Nuclear installations (Nuclear Installations Act 1965)
• Merchant shipping (Merchant Shipping Act 1988)
• Civil aviation
• Ionising radiation incidents (Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017)

Penalties for non-compliance

Failing to report a reportable incident is a criminal offence under health and safety law.

The Sentencing Council's 2016 guidelines require fines to be proportionate to the size of the offender in financial terms. For larger businesses, fines can be substantial.

Reporting an incident is not an admission of liability. You are reporting facts, not accepting blame.