Introduction
Under RIDDOR, employers and other responsible people who have control over employees and work premises have certain responsibilities.
If any of the following events occur at work, employers and other responsible people must report the incident to the relevant enforcing authority.
What has to be reported?
If incidents involving staff, patients, contractors and visitors fall within these criteria, they should be reported under RIDDOR.
• Deaths
• Major injuries
• Accidents resulting in over three-day injuries
• Diseases
• Dangerous occurrences
• Gas incidents
Death or major injury
Line managers, the nominated person, safety supervisor and health and safety services must be informed immediately so they can report to the HSE without delay.
Health and safety services will report the accident to the HSE by telephone and complete the appropriate form within 10 days.
Death
If there is an accident connected with work and:
• Your employee, or a self-employed person working on your premises is killed or suffers a major injury (including as a result of physical violence); or
• A member of the public (including students) is killed or taken to hospital.
Major injuries
• Fracture other than fingers, thumbs or toes
• Amputation
• Dislocation of the shoulder, hip, knee or spine
• Loss of sight (temporary or permanent)
• Chemical or hot metal burn to the eye or any penetrating injury to the eye
• Injury resulting from an electric shock or electrical burn leading to unconsciousness, requiring resuscitation or admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours
• Any other injury leading to hypothermia, heat-induced illness or unconsciousness; or requiring resuscitation or admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours
• Unconsciousness caused by asphyxia or exposure to harmful substance or biological agent
• Acute illness requiring medical treatment or loss of consciousness, arising from absorption of any substance by inhalation, ingestion or through the skin
• Acute illness requiring medical treatment where there is reason to believe it resulted from exposure to a biological agent or its toxins or infected material.
Accidents resulting in over three-day injuries
An over three-day injury is one which is not 'major' but results in the injured person being away from work OR unable to do their full range of their normal duties for more than three days.
If there is an accident connected with work (including an act of physical violence) and a person working on your premises suffers an over-three-day injury, you must report it to the enforcing authority within ten days. This applies if the person is an employee or self-employed.
Disease
If a doctor notifies you that your employee suffers from a reportable work-related disease then you must report it to the occupational health service, who will notify the enforcing authority. Reportable diseases include:
• Certain poisonings
• Some skin diseases such as occupational dermatitis, skin cancer, chrome ulcer, oil folliculitis/acne
• Lung diseases including: occupational asthma, farmer's lung, pneumoconiosis, asbestosis, mesothelioma
• Infections such as: leptospirosis; hepatitis; tuberculosis; anthrax; legionellosis and tetanus
• Other conditions such as occupational cancer; certain musculoskeletal disorders; decompression illness and hand-arm vibration syndrome.
The occupational disease flowchart shows the procedures once a disease is identified.
Dangerous occurrence
If an incident does not result in a reportable injury, but clearly could have done, then it may be a dangerous occurrence and must be reported immediately (by telephone or completing a form on our website).
Reportable dangerous occurrences include:
• Collapse, overturning or failure of load-bearing parts of lifts and lifting equipment
• Explosion, collapse or bursting of any closed vessel or associated pipe work
• Failure of any freight container in any of its load-bearing parts
• Plant or equipment coming into contact with overhead power lines
• Electrical short circuit or overload causing fire or explosion
• Any unintentional explosion, misfire, failure of demolition to cause the intended collapse, projection of material beyond a site boundary, injury caused by an explosion
• Accidental release of a biological agent likely to cause severe human illness;
• Failure of industrial radiography or irradiation equipment to de-energise or return to its safe position after the intended exposure period
• Malfunction of breathing apparatus while in use or during testing immediately before use
• Failure or endangering of diving equipment, the trapping of a diver, an explosion near a diver, or an uncontrolled ascent
• Collapse or partial collapse of a scaffold over five metres high, or erected near water where there could be a risk of drowning after a fall
• Unintended collision of a train with any vehicle
• Dangerous occurrence at a well (other than a water well)
• Dangerous occurrence at a pipeline;
• Failure of any load-bearing fairground equipment, or derailment or unintended collision of cars or trains
• A road tanker carrying a dangerous substance overturns, suffers serious damage, catches fire of the substance is released
• A dangerous substance being conveyed by road is involved in a fire or released.
