If you are a new business, you should be aware that you may have obligations to report certain types of incident to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).
If you are an employer, self-employed or in control of work premises, you are defined as a "responsible person" under the Reporting of Injuries, Disease and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR). This means that you may have to submit a report to the HSE if your employee has: an accident causing injury that was work-related, certain cases of disease, or a near miss.
Is the incident reportable?
An accident is only reportable if it happened "out of or in connection with work". However, establishing if an accident was work-related is not simply a matter of location. Despite happening on work premises, an accident may fall outwith the definition of work-related if it occurred during an activity unrelated to your employee's work role. Similarly, an incident which happens away from work premises might also require to be reported.
An injury is reportable if:
- it incapacitates a worker for routine work for more than 7 days.
- it is any of the specified injuries contained in the regulations (certain fractures; amputations; blinding; crushing; burns; scalping; head injury or asphyxia causing unconsciousness; hypothermia, heat induced illness or anything requiring resuscitation or hospital admittance for over 24 hours).
- it causes death.
How and when to report?
Reporting is done by completing and submitting an online form on the HSE's website. The HSE can provide assistance by completing the form over the phone on your behalf, if needed. There is also a dedicated telephone line for reporting fatalities or specified injuries.
The HSE website provides specific guidance on reporting deadlines for each category incident. In the majority of cases, the report must be submitted within 10 days of the incident. However, it is best practice to report earlier if this is practicable.
Your record keeping
You must keep a record of any reported accident; disease or incident in relation to your employees. You can do this by retaining a PDF copy of your RIDDOR report. You will be given the option of saving a PDF copy following submission of your report on the HSE website.
Amending a report
If you have previously reported an injury that has later become a fatality, you must inform the HSE by submitting another report. You can do so via telephone or online form. The changes will be updated on the RIDDOR database. You should keep a record of any duplicate report submitted.
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