RIDDOR Reportable Injuries
What injuries are RIDDOR reportable?
Under RIDDOR 2013 (Great Britain), an injury must be reported if it comes from a work-related accident and is one of these types: a death, a "specified injury" to a worker, an over-seven-day injury to a worker, or an injury to a non-worker who is taken to hospital. HSE defines an accident as "a separate, identifiable, unintended incident that causes physical injury", and this includes non-consensual violence to people at work (HSE INDG453, p.2).
Approach: The RIDDOR 2013 regulations themselves aren't in the datasets I can search, so this comes from HSE's official RIDDOR guidance: leaflet INDG453(rev1) and HSE's specified-injuries web page. I couldn't open the legal text (SI 2013/1471) on legislation.gov.uk this time, so the regulation numbers below are the ones HSE gives.
1. Deaths (workers and non-workers)
- Any death caused by a work-related accident is reportable, including physical violence to a worker.
- Suicides are not reportable (INDG453, p.2).
2. Specified injuries to workers (regulation 4)
- A fracture, except to fingers, thumbs and toes. A doctor must diagnose or confirm it (HSE).
- Amputation of an arm, hand, finger, thumb, leg, foot or toe. This covers amputation at the time of the accident and surgical amputation afterwards.
- Permanent loss of sight or reduction of sight, in one or both eyes. An injury counts if it is likely to lead to this.
- Crush injuries causing damage to the brain or internal organs.
- Serious burns: covering more than 10% of the body, or significantly damaging the eyes, respiratory system or other vital organs.
- Scalpings (skin separated from the head) that need hospital treatment.
- Unconsciousness caused by head injury or asphyxia.
- Any other injury from working in an enclosed space that leads to hypothermia or heat-induced illness, or requires resuscitation or more than 24 hours in hospital (INDG453, p.2).
If it's unclear how bad an injury is, you don't need to report it as a precaution, but you must report it once it is confirmed (HSE).
3. Over-seven-day injuries to workers
- An employee or self-employed person is off work, or can't do their normal duties, for more than seven consecutive days. The day of the accident doesn't count (p.2).
- Over-three-day injuries must be recorded but not reported, unless the absence goes past seven days (p.4).
4. Injuries to non-workers (for example, members of the public)
- Reportable if the person is injured and taken from the scene to hospital for treatment of that injury. You don't need to find out what treatment they actually received.
- Not reportable if they go to hospital purely as a precaution with no apparent injury.
- If the accident happens at a hospital, report it only if the injury is a specified injury (p.3).
Exemptions (regulation 14) Deaths and injuries are generally not reportable if they result from:
- medical or dental treatment, or an examination by or under the supervision of a doctor or registered dentist;
- a member of the armed forces carrying out duties while on duty;
- road traffic accidents, unless the accident involved loading or unloading a vehicle, work alongside the road, escape of a substance the vehicle was carrying, or a train (p.4).
Diseases and near misses RIDDOR also requires reports of some events that aren't accident injuries:
- Diagnosed occupational diseases (regulations 8 and 9): carpal tunnel syndrome, severe cramp of the hand or forearm, occupational dermatitis, hand-arm vibration syndrome, occupational asthma, tendonitis or tenosynovitis of the hand or forearm, any occupational cancer, and any disease attributed to occupational exposure to a biological agent.
- Dangerous occurrences: 27 general categories of specified near misses (p.3).
I couldn't confirm the reporting deadlines for each category from an official page this time, so I haven't given any.
How long do I have to report it?
It depends on the category. Deaths, specified injuries to workers, non-workers taken to hospital and dangerous occurrences must be notified without delay, and HSE must receive a report within 10 days of the incident. Over-seven-day injuries to workers have 15 days. Occupational diseases are reported as soon as you receive a diagnosis.
Approach: The RIDDOR 2013 regulations aren't in the datasets I can search, and I couldn't open the legal text (SI 2013/1471) on legislation.gov.uk this time. These deadlines come from HSE's official RIDDOR web pages.
| Category | Deadline | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Death of any person from a work-related accident | Notify without delay; report received within 10 days | HSE: When do I need to report? |
| Specified injury to a worker | Notify without delay; report received within 10 days | same |
| Non-fatal accident to a non-worker taken to hospital for treatment | Notify without delay; report received within 10 days | same |
| Dangerous occurrence | Notify without delay; report received within 10 days | same |
| Over-seven-day incapacitation of a worker | Within 15 days of the accident | same; HSE: Types of reportable incidents |
| Diagnosed occupational disease | As soon as the responsible person receives a diagnosis | HSE: When do I need to report? |
Points that affect timing
- Seven-day count: the day of the accident doesn't count. Weekends and rest days do count (INDG453, p.4).
- Over-three-day injuries: you must record these, but you only report them if the absence goes past seven days (INDG453, p.4).
How to report
- Online: any incident can be reported online, through the forms on HSE's RIDDOR pages (HSE: How to make a RIDDOR report).
- Phone: for fatal accidents and specified injuries to workers only, call 0345 300 9923. INDG453 (2013) gives an older 0845 number, which the current HSE page replaces.
- Out of hours: less serious incidents can be reported online. For a death, or a serious incident where HSE may need to respond quickly, HSE has an out-of-hours duty officer (INDG453, p.5).
None of the HSE pages I opened gave a deadline for a worker who dies of their injuries some time after the accident, so I haven't given one.
What counts as a dangerous occurrence?
A dangerous occurrence is one of the specified near-miss incidents listed in Schedule 2 of RIDDOR 2013. HSE describes them as "certain incidents with a high potential to cause death or serious injury" (HSE: Dangerous occurrences). You report one even if nobody is hurt. The incident has to match one of the listed paragraphs: some apply to every workplace, and the rest only to mines, quarries, railways or offshore.