Under RIDDOR, employers and other responsible people who have control over employees and work premises have certain responsibilities.
If any of the following events occur at work, employers and other responsible people must report the incident to the relevant enforcing authority.
What has to be reported?
If incidents involving staff, patients, contractors and visitors fall within these criteria, they should be reported under RIDDOR.
• Deaths
• Major injuries
• Accidents resulting in over three-day injuries
• Diseases
• Dangerous occurrences
• Gas incidents
Death or major injury
Line managers, the nominated person, safety supervisor and health and safety services must be informed immediately so they can report to the HSE without delay.
Health and safety services will report the accident to the HSE by telephone and complete the appropriate form within 10 days.
Death
If there is an accident connected with work and:
• Your employee, or a self-employed person working on your premises is killed or suffers a major injury (including as a result of physical violence); or
• A member of the public (including students) is killed or taken to hospital.
Major injuries
• Fracture other than fingers, thumbs or toes
• Amputation
• Dislocation of the shoulder, hip, knee or spine
• Loss of sight (temporary or permanent)
• Chemical or hot metal burn to the eye or any penetrating injury to the eye
• Injury resulting from an electric shock or electrical burn leading to unconsciousness, requiring resuscitation or admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours
• Any other injury leading to hypothermia, heat-induced illness or unconsciousness; or requiring resuscitation or admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours
• Unconsciousness caused by asphyxia or exposure to harmful substance or biological agent
• Acute illness requiring medical treatment or loss of consciousness, arising from absorption of any substance by inhalation, ingestion or through the skin
• Acute illness requiring medical treatment where there is reason to believe it resulted from exposure to a biological agent or its toxins or infected material.
Accidents resulting in over three-day injuries
An over three-day injury is one which is not 'major' but results in the injured person being away from work OR unable to do their full range of their normal duties for more than three days.
If there is an accident connected with work (including an act of physical violence) and a person working on your premises suffers an over-three-day injury, you must report it to the enforcing authority within ten days. This applies if the person is an employee or self-employed.
Disease
If a doctor notifies you that your employee suffers from a reportable work-related disease then you must report it to the occupational health service, who will notify the enforcing authority. Reportable diseases include:
• Certain poisonings
• Some skin diseases such as occupational dermatitis, skin cancer, chrome ulcer, oil folliculitis/acne
• Lung diseases including: occupational asthma, farmer's lung, pneumoconiosis, asbestosis, mesothelioma
• Infections such as: leptospirosis; hepatitis; tuberculosis; anthrax; legionellosis and tetanus
• Other conditions such as occupational cancer; certain musculoskeletal disorders; decompression illness and hand-arm vibration syndrome.
The occupational disease flowchart shows the procedures once a disease is identified.
Dangerous occurrence
If an incident does not result in a reportable injury, but clearly could have done, then it may be a dangerous occurrence and must be reported immediately (by telephone or completing a form on our website).
Reportable dangerous occurrences include:
• Collapse, overturning or failure of load-bearing parts of lifts and lifting equipment
• Explosion, collapse or bursting of any closed vessel or associated pipe work
• Failure of any freight container in any of its load-bearing parts
• Plant or equipment coming into contact with overhead power lines
• Electrical short circuit or overload causing fire or explosion
• Any unintentional explosion, misfire, failure of demolition to cause the intended collapse, projection of material beyond a site boundary, injury caused by an explosion
• Accidental release of a biological agent likely to cause severe human illness;
• Failure of industrial radiography or irradiation equipment to de-energise or return to its safe position after the intended exposure period
• Malfunction of breathing apparatus while in use or during testing immediately before use
• Failure or endangering of diving equipment, the trapping of a diver, an explosion near a diver, or an uncontrolled ascent
• Collapse or partial collapse of a scaffold over five metres high, or erected near water where there could be a risk of drowning after a fall
• Unintended collision of a train with any vehicle
• Dangerous occurrence at a well (other than a water well)
• Dangerous occurrence at a pipeline;
• Failure of any load-bearing fairground equipment, or derailment or unintended collision of cars or trains
• A road tanker carrying a dangerous substance overturns, suffers serious damage, catches fire of the substance is released
• A dangerous substance being conveyed by road is involved in a fire or released.
