RIDDOR Explained: Which Workplace Incidents You Must Report

What RIDDOR Is

RIDDOR stands for the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. It places a legal duty on employers, the self-employed and people in control of premises to report certain serious workplace incidents to the enforcing authority. The purpose is straightforward: reported incidents show regulators where risks are not being controlled, so patterns can be spotted and acted on.

Two points cause most of the confusion in practice: not every accident is reportable, and the deadlines differ depending on what happened. Let us take the categories in turn.

Deaths and Specified Injuries

Work-related deaths must be reported, whether the person was a worker or a member of the public. So must the "specified injuries" to workers listed in the regulations, which include:

• Fractures, other than to fingers, thumbs and toes
• Amputations
• Injuries likely to cause permanent loss of sight or reduction of sight
• Crush injuries to the head or torso causing damage to the brain or internal organs
• Serious burns covering more than 10% of the body or damaging the eyes, respiratory system or other vital organs
• Scalpings requiring hospital treatment
• Loss of consciousness caused by head injury or asphyxia
• Injuries from working in an enclosed space leading to hypothermia, heat-induced illness, or requiring resuscitation or admission to hospital for more than 24 hours

These must be reported without delay, by the quickest practicable means, with a written report within ten days.

Over-Seven-Day Injuries

If a worker is incapacitated for more than seven consecutive days as a result of a work-related accident, not counting the day of the accident but counting weekends and rest days, the incident must be reported within 15 days. Incapacitated means they cannot do their normal range of duties, not merely that they were absent. Injuries that keep someone off for more than three days must be recorded, for example in your accident book, but only become reportable at the seven-day threshold.

Occupational Diseases

Certain diagnosed diseases must be reported where they are likely to have been caused or made worse by work, including carpal tunnel syndrome, occupational dermatitis, hand-arm vibration syndrome, occupational asthma, tendonitis of the hand or forearm, and occupational cancers. The trigger is a written diagnosis from a doctor together with the relevant work exposure.

Dangerous Occurrences and Gas Incidents

Dangerous occurrences are near misses with serious potential, drawn from a specific list of 27 categories. Examples include the collapse or failure of lifting equipment, scaffold collapses, accidental release of a substance that could cause serious harm, and electrical incidents causing fire or explosion. No one needs to have been hurt; the event itself is reportable. Certain gas incidents are also reportable, including by registered gas engineers who find dangerous appliances.

Members of the Public

An incident involving a non-worker is reportable if it arises from a work activity and the person is taken directly from the scene to hospital for treatment. Note the detail: taken for treatment, not merely examination or precaution.

How to Report, and What to Keep

Reports are made online via the HSE website, with a telephone option reserved for fatal and specified injuries. Keep records of every reportable incident for at least three years, and keep your internal accident records regardless, because they feed your risk assessments and reveal trends long before anything becomes reportable.

Reporting Is Only Half the Job

A RIDDOR report tells the regulator what happened. It does not tell you why it happened or how to stop it happening again; that takes a proper investigation. Integral Safety provides a professional accident investigation service and runs an accident investigation training course for teams who want to build the skill in-house. If you are ever unsure whether an incident is reportable, get in touch and we will help you work it out.