Accidents at work
Employers have a responsibility to report certain accidents or incidents at places of work.
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) places a legal duty to report certain accidents or incidents to the relevant Enforcing Authority. This duty falls to:
- Employers
- Self-employed people
- People in control of premises
On this page
What should be reported?
RIDDOR applies to all work activities but not all incidents are reportable. You must report:
- Deaths
- Major injuries
- Injuries where an employee or self-employed person is away from work or unable to perform their normal work duties for more than seven consecutive days
- Injuries to members of the public or people not at work, where they have been taken from the scene of an accident to hospital
- Some work-related diseases
- Dangerous incidents - where something happens that does not result in an injury, but could have done
How to report an accident or incident
Report an accident/incident (HSE website)
To report a death at work you should call the HSE's incident contact centre on 0345 300 9923 (opening hours Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm).
Why is reporting accidents under RIDDOR important?
- Reporting certain accidents and ill health at work is a legal requirement
- The information enables us to identify where and how risks arise
- It enables us to investigate serious accidents
- We can then help you and provide advice on how to reduce injury, and ill health in your workplace