Ask the HSE - When an accident happens, what do I need to report?
March 1st 2010 When an accident happens, what do I need to report?
Serious accidents and injuries in the workplace are – thankfully – relatively rare. But when things do go wrong, there are some incidents that you need to report by law, under the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrence Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR). If you are an employer, are in control of premises or are selfemployed, you need to report workrelated deaths, major injuries (including broken bones, amputations and loss of sight) and injuries that keep people off work for more than three days. The law also obliges you to report work-related diseases and near misses. When members of the public or people not at work are injured and they are taken from the scene of an accident to hospital, this too must be notified.
The easiest way to do this is by calling the Incident Contact Centre (ICC) on 0845 300 99 23, Monday to Friday between 8:30am and 5pm. It will take down the details and send you – if you are the employer or dutyholder – a copy of the report to check. You can also email riddor@connaught.plc.uk or report online at www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/online.htm
It’s not optional to report such incidents and they also need to be reported quickly. In cases of death, major injury or dangerous occurrences, you must notify the enforcing authority straight away. Injuries that keep people off work for more than three days must be notified within ten days. Cases of work-related disease should be reported as soon as a doctor tells you that your employee is affected.
You also need to keep your own record of any reportable injury, disease or dangerous occurrence, noting the date and method of reporting; the date, time and place of the event; personal details of those involved; and a brief description of what happened. You could do this by logging it in your accident book. Some people think that information supplied to HSE in a RIDDOR report is passed on to your insurance company – it isn’t. If you think your insurer needs to know about a work related you need to contact them separately. For more information visitwww.hse.gov.uk/riddor
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