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Accident reporting

Accidents cost businesses money and damage reputation. Each year many employees are killed or injured at work, and over 40 million working days are lost annually to work-related injuries and ill health throughout the UK.

If you run a business, it’s in your best interest to prevent accidents from occurring. If someone has been injured or died because of a work-related accident, this may have to be reported.

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) requires the employer, self-employed or person in control of a work premises to report the following incidents to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

You can report a work-related accident through the HSE website.

Death or major injury

If someone has died or has been injured because of a work-related accident this may have to be reported. Other than for certain gas incidents, a RIDDOR report is required only when:

  • the accident is work-related (ie. the work activity itself has contributed to the accident)
  • it results in an injury of a type which is reportable

Visit the HSE website for more advice on which death or major injury accidents must be reported.

Over seven-day injury

If there is an accident resulting in any employee or self-employed people working on your premises suffering an over-seven-day injury, you must notify the HSE via their website within 15 days. An over-seven-day injury may not be major, but does result in the injured person being away from work or unable to do the full range of their normal duties for more than seven days (including any days they wouldn't normally be expected to work) not counting the day of the injury itself.

Work-related disease

If you’re informed by a doctor that an employee is suffering from a work-related disease you must notify the HSE via their website.

Dangerous occurrence

If an incident occurs which does not result in a reportable injury, but which clearly could have done, you must notify us immediately.

The Council may decide to investigate the accident. You should keep records of any RIDDOR reports made by your business including details of any investigations or remedial action carried out to prevent recurrence.

Accident investigation

The investigation of work-related accidents is an essential part of managing health and safety. Most accidents are preventable, and by identifying the circumstances around each incident, you can implement suitable control measures to prevent a recurrence. This should also reduce the likelihood of accidents occurring.

In some instances, we’ll carry out investigations of workplace accidents at premises where we are responsible for enforcement of health and safety. This may include incidents reported by businesses under RIDDOR. Not all reported events will be investigated. We examine the reports we receive and then decide whether an investigation should be made. 

Our most detailed investigations will be for cases of a fatality or major injury or where there is a potential for serious injury in areas accessible by the public e.g. playground equipment.

Our actions will depend on the case details but may include some or all of the following:

  • contact the employer or person responsible for the workplace to seek further information on the accident and any measures taken to prevent similar accidents happening again
  • visit the injured person or witness at their home if they are not currently at work
  • inspect the workplace where the accident occurred
  • examine or take copies of the safety documentation (e.g. risk assessments) and any records which relate to the accident
  • examine or take copies of any CCTV footage of the accident
  • take photographs or measurements for the purpose of the investigation
  • speak with and take the statements of any witnesses, safety representatives, managers, contractors or employees in relation to the accident.

The findings of our investigations will then be used to determine our next course of action.

You can report a work-related accident through the HSE website. For more information and advice, please contact us.