Making a RIDDOR Report
How do I make a RIDDOR report?
In Great Britain, the "responsible person" makes a RIDDOR report to HSE by filling in the right online form on HSE's notifications site. For fatal accidents, or specified injuries to workers only, you can phone the Incident Contact Centre on 0345 300 9923 instead (HSE: How to make a RIDDOR report).
Approach: None of the datasets I can search hold the RIDDOR 2013 Regulations or HSE's reporting guidance, so this comes from HSE's own RIDDOR pages. I couldn't open the Regulations themselves (SI 2013/1471) on legislation.gov.uk this time, so the regulation numbers aren't quoted here.
1. Check you are the one who should report
- Only the "responsible person" should submit a report. That means employers (for their workers), some self-employed people, and whoever controls the work premises where a reportable work-related accident or event happens (HSE: Who should report).
- Injured employees, members of the public and others with no RIDDOR duties should not use the system. Employees should tell their employer, or raise a concern with HSE.
- Special cases:
- For agency workers, the agency is often the legal employer. Agencies should make sure it is clear who reports.
- If self-employed people are injured on someone else's premises, the person in control of those premises reports.
- Offshore, the dutyholder reports. On diving projects, the diving contractor reports.
- Mines, quarries, pipelines and wells have named responsible persons (for example, the mine manager or the quarry operator).
2. Decide whether it's reportable and pick the form. HSE says to read its guidance on reportable incidents, specified injuries, dangerous occurrences and occupational diseases before you choose. The online forms are:
- Report of an injury
- Report of a dangerous occurrence
- Report of a case of disease
- Report of a flammable gas incident
- Report of a dangerous gas fitting (Gas Safe registered engineers or their employers)
The form goes to the RIDDOR database, and you can then download a copy for your records.
3. Meet the deadline (HSE: When do I need to report)
| Incident | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Deaths, specified injuries to workers, non-fatal accidents needing hospital treatment for non-workers, dangerous occurrences | You "must notify the enforcing authority without delay". The report must be received within 10 days of the incident. |
| A worker off work for more than seven days | Within 15 days of the incident, using the online form |
| Occupational disease, including exposure to carcinogens, mutagens or biological agents | As soon as the responsible person receives a diagnosis, using the online form |
4. Special routes
- Offshore incidents: use the Report of an Oil and Gas Incident (ROGI) form to the Offshore Major Accident Regulator. That one form covers RIDDOR too.
- Nuclear sites: contact the Office for Nuclear Regulation.
- Out of hours: HSE says it is "not an emergency service". For deaths or serious incidents with multiple casualties or major disruption, see ways to contact HSE. Less serious incidents can be reported online at any time.
5. Amending a report (HSE: Amending RIDDOR notifications)
- Any change: you can submit a duplicate form online with all the information again. Start the "Describe what happened" box on page 3 with "Amendment to Incident Reference Number XXXXXXXXXX".
- A reported injury has since led to a death: you can also call 0345 300 9923 to submit a duplicate report. Have the original report and its reference number to hand.
- Other changes to a fatal or major injury report: you can phone instead of sending a duplicate form. Have ready the original notifier's name, the reference number, the injured person's name and the incident date. You won't get confirmation; a note is added to the record.
HSE also notes that, under data protection law, the person submitting the report is acting under a legal obligation, which gives them a lawful basis to process the injured person's personal data.
Who is responsible for reporting?
Under RIDDOR, the "responsible person" makes the report, and HSE says reports "should only be submitted by" that person. In practice, that is the employer for its workers, a self-employed person in certain cases, or whoever controls the work premises where the reportable incident happens (HSE: Who should report).
Approach: The datasets I can search hold HSE's RIDDOR statistics but not the RIDDOR 2013 Regulations or HSE's reporting guidance, so this comes from HSE's "Who should report" page. That page points to the Regulations themselves (SI 2013/1471 on legislation.gov.uk), which I did not open, so no regulation numbers are quoted here.
Who reports in each case (all from the same HSE page)
| Situation | Responsible person |
|---|---|
| Workers injured or made ill at work | Their employer |
| Self-employed people | The self-employed person, for incidents "on your own premises or in domestic premises, or if a doctor tells you that you have a work-related disease or condition" |
| Incidents on work premises | The person in control of the premises |
| Agency workers | It depends on the arrangement: either the "legal employer" or the "host business" |
| Flammable gas incidents and dangerous gas fittings | Gas suppliers and gas engineers, who have their own reporting duties |
| Offshore installations | The "dutyholder under the Offshore Installations and Pipeline Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995" |
| Diving incidents offshore | The diving contractor |
| Mines | The mine manager |
| Quarries | The quarry operator |
| Pipelines and wells | The operator, or the appointed supervisor |
Who should not report
- Injured workers, unless they are self-employed
- Members of the public
- Anyone else with no duties under RIDDOR
HSE tells injured employees to "inform your employer". If they think the incident hasn't been reported properly, they can raise a concern with HSE.
Can I report by phone?
Yes, but only for some incidents. HSE says that for "fatal accidents or accidents resulting in specified injuries to workers only, you can phone 0345 300 9923" (HSE: How to make a RIDDOR report). Everything else has to go through the online forms.
Approach: The datasets I can search hold HSE's RIDDOR statistics but not its reporting guidance, so this comes from HSE's own reporting and contact pages.
Phone reporting
| Point | What HSE says |
|---|---|
| What you can phone in | Only fatal accidents and specified injuries to workers. HSE's contact page says: "All incidents can be reported online but a telephone service remains for reporting fatal and major injuries only" (HSE: Contact) |
| Number | Incident Contact Centre, 0345 300 9923 |
| Opening hours | "Monday to Friday 8.30 am to 5 pm" (HSE: Contact) |
| Out of hours, serious incidents | For work-related deaths, multiple casualties or major disruption, "ring the duty officer on 0151 922 9235" (HSE: Contact) |
| Out of hours, less serious incidents | Report online. HSE notes it is "not an emergency service" (HSE: How to make a RIDDOR report) |
What you can't phone in: injuries that keep a worker off for more than seven days, injuries to non-workers, dangerous occurrences, occupational diseases, and gas incidents. These go on the matching online form. The forms are listed in my first answer.
Phone also works for amendments (HSE: Amending RIDDOR notifications, from my first answer):
- A reported injury has since led to a death: you can call 0345 300 9923 to submit a duplicate report. Have the original report and its reference number to hand.
- Other changes to a fatal or major injury report: you can phone instead of sending a duplicate form. You won't get confirmation; a note is added to the record.