Health and Safety

RIDDOR

What is RIDDOR?

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR), place a legal duty on:

employers;
self-employed people;
people in control of premises;

to report:

The easiest way to do this is by calling the Incident Contact Centre (ICC) on 0845 300 99 23 (local rate). You will be sent a copy of the information recorded and you will be able to correct any errors or omissions.

Why should I report?

Reporting accidents and ill health at work is a legal requirement. The information enables the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and local authorities, to identify where and how risks arise, and to investigate serious accidents. We can then help you and provide advice on how to reduce injury, and ill health in your workplace.

For most businesses, a reportable accident, dangerous occurrence, or case of disease is a comparatively rare event. However, if it does happen, please let us know.

What must I report?

As an employer, a person who is self-employed, or someone in control of work premises, you have legal duties under RIDDOR that require you to report and record some work-related accidents by the quickest means possible.

You must report:

deaths;
major injuries;
over-3-day injuries – where an employee or self-employed person is away from work or unable to perform their normal work duties for more than 3 consecutive days;
injuries to members of the public or people not at work where they are taken from the scene of an accident to hospital;
some work-related diseases;
dangerous occurrences – where something happens that does not result in an injury, but could have done;
CORGI registered gas fitters must also report dangerous gas fittings they find, and gas conveyors/suppliers must report some flammable gas incidents.

RIDDOR applies to all work activities but not all incidents are reportable. If someone has had an accident in a work situation where you are in charge, and you are unsure whether to report it just call the Incident Contact Centre (ICC) on 0845 300 99 23. .

You can also find details of reportable incidents by looking at RIDDOR in more detail.

Information supplied to HSE in a RIDDOR report is not passed on to your insurance company. If you think your insurer needs to know about a work related accident, injury, or case of ill health please remember to contact them separately - insurers have told us that reporting injuries and illnesses at work to them quickly could save you time and money.

If you are an employer or in control of premises

If you are an employer

If you are an employer, you must report any work-related deaths, injuries, cases of disease, or near misses involving your employees wherever they are working by calling the Incident Contact Centre as soon as possible, or report using an alternative method.

If you are in control of premises,

If you are in control of premises, you must report any work-related deaths and injuries to members of the public and self-employed people on your premises, and near miss incidents that occur on your premises. Just call the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 99 23, or report using an alternative method.

If you are self-employed

If you are working in someone else’s premises and suffer either a major injury or an over-three-day injury, then the person in control of the premises will be responsible for reporting, so, where possible, you should make sure they know about it.

All they have to do is call the Incident Contact Centre and answer a few questions about the incident.

If there is a reportable accident while you are working on your own premises, or if a doctor tells you that you have a work-related disease or condition, then you need to report it.

Just call the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 99 23 or report using an alternative method.

If you are a gas supplier

If you are a distributor, filler, importer or supplier of flammable gas and you learn, either directly or indirectly that someone has died or suffered a major injury in connection with the gas you distributed, filled, imported or supplied, then this must be reported immediately.

Call the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 99 23 or complete the Report of a Flammable Gas Incident form (F2508G1) online.

If you are a gas fitter

If you are an installer of gas appliances registered with the Council for Registered Installers (CORGI), you must provide details of any gas appliances or fittings that you consider to be dangerous, to such an extent that people could die or suffer a major injury, because the design, construction, installation, modification or servicing could result in:

an accidental leakage of gas;
inadequate combustion of gas or ;
inadequate removal of products of the combustion of gas.

Call the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 99 23 or complete the Report of a Dangerous Gas Fitting form (F2508G2) online.

If you are an employee

If you are an employee that has been injured at work, seen a dangerous occurrence, or your doctor has certified that you have a work related reportable disease, you must inform your employer or the person in control of the premises as it is their responsibility to report the incident.

'Just call the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 99 23

What is reportable under RIDDOR?

Reportable deaths and major injuries

Deaths

If there is an accident connected with work and your employee, or self-employed person working on the premises, or a member of the public is killed you must notify the enforcing authority without delay. You can either telephone the ICC on 0845 300 99 23 or complete the appropriate online form (F2508).

Major injuries

If there is an accident connected with work and your employee, or self-employed person working on the premises sustains a major injury, or a member of the public suffers an injury and is taken to hospital from the site of the accident, you must notify the enforcing authority without delay by telephoning the ICC or completing the appropriate online form (F2508).

Reportable major injuries are:

Fracture, other than to fingers, thumbs and 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, or 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 requiring 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 that this resulted from exposure to a biological agent or its toxins or infected material.

