Health and safety at work

Employers, and other people in charge of work premises, have a legal duty to report and keep records of:

• work-related accidents which cause deaths
• work-related accidents which cause certain serious injuries (reportable injuries)
• diagnosed cases of certain industrial diseases
• certain ‘dangerous occurrences’ (incidents with the potential to cause harm)

This is governed by the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) – Health and Safety Executive.

What is classed as an accident

An accident could be anything that causes injury. This is whether it happened at work or came about as a result of a work activity.

Incidents that need reporting include:

• injuries which cause the death of any person (your employee, another company's employee or a member of the public)
• a major injury to your employee or a self employed person, including as a result of physical violence
• where a member of the public is taken to hospital
• injuries which result in your employee being off work, or unable to do their usual job for more than 7 days

Report a health and safety incident (RIDDOR report) – Health and Safety Executive

Accident investigation

When appropriate we will simply give advice to the employer to stop an incident happening again. If we identify a definite breach as the main reason for an accident, we will take formal action.

Our accident report may be used in court if someone who has been injured as a result of a work-related accident pursues a compensation claim.

Keeping an accident book

All businesses must keep a record of reported accidents. You must comply with the privacy requirements of the Data Protection Act. 

Order an HSE accident book – Health and Safety Executive