What Is RIDDOR? Meaning, Reporting & Employer Responsibilities
RIDDOR stands for the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013.
RIDDOR is part of UK health and safety law and requires employers and certain other responsible people to report specified work-related deaths, injuries, occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences to the relevant enforcing authority.
Not every workplace accident needs to be reported under RIDDOR. The regulations define particular categories of reportable incidents and who is responsible for reporting them.
This guide explains the RIDDOR meaning, what needs to be reported and what employers need to know about maintaining accurate records.
What does RIDDOR stand for?
RIDDOR stands for Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013.
The regulations place legal duties on employers, people in control of work premises and certain other responsible persons to report specified workplace incidents.
RIDDOR helps the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and other enforcing authorities understand where serious workplace risks are occurring.
The information can be used to identify trends, determine whether incidents should be investigated and support wider efforts to improve workplace safety.
What is RIDDOR?
RIDDOR is the law governing the reporting of certain serious work-related accidents, occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences in Great Britain.
The main categories include:
- Work-related deaths
- Specified injuries to workers
- Over-seven-day injuries
- Certain occupational diseases
- Dangerous occurrences
- Certain injuries to non-workers
- Certain gas incidents
A key point is that an accident or injury happening at work does not automatically make it RIDDOR reportable.
There must generally be a connection between the accident and the work activity, and the incident must meet the relevant reporting criteria.
What incidents are reportable under RIDDOR?
Understanding which workplace incidents must be reported is essential for RIDDOR compliance.
Work-related deaths
Work-related deaths resulting from an accident must be reported under RIDDOR.
This applies where a person’s death results from a work-related accident, whether they are a worker or not.
A death resulting from a reportable injury may also become reportable if the injured person subsequently dies within one year of the accident.
Specified injuries
Certain serious injuries to workers are classed as specified injuries under RIDDOR.
These include certain:
- Bone fractures, excluding fingers, thumbs and toes
- Amputations
- Injuries likely to cause permanent loss or reduction of sight
- Crush injuries causing damage to the brain or internal organs
- Serious burns covering more than 10% of the body’s total surface area or causing significant damage to the eyes, respiratory system or other vital organs
- Scalping requiring hospital treatment
- Loss of consciousness caused by head injury or asphyxia
- Injuries arising from work in an enclosed space that result in hypothermia, heat-induced illness or require resuscitation or hospital treatment for more than 24 hours
Employers need to understand these definitions rather than assuming every physical injury is automatically reportable.
Over-seven-day injuries
An injury may also be reportable when it is not a specified injury.
Where a work-related accident prevents a worker from carrying out their normal duties for more than seven consecutive days, the incident falls within the over-seven-day injury category.
The seven-day period does not include the day on which the accident occurs, but it does include weekends and rest days.
These reports must be made within 15 days of the accident.
Occupational diseases
Certain diagnosed occupational diseases must also be reported when they are linked to occupational exposure or particular work activities.
Examples include:
- Carpal tunnel syndrome in specified circumstances
- Severe cramp of the hand or forearm
- Occupational dermatitis
- Hand-arm vibration syndrome
- Occupational asthma
- Tendonitis or tenosynovitis in specified circumstances
- Occupational cancer
- Diseases caused by occupational exposure to a biological agent
A diagnosis is important here. Employers should not attempt to diagnose occupational diseases themselves.
The reporting requirements apply where the appropriate medical diagnosis and work-related conditions are met.
What are dangerous occurrences?
Dangerous occurrences are specified serious incidents that have the potential to cause significant harm, even where nobody is actually injured.
They are sometimes described as particular types of serious near miss.
Examples can include certain:
- Failures of lifting equipment
- Pressure system failures
- Electrical incidents resulting in fire or explosion
- Accidental releases of hazardous substances
- Structural collapses
- Explosions or fires
- Biological agent incidents
There are specific definitions and criteria within RIDDOR, so organisations should check the relevant HSE guidance rather than assuming that every near miss is a dangerous occurrence.
Recording wider near misses remains valuable even where an incident does not meet the threshold for a RIDDOR report. Reviewing these events can help organisations identify hazards and prevent future incidents.
Are injuries to members of the public reportable?
Some accidents involving people who are not at work can be reportable.
For example, where a member of the public is injured because of a work-related accident and is taken directly from the scene to hospital for treatment, the incident may need to be reported.
The rules differ from those applying to workers.
Simply visiting a hospital for a precautionary examination or diagnostic test does not necessarily meet the reporting requirement.
Businesses should therefore establish the circumstances of the accident and check whether it meets the relevant RIDDOR criteria.
