RIDDOR: the Reportable Incidents, Injuries & Occurrences

Line 1 — the death

A death that results from an injury at work is reported immediately — as soon as practicable, by phone to the HSE 24-hour line. The death has to fall within 7 days of the injury, and the injury has to be in the course of work.

Report first, investigate second: the report does not wait for the investigation to finish. Example: a worker is struck by a load on site and dies in hospital three days later. The death is reported to the HSE by phone the same day it becomes clear.

Line 2 — the specified injury

The specified injuries are the serious ones, and they are reported immediately — as soon as practicable, by phone or online. The list: a fracture (other than to a finger, toe, or thumb), an amputation, a loss of sight, an electric shock that leads to cardiac arrest, a drowning, a line-of-fire injury, and an injury from a collapse.

Example: a worker fractures the leg on site. The fracture is a specified injury, so the report goes to the HSE the same day — not at the end of the week, not after the first-aid record is closed.

Line 3 — the over-7-day injury

An injury that leaves the worker unable to do their normal work for more than 7 consecutive days is reported within 15 days of the injury. The weekend counts: the 7 consecutive days are calendar days, not working days.

Example: a worker sprains the wrist and is off normal work for 10 days. On day 8 the injury becomes reportable, and the report goes to the HSE online inside the 15-day window. A first-aid-only injury, with the worker back the same day, goes in the accident book — not to RIDDOR.

Line 4 — the notifiable disease

A notifiable disease is one diagnosed by a registered medical practitioner as the result of work. The list: carpal tunnel syndrome, occupational asthma, serious occupational dermatitis, noise-induced hearing loss, hand-arm vibration syndrome, and cancer from a substance — mesothelioma, lung cancer from asbestos, bladder cancer from aromatic amines.

The report goes to the HSE online within 15 days of the diagnosis. Example: a worker is diagnosed with occupational asthma from isocyanate exposure. The diagnosis is the trigger — not the first symptoms, the diagnosis.

Line 5 — the dangerous occurrence

A dangerous occurrence is the serious near-miss: no one was hurt, but the event itself is reportable. The list: the collapse of a scaffold or access scaffold, the collapse of a lifting attachment, an electric shock from a fault, the escape of a substance in a quantity, contact with an overhead line, a drowning or near-drowning, and an explosion or fire in a confined space.

The serious occurrences — a scaffold collapse, contact with an overhead line — are reported immediately, by phone. The others are reported within 15 days, online. Example: a 6-metre scaffold platform collapses with no one on it. The occurrence is reported to the HSE by phone the same day.

RIDDOR Reporting Timescales (How Long You Have)

The timescales are short and specific, and they run from the incident to the HSE: the death, the dangerous occurrence and the specified injury are reported within 15 days; the over-7-day incapacitation is reported within 7 days (the clock runs from the end of the incapacitation period, once it is known to be over 7 days); the notifiable disease is reported within 14 days. The report goes to the HSE via the RIDDOR online form, and the internal record runs in parallel — the internal report is the same day, the RIDDOR is within the deadline, and the gap between the two is the procedure.

The Specified Injury List (what makes it a specified injury)

The specified injuries are set out in Schedule 1 of the RIDDOR 2013, and they are the injuries that are reportable regardless of the days lost: the fracture of the skull, the lower jaw, the shoulder, the arm, the wrist, the finger, the hand, the foot, the toe, the spine and the rib; the amputation of any limb or of the thumb, finger, hand, foot, toe or other body part; the injury leading to the encephalopathy; the chemical burn to the eye; the injury to the eye with the permanent partial loss of sight; the injury leading to the hypoxia and the resuscitation; the electric shock or the electric burn leading to the significant harm; and the injury from the sudden release of a substantial quantity of a substance. The list is the one the site keeps on the wall next to the first aid kit.