What is RIDDOR? Meaning, the 2013 regulations and who reports
RIDDOR stands for the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013, the GB law on reporting serious work incidents to HSE.
What is RIDDOR?
RIDDOR stands for the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/1471). This Great Britain law requires reports of certain work-related deaths, injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences, plus records of them. Employers, some self-employed people and those controlling work premises must report to HSE or the local authority.
The regulations came into force on 1 October 2013. They revoked RIDDOR 1995 (SI 1995/3163) in full, along with the 2012 amendment regulations. So if a guide still talks about "over-3-day" reporting or "major injuries", it is out of date for GB.
What RIDDOR means in health and safety
HSE puts the purpose plainly: RIDDOR exists "to inform the relevant enforcing authority that a work-related accident or incident has happened", so HSE or the local authority can respond. Whether an accident is reportable does not depend on blame. It can still be reportable when nobody broke the law.
An accident under RIDDOR is separate, identifiable and unintended, and causes physical injury. It includes non-consensual physical violence to a person at work. Gradual harm from repeated exposure, such as repetitive lifting, is not an accident (HSE key definitions).
Who RIDDOR applies to
The duty sits with the "responsible person" under regulation 3. For an injured employee, that's the employer. For accidents involving members of the public or self-employed people, it's whoever controlled the premises through running an undertaking there. For occupational disease reports, the duty falls on the employer or the relevant self-employed person. Mines, quarries, pipelines, wells, offshore installations and diving projects each have their own named responsible person, such as the mine operator or the diving contractor.
Agency workers can cause confusion. In many cases the employment agency is the legal employer and holds the reporting duty. Injured employees should tell their employer rather than file a RIDDOR report themselves. Members of the public also don't file reports, but anyone can raise a concern with HSE.
Since 6 April 2026, SI 2026/185 has made the well operator the responsible person for dangerous occurrences at wells used to store carbon dioxide or hydrogen.
What has to be reported
The main reportable events are:
- deaths of any person from a work-related accident (reg 6)
- specified injuries to workers, such as most fractures (not fingers, thumbs or toes), amputations and burns over 10% of the body
- injuries that leave a worker incapacitated for routine work for more than seven consecutive days, not counting the day of the accident but counting weekends and rest days
- non-workers injured in a work-related accident and taken from the site to hospital for treatment (reg 5)
- diagnosed occupational diseases linked to the work specified in reg 8, including occupational asthma, dermatitis and hand arm vibration syndrome
- cancers attributed to occupational exposure to a known human carcinogen or mutagen, and diseases from occupational exposure to biological agents (reg 9)
- listed dangerous occurrences, such as lifting equipment overturning or contact with overhead electric lines
Someone sent to hospital purely as a precaution, with no apparent injury, isn't reportable. X-rays and diagnostic tests don't count as treatment either (HSE). Injuries or deaths from medical or dental treatment, most road traffic accidents (loading, unloading and roadworks can still be reportable), and armed forces on duty are excluded.
For schools, pupils are non-workers, so the reg 5 test is the relevant one: was the pupil taken from the site to hospital for treatment? An accident on school premises is not automatically work-related.
Deadlines and records
Deaths, specified injuries, non-worker hospital cases and dangerous occurrences need notifying without delay, with the report received within 10 days. Over-7-day injuries have 15 days. Diseases are reported as soon as a diagnosis arrives (HSE). Reports go online. You can phone 0345 300 9923 only for a fatal accident or a specified injury to a worker. HSE is not an emergency service.
Over-3-day injuries are no longer reported, but you still record them. Keep RIDDOR records for at least three years from the date of the entry.
Where RIDDOR applies
RIDDOR 2013 covers Great Britain, plus offshore work and other activities under the 2013 Application Order. Northern Ireland still runs RIDDOR (Northern Ireland) 1997, with "major injuries", "over-three-day" injuries and form NI2508 sent to HSENI or the local council.
Proposed changes
HSE consulted on changes to RIDDOR 2013 from 7 April to 7 July 2026. The proposals would clarify "work-related", "injury" and "routine work", revise the disease list and dangerous occurrences, allow diagnosis by registered health practitioners other than doctors, and simplify reporting. These proposals are not law yet. Keep reporting under RIDDOR 2013 as amended. You can also ask RegAffairs AI what RIDDOR requires and get an answer with links to the official sources.