Who is responsible for reporting a RIDDOR incident?
A RIDDOR report should be submitted by the responsible person.
Who this is depends on the circumstances.
It can include:
- An employer reporting an incident involving an employee
- A self-employed person in certain circumstances
- A person in control of work premises
- Other specified dutyholders
Employees do not normally submit the formal RIDDOR report themselves.
Businesses should make responsibilities clear so reportable accidents are identified and escalated to the correct person.
Using a digital system to record workplace incidents can help organisations maintain structured records of incidents, near misses and observations so the relevant information is available when an incident needs further investigation or reporting.
When must a RIDDOR report be made?
The reporting deadline depends on the type of incident.
Certain serious incidents, including work-related deaths and specified injuries, need to be notified without delay and reported within the required timeframe.
Over-seven-day injuries are different. These must be reported within 15 days of the accident.
Organisations should not wait until their internal investigation has completely finished before considering whether the legal reporting deadline applies.
The priority should be establishing whether the incident is reportable, identifying the responsible person and meeting the applicable RIDDOR requirements.
What information is needed for a RIDDOR report?
The information required will depend on the incident, but organisations should maintain accurate records of what happened.
Useful information can include:
- Date and time of the incident
- Location
- Details of the injured person
- Employment status
- Description of what happened
- Nature of any injury
- Work activity being carried out
- Equipment or substances involved
- Immediate action taken
- Relevant witnesses
Good incident records can also support the organisation’s investigation into why the accident occurred.
This is one reason structured health and safety records matter beyond simply satisfying a reporting requirement.
RIDDOR and the accident book
Recording an accident internally and reporting an incident under RIDDOR are not the same thing.
An accident book provides an internal record of workplace accidents and injuries.
A RIDDOR report is a formal report made to the relevant enforcing authority when an incident meets the legal reporting criteria.
An incident may therefore be recorded in an accident book without being reportable under RIDDOR.
Likewise, organisations should have a process for recognising when an internally recorded incident needs to be escalated because it meets RIDDOR requirements.
RIDDOR and risk assessments
Reporting an incident is only one part of managing workplace health and safety.
Following an accident, dangerous occurrence or significant near miss, organisations should consider whether existing risk assessments and control measures remain suitable.
The incident may identify:
- A hazard that was previously overlooked
- An ineffective control measure
- A change in working conditions
- A training issue
- A failure to follow procedures
- New information about the likelihood or severity of a risk
Reviewing the relevant risk assessments can help determine whether additional control measures are needed to prevent future incidents.
Why is RIDDOR important?
RIDDOR provides enforcing authorities with information about serious work-related incidents.
Reports can help authorities identify where and how workplace risks arise, understand wider patterns and decide whether further investigation may be appropriate.
For individual businesses, RIDDOR compliance should form part of a wider approach to workplace safety.
Recording incidents accurately, investigating their causes and reviewing safety procedures can help organisations identify weaknesses before similar events happen again.
Health and safety compliance software can support this wider process by keeping safety information and compliance activities within a structured digital system.
Frequently asked questions about RIDDOR
What does RIDDOR mean?
RIDDOR means the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. It sets out requirements for reporting specified work-related deaths, injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences.
Does every workplace accident need to be reported?
Only incidents meeting the RIDDOR reporting criteria need to be formally reported. Businesses may still need to record and investigate accidents that are not RIDDOR reportable.
What is a RIDDOR reportable incident?
A RIDDOR reportable incident is an event that meets one of the categories defined by the regulations, such as a work-related death, specified injury, over-seven-day injury, certain occupational disease or specified dangerous occurrence.
Are near misses reportable under RIDDOR?
Most ordinary near misses are not RIDDOR reportable. However, certain specified dangerous occurrences must be reported even if nobody was injured.
Are over-seven-day injuries reportable?
If a work-related injury prevents a worker from carrying out their normal duties for more than seven consecutive days, it must generally be reported within 15 days of the accident.
Who enforces RIDDOR?
Depending on the workplace and activity, the relevant enforcing authority may be the Health and Safety Executive, a local authority or another designated regulator.
Managing RIDDOR and workplace incidents
RIDDOR creates an important legal reporting framework for serious workplace accidents, occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences.
For employers, the key is knowing which incidents meet the reporting criteria, who the responsible person is and when a report needs to be submitted.
However, RIDDOR compliance should not exist in isolation.
Accurate incident records, investigation, risk assessment and follow-up action can help businesses understand why workplace incidents occur and identify opportunities to prevent future incidents.
A strong safety culture uses incident information not only to meet legal requirements, but to improve how risks are managed across the organisation.
