Accidents and incidents aren’t nice, but they do happen. What’s most important for you as a business owner is having a robust accident reporting policy in place. That means if an accident in the workplace does occur, you have everything you need in place to properly produce a report and do everything you can to prevent something happening again.
But you don’t have to go through that process on your own. Partnering with Citation means you’ll have 24/7 access to our experts, who can work with you to confidently create safe working practices.
We’ll let you know when incidents need escalating – and why. We’ll show you how to report incidents – legally. We’ll put measures in place to prevent the same thing happening twice. And if there’s a serious incident on your site, we’ll support you through the entire process.
RIDDOR stands for the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. Under RIDDOR, employers, the self-employed and anyone who’s in control of a business’ premises have a legal obligation to report specified incidents and accidents at work to the Health and Safety Executive.
The seven reportable categories under RIDDOR are:
How an accident is reported really depends on the workplace itself but, as standard, all accidents in the workplace should be recorded in an accident book or other means, in line with the requirements set out by GDPR and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). We can help you keep track of incidents and accidents easily, with our handy software Atlas - see more here
Certain incidents are reportable to the HSE under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR). These include:
- Death
- Specified injuries (such as amputations)
- Over seven-day incapacitations
- Occupational diseases (such as occupational asthma)
- Dangerous occurrences such as the collapse, overturning or failure of lifting equipment
- Gas incidents
The responsibility rests with the employer if an accident needs to be reported to the HSE. Reporting an accident on-site is often the responsibility of the site manager or most senior person present.
The person responsible for reporting an accident, both internally and to the HSE, should be set out in an organisation’s Health & Safety policy.
An employer is legally required to report any injuries that occur in the workplace. If they fail to do so, it could result in legal action and even prosecution.
The most common non-fatal injuries to employees (as reported by employers) in 2020/21 were:
Slips, trips and falls (33%)
Heavy lifting (18%)
Being struck by a moving object (10%)
So, not every incident is reportable, and it’s important to know the difference between what does and doesn’t need reporting. If you unnecessarily report an incident or accident, you could open the floodgates for enforcing authorities to put a magnifying glass on your business.
For a closer look at each of the categories and for some examples of RIDDOR-reportable accidents, incidents and diseases, head here.
We’d always recommend logging incidents and accidents that aren’t reportable under RIDDOR too, preferably in a company accident book. Why? There are three main reasons for this.
Firstly, it helps prevent similar instances from happening again by putting the spotlight on your internal processes and risk assessment compliance procedures. This improves your business’ overall safety.
Secondly, it gives you an audit trail of what happened to fall back on if an injured person goes on to lodge a claim against you.
And third, it gives you something to refer to if an enforcing authority requests supporting documents during an inspection.
For a step-by-step look at your legal requirements and exactly how to report an accident, check out our six-stage guide.
When it comes to accident reporting, your legal obligations are governed by the Management of Health and Safety at Work (MHSW) Regulations 1999 and the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 2013.
As we touched on earlier, to be compliant with RIDDOR, there are specified workplace incidents you must report to the HSE.
The MHSW Regulations, however, cover all the stages you should be taking to prevent incidents and accidents in the first place. How? In a nutshell, the MHSW requires you to assess and manage all risks that arise from any work-related activity.
So, this means taking all reasonable steps to ensure incidents and accidents are avoided in the first place by:
Whether it’s a near-miss or dangerous occurrence that results in someone being injured at work, Citation is here to help. We’ll support you with everything from creating your accident reporting policy to correctly reporting to the HSE or your other local authorities.
You’ll receive instant access to Atlas, our online platform. This will give you a step-by-step incident log facility, where you can record everything from photos and witness statements to relevant risk assessments and training certificates.
And, if it’s RIDDOR-reportable, it’ll take you directly to the HSE’s reporting system and give you access to lots of guidance documents.
We will give you all of the tools and support you require to properly report on workplace accidents.
Citation has over 20 years of Health & Safety experience, which means you’re working with experienced and dedicated consultants.
We’ll equip you with all the knowledge you need to be able to confidently carry out accident reporting, as well as risk assessments for the future, and support you with managing the process as your business changes and grows.
If you’d like more information on managing your Health & Safety or getting the support of our experts, get in touch with the team today.
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