Approach: The RIDDOR regulations aren't in the datasets I can search. I took the paragraph numbers and titles from HSE's RIDDOR dangerous-occurrence statistics (2024/25, provisional) and the thresholds from HSE's dangerous occurrences web page. The statistics cover paragraphs 1-53 only, so the rail and offshore groups come from the HSE page alone.
How the schedule is laid out (HSE statistics)
- Paragraphs 1-22, general: apply to all workplaces [1]
- Paragraphs 23-27: apply everywhere except offshore workplaces [2]
- Paragraphs 28-46: mines only [3]
- Paragraphs 47-53: quarries only [4]
- Paragraphs 54-74 are rail transport, which is reported to the Office of Rail and Road. Paragraphs 75-87 are offshore (HSE page).
HSE's web page puts the general/non-offshore split at paragraph 23 rather than 22. The paragraph numbers below follow the statistics tables.
General: all workplaces (paragraphs 1-22)
| Para | Occurrence | Threshold on HSE's page |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Collapse, overturning or failure of lifting equipment [5] | Includes cranes and piling rigs |
| 2 | Failure of a pressure system [6] | Failure that could cause death |
| 3 | Contact with overhead electric lines [7] | Uninsulated lines over 200 volts |
| 4 | Fire or explosion caused by electrical short circuit or overload [8] | Equipment out of use for more than 24 hours |
| 5 | Unintentional explosion or ignition of explosives [9] | |
| 6 | Misfire of explosives (not at a mine, quarry or well) [10] | |
| 7 | Explosion or ignition causing injury (not at a mine or quarry) [11] | |
| 8 | Material thrown beyond the site boundary (not at a quarry) [12] | |
| 9 | Failure of explosive demolition shots [13] | |
| 10 | Release or escape of biological agents [14] | Hazard Group 3 and 4 organisms |
| 11 | Malfunction of radiation generators or ancillary equipment [15] | Generator fails to de-energise |
| 12 | Malfunction of breathing apparatus [16] | Significant risk of injury |
| 13 | Failure of breathing apparatus during a diving operation [17] | |
| 14 | Failure or endangering of lifting equipment used for a diving operation [18] | |
| 15 | Trapping of a diver [19] | |
| 16 | Any explosion near a diver [20] | |
| 17 | Any uncontrolled ascent or omitted decompression [21] | |
| 18 | Collapse of scaffolding [22] | Scaffolds over 5 m high |
| 19 | Collision of trains not reportable under Part 5 (rail) [23] | Within industrial premises |
| 20 | Incidents involving wells [24] | Blowouts in oil and gas exploration |
| 21 | Damage to or failure of a pipeline or its ancillary equipment [25] | Uncontrolled escapes that need attention |
| 22 | Unintentional change in the position of a pipeline [26] |
All workplaces except offshore (paragraphs 23-27)
- 23: Unintended collapse or partial collapse of a building or structure [27]. HSE's page links this to construction and demolition work.
- 24: Unintended collapse or partial collapse of falsework [28]
- 25: Explosion or fire that stops plant [29]. HSE's page: work suspended for more than 24 hours.
- 26: Sudden uncontrolled release of flammable substances [30]. HSE's page: the release could cause a major fire or explosion.
- 27: Accidental release or escape of substances liable to cause harm [31]
Mines (paragraphs 28-46)
- 28: Any fire breaking out below ground [32]
- 29: Smoke or other sign of fire below ground [33]
- 30: Fire on the surface that endangers winding apparatus [34]
- 31: Ignition of gas or dust below ground [35]
- 32: Accidental ignition of gas in a firedamp drainage system [36]
- 33: Unintentional escape of gas with solid matter [37]
- 34: Breakage or unintentional uncoupling of a rope, chain or similar [38]
- 35: Overwinding of a conveyance carrying people [39]
- 36: A conveyance coming to rest in the headframe or shaft [40]
- 37: Ventilating apparatus stopping [41]
- 38: Collapse of a headframe, winding engine house, fan house or storage bunker [42]
- 39: Malfunction or defect of breathing apparatus [43]
- 40: Use of emergency escape apparatus [44]
- 41: Any inrush of noxious or flammable gas from old workings [45]
- 42: Any inrush of water, or of material that flows when wet, from any source [46]
- 43: Insecure tips [47]
- 44: Incidents involving underground locomotives [48]
- 45: Falls of ground caused by failure of the underground support system [49]
- 46: Any accident in which someone suffers a specified injury [50]
Quarries (paragraphs 47-53)
- 47: Collapse of storage bunkers [51]
- 48: Sinking of any water-borne craft or hovercraft [52]
- 49: Blasting that throws material outside the quarry boundary [53]
- 50: Misfires [54]
- 51: Insecure tips [55]
- 52: Movement of slopes and faces [56]
- 53: Explosion or fire in a vehicle or mobile plant [57]
Rail (paragraphs 54-74) and offshore (paragraphs 75-87)
- Rail: incidents on railways, tramways, trolley vehicle systems and guided transport systems, reported to the Office of Rail and Road.
- Offshore: releases of petroleum hydrocarbons, fire or explosion, escape of dangerous substances, collapse of an installation, equipment failure, dropped objects, weather damage, collisions with vessels or aircraft, subsidence of the seabed, loss of stability, evacuation, and falls into water of more than 2 metres (HSE page).
How common they are: HSE recorded 2,912 dangerous occurrences across paragraphs 1-53 in 2024/25 (provisional) [58]. The most frequent were:
- accidental release of harmful substances: 712 [31]
- release of biological agents: 521 [14]
- lifting equipment failures: 409 [5]
As covered in my last answer, a dangerous occurrence must be notified without delay, and HSE must receive the report within 10 days.