RIDDOR stands for the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. It puts a duty on the responsible person, usually the employer, to report certain workplace incidents to the enforcing authority. Most workplace injuries are not reportable, which is why the categories matter: reporting everything and reporting nothing are equally wrong, and the regulations are specific about which is which.
What has to be reported
Deaths and specified injuries to workers, which include fractures other than to fingers, thumbs and toes, amputations, loss of sight, crush injuries to head or torso, serious burns, scalpings, loss of consciousness from head injury or asphyxia, and injuries from working in an enclosed space that lead to hypothermia, heat illness or resuscitation. Over-seven-day injuries. Injuries to non-workers where the person is taken to hospital for treatment. Certain occupational diseases. And dangerous occurrences, which are near misses of specified kinds.
RIDDOR reporting timescales
Deaths and specified injuries are reported without delay by the quickest practicable means and followed by a report within ten days. An over-seven-day injury must be reported as soon as practicable and in any event within 15 days of the accident, under regulation 4(2). The seven days are counted from the day after the accident and include days the person would not normally have worked.
Who has to report RIDDOR incidents, and the online report form
The responsible person, which for an employee is their employer, for a self-employed person working in someone else's premises is the person in control of those premises, and for a member of the public is the person in control of the premises where the incident happened. Reports go to HSE, or to the local authority for the sectors it enforces, through the HSE online forms.
The record you have to keep either way
Regulation 12 requires a record of every reportable injury, disease and dangerous occurrence, and an entry must be kept for at least three years from the date it was made. The record has to be kept at the place where the work is carried on or at the responsible person's usual place of business. This is separate from the accident book, which covers a wider set of events.
Dangerous occurrences, and why they are worth reporting properly
A dangerous occurrence is a listed event that could have caused harm but did not: a collapse of scaffolding above a certain height, a lifting equipment failure, an unintentional explosion, an accidental release of a biological agent. Reporting them is a legal duty, and it is also the only category where the reporting system is looking at the near miss rather than the injury.
RIDDOR reports, and what happens after one is filed
Most reports are received, recorded and nothing further is heard: the data is used for statistics and for deciding where to target inspection, and the vast majority of reported incidents are never investigated individually. Some are, and the trigger is the category rather than the severity of any one event, so a dangerous occurrence in a sector under scrutiny can draw more attention than an injury that hurt somebody more. Filing does not admit liability and not filing does not avoid it, which is worth saying because the worry about the first is what causes the second. Keep your own record either way, because the duty to hold one runs whether or not the report was ever looked at.
Questions people ask about riddor reporting
What does RIDDOR stand for?
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013.
How long do I have to report an over-seven-day injury?
As soon as practicable and in any event within 15 days of the accident, under regulation 4(2).
How long must RIDDOR records be kept?
An entry in the record must be kept for at least three years from the date on which it was made, under regulation 12(2).
Who must report a RIDDOR incident?
The responsible person: usually the injured worker's employer, or the person in control of the premises where a self-employed person or a member of the public was hurt.
Is every workplace injury reportable?
No. Only deaths, specified injuries, over-seven-day injuries, injuries to non-workers taken to hospital for treatment, listed occupational diseases and listed dangerous occurrences.
Is what RIDDOR stands for a good guide to what is reportable?
No, and it misleads a lot of people. The full name covers injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences, which sounds like all of them, while only the specified injuries, the listed diseases and the listed dangerous occurrences actually have to be reported.