RIDDOR Reporting: What Needs Reporting and When
126 workers were killed in work-related accidents in Great Britain in 2025/26, according to the HSE's provisional figures. Every one of those deaths should have been reported under RIDDOR, and most were. The bigger problem is the incidents that never get reported at all: the broken wrists, the crushed fingers, the near misses that could have killed someone.
RIDDOR, the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013, sets out what you must tell the HSE about accidents at work, and when. Get it wrong and it's a criminal offence, with fines that can hit £20,000 per incident in the Magistrates' Court and run unlimited in the Crown Court. Get it right and you keep yourself out of trouble, and help the HSE spot problems before the next person gets hurt.
What RIDDOR is and who it applies to
RIDDOR came into force on 1 October 2013, replacing the older 1995 regulations. It applies to employers, the self-employed, and anyone in control of premises. If something reportable happens, the "responsible person" has to notify the enforcing authority. That's the HSE for most workplaces, or the local authority for shops, offices and warehouses.
The responsible person is normally the employer. But if a member of the public is hurt on your site, it's whoever controls the premises who reports it, even if nobody who works for you was involved. Don't assume it's someone else's job.
Deaths and specified injuries: report without delay
The most serious incidents get the tightest deadlines. For a fatal accident, or a specified injury to a worker, you must notify the HSE without delay, and the report must be received within 10 days of the incident. You can phone 0345 300 9923 for these, or report online.
Specified injuries are defined in the regulations, and they're the ones that catch people out:
- any fracture, except to fingers, thumbs or toes
- amputation of an arm, hand, finger, thumb, leg, foot or toe
- permanent loss of sight, or reduction in sight, in one or both eyes
- crush injuries to the head or torso
- burns covering more than 10% of the body, or significant damage to the eyes, respiratory system or other vital organs
- loss of consciousness caused by a head injury or asphyxia
- scalping that requires hospital treatment
A fracture of a finger, thumb or toe doesn't make the list on its own. A break anywhere else does, even a hairline crack that shows up on an X-ray. And if a member of the public is injured on your premises and taken to hospital from the scene, that's reportable too.
Over-seven-day injuries: the 15-day rule
Most workplace injuries don't hit the specified list, which is where the seven-day rule comes in. If a worker is incapacitated for more than seven consecutive days, you must report it. The day of the accident doesn't count, but weekends and rest days do.
Take a warehouse operative who slips on a wet floor on a Monday and sprains their back. They're off Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, then the weekend, then Monday and Tuesday. That's eight days of incapacity: past the seven-day threshold, so a report is required. You have 15 days from the accident itself to make it, not 15 days from when they return to work.
An injury that keeps someone off for more than three days but fewer than seven still has to be recorded, in the accident book, but it doesn't need a RIDDOR report.
Occupational diseases
RIDDOR isn't only about accidents. Certain occupational diseases must be reported as soon as the responsible person receives a diagnosis. The list includes hand-arm vibration syndrome, carpal tunnel syndrome, occupational dermatitis, occupational asthma, and tendonitis of the hand or forearm.
The trigger is a doctor's diagnosis, not a suspicion. If a GP confirms the disease and it's linked to work, report it. Don't wait for the employee to be back on the tools first.
Dangerous occurrences: the near misses
Dangerous occurrences are incidents that could have caused death or serious injury, even if nobody was hurt. The classic examples: collapse or overturning of lifting equipment, failure of a pressure system, contact with overhead electric lines, an electrical short circuit that causes a fire or explosion, or collapse of a scaffold more than five metres high.
Nothing has to break or injure anyone. If it was on the list and it could have killed, report it. These reports are how the HSE learns why things nearly went wrong, so they take them seriously.
How to report, and what happens if you don't
Reporting is done online at hse.gov.uk/riddor. There are separate forms for injuries, diseases, dangerous occurrences and gas incidents. Keep the confirmation, because you're required to keep records of reportable incidents for at least three years, and inspectors do ask to see them.
Not sure whether something is reportable? When in doubt, report it. The HSE would rather receive a report that turns out to be unnecessary than miss a serious incident.
Failure to report is a criminal offence under section 33 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. In the Magistrates' Court the fine can reach £20,000 per offence; in the Crown Court it's unlimited. Directors and managers can be prosecuted personally, not just the company, and an unreported incident that surfaces later will do far more damage to your reputation with the HSE, your insurer and your workforce than the fine ever would.
Be ready before the incident, not after
RIDDOR is paperwork, but it's the paperwork that protects you and your team. Keep your accident book current, know who in your business owns reporting, and make sure first aid and PPE are actually available so the minor incidents stay minor.
At Colbrook we stock first aid kits and supplies for the workplace, plus the PPE that stops incidents turning into injuries in the first place. If you're reviewing your safety setup, call +44(0)1236 755544 and we'll help you sort it.
REF: riddor-reporting
