What accidents do I have to report to the HSE (RIDDOR)?

Not every accident, but the serious ones

A common worry is that every cut and bruise has to be reported to the HSE. It does not. RIDDOR, the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013, only requires you to report specific, serious categories. The rest you record, but do not report.

The reportable categories are:

• Deaths arising from a work accident.
• Specified injuries to workers: this is a defined list that includes fractures (other than to fingers, thumbs and toes), amputations, any injury likely to cause permanent loss of sight or reduction in sight, crush injuries to the head or torso, serious burns, scalpings, loss of consciousness from a head injury or asphyxia, and a few others.
• Over-seven-day injuries: where a worker is away from their normal work for more than seven days.
• Occupational diseases linked to work, such as certain cases of dermatitis or occupational asthma.
• Dangerous occurrences: defined near-miss events like a gas leak, a scaffold collapse or the failure of lifting equipment.

The deadlines matter

The time limits are tight and are easy to miss:

• Deaths, specified injuries and dangerous occurrences must be reported without delay (for fatalities and specified injuries, that usually means a phone call to the HSE), with a full written report submitted within 10 days.
• Over-seven-day injuries must be reported within 15 days of the accident.

Missing a RIDDOR deadline is itself a breach. So the practical risk is not just the accident, it is failing to report it in time.

Record first, report second

Whether or not an incident is reportable to the HSE, you should record it. Keeping an accident book is a long-standing duty, and a good accident and near-miss form captures what happened, the injury, the immediate action, and the investigation, all in one place.

That record does two jobs. It gives you the information you need to decide quickly whether RIDDOR applies, and it is the evidence that you investigated and acted, which is exactly what an inspector looks for. You must keep records of reportable incidents for at least three years.