Reportable over-three-day injuries

If there is an accident connected with work (including an act of physical violence) and your employee, or a self-employed person working on your premises, suffers an over-three-day injury you must report it to the enforcing authority within ten days.

An over-3-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. You can notify the enforcing authority by telephoning the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 99 23 or completing the appropriate online form (F2508).

Reportable disease

If a doctor notifies you that your employee suffers from a reportable work-related disease, then you must report it to 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.
A full list of reportable disease

You can notify the enforcing authority by telephoning the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 99 23 or completing the appropriate online form (F2508A)

Reportable dangerous occurrences (near misses)

If something happens which does not result in a reportable injury, but which clearly could have done, then it may be a dangerous occurrence which must be reported immediately. Just call the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 99 23 or complete the appropriate online form.

Reportable dangerous occurrences are:

Collapse, overturning or failure of load-bearing parts of lifts and lifting equipment;
Explosion, collapse or bursting of any closed vessel or associated pipework;
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 or the substance is released;
A dangerous substance being conveyed by road is involved in a fire or released;
The following dangerous occurrences are reportable except in relation to offshore workplaces: unintended collapse of: any building or structure under construction, alteration or demolition where over five tonnes of material falls; a wall or floor in a place of work; any false-work;
Explosion or fire causing suspension of normal work for over 24 hours;
Sudden, uncontrolled release in a building of: 100 kg or more of flammable liquid; 10 kg of flammable liquid above its boiling point; 10 kg or more of flammable gas; or of 500 kg of these substances if the release is in the open air;
Accidental release of any substance which may damage health.

Additional categories of dangerous occurrences apply to mines, quarries, relevant transport systems (railways etc) and offshore workplaces. Detailed information is provided in the relevant schedules to the regulations and the Guide to RIDDOR

Reportable gas incidents

If you are a distributor, filler, importer or supplier of flammable gas and you learn, either directly or indirectly that someone has died or suffered a 'major injury' in connection with the gas you distributed, filled, imported or supplied, then this must be reported immediately. Just call the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 99 23 or complete the appropriate online form (F2508G1).

If you are an installer of gas appliances registered with the Council for Registered Installers (CORGI), you must provide details of any gas appliances or fittings that you consider to be dangerous, to such an extent that people could die or suffer a 'major injury', because the design, construction, installation, modification or servicing could result in:

(a) an accidental leakage of gas;
(b) inadequate combustion of gas or ;
(c) inadequate removal of products of the combustion of gas.

Just call the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 99 23, or complete the appropriate online form (F2508G2).

When do I need to make a report?

Although the Regulations specify varying timescales for reporting different types of incidents, it is advisable to ring and report the incident as soon as possible by calling the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 99 23.

In cases of death, major injury, or dangerous occurrences, you must notify the enforcing authority without delay, most easily by calling the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 99 23.

Cases of over-three day injuries must be notified within ten days of the incident occurring.

Cases of disease should be reported as soon as a doctor notifies you that your employee suffers from a reportable work-related disease.

What records do I need to keep?

You must keep a record of any reportable injury, disease or dangerous occurrence. This must include the date and method of reporting; the date, time and place of the event; personal details of those involved; and a brief description of the nature of the event or disease.

You can keep the record in any form you wish. You could, for example, choose to

keep your records by:

keeping copies of report forms in a file;
recording the details on a computer;
using your Accident Book entry;
maintaining a written log.

If you choose to report the incident by telephone or through this web site, the ICC will send you a copy of the record held within the database. You will be able to request amendments to the record if you feel the report is not fully accurate.

What is the Incident Contact Centre (ICC)?

The ICC is a ‘one-stop’ reporting service for work-related health and safety incidents in the UK. It was established on 1 April 2001 and is a primarily a call centre, open from Monday to Friday between 8:30am and 5:00pm. If you wish to speak to an ICC operator, just call 0845 300 99 23. All information will remain confidential.

How does the ICC work?

The responsible person, usually the employer or person in control of the premises, must report all incidents and keep appropriate records. The quickest and easiest way to do this is to call the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 99 23 with no need to fill in a report form. The ICC Consultant will ask a few questions and take down appropriate details, this is reporting. Your report will be passed on to the relevant enforcing authority. You will be sent a copy of the information recorded which you can file - this meets the RIDDOR requirement to keep records of all reportable incidents. It’s as easy as that. When you receive a copy of the information recorded, you will be able to correct any errors or omissions.

You can also report by completing an interactive form which automatically sends you a copy for your records.

Reports are also accepted via email or post to the ICC.

Contact Environmental Health

E-mail: envhealth@dover.gov.uk