What Is RIDDOR? UK Reporting Rules & 10-Day Deadlines
RIDDOR is not about paperwork for its own sake. For an employer, getting it right is a legal duty; getting it wrong can mean an investigation, a fine, or worse. This guide walks through what RIDDOR covers, what you have to report, how to report it, the deadlines that apply, and the practical steps that keep you on the right side of the law.
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What Is RIDDOR?
RIDDOR, short for the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013, is the UK law that requires employers, the self-employed, and people in control of premises to report workplace deaths, specified injuries, occupational diseases, and dangerous occurrences to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). It exists so regulators can spot patterns in serious incidents and target inspections and guidance where they will do the most good.
Every report feeds a national picture of where people are being hurt at work, and that picture is what drives inspections, prosecutions, and better guidance across whole industries. Compliance with the Regulations is essential for any employer operating in the United Kingdom.
What Is Reportable Under RIDDOR
Not every workplace incident triggers a report. RIDDOR sets specific thresholds, and knowing them saves you from both over-reporting and, more seriously, missing something you were legally required to file. The Regulations require reporting of the following:
- Deaths and injuries caused by workplace accidents: any work-related death, and any injury that keeps a worker away from their normal duties for more than 7 consecutive days.
- Specified injuries to workers: fractures (other than to fingers, thumbs, and toes), amputations, loss of sight, crush injuries, serious burns, and other injuries listed in the Regulations.
- Occupational diseases: conditions likely to have been caused or made worse by work, such as occupational dermatitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, hand-arm vibration syndrome, and occupational asthma.
- Carcinogens, mutagens, and biological agents where exposure is linked to a reportable disease.
- Dangerous occurrences (near misses with no injury), such as:
- failure of load-bearing parts of lifting equipment
- equipment contacting overhead power lines
- accidental release of any substance that could injure a person
- Gas incidents: accidental gas leakage, incomplete combustion, or insufficient removal of gas combustion exhaust products.
This list sets the reporting threshold. If an incident fits one of these categories, report it to the HSE regardless of how routine it felt on the day.
How to Report to the HSE
Reporting is straightforward once you know the route, and having a set process means nothing gets missed in the confusion that often follows an incident. Follow these steps whenever a reportable event occurs:
- Confirm the incident is reportable. Check it against the categories above before you file, because not every accident meets the threshold.
- Report the most serious cases by phone first. Fatal and specified major incidents must be reported without delay on the HSE incident line (0345 300 9923) during office hours.
- Complete the online form. Most reports are made through the HSE reporting portal, where the form is submitted and a copy is sent back for your records.
- Keep your own record. Whoever files the report, the responsible person keeps the duty, so log every report and store it with the investigation report in your safety records.
Set up a simple internal route so a supervisor always knows to flag a reportable event. Good record keeping is far easier when you build reporting into a wider safe system of work rather than treating each incident as a one-off.
RIDDOR Time Limits (10 and 15 Days)
The clock matters as much as the report itself, and the deadline you are working to depends on the type of incident. Missing a deadline is itself a breach, so it pays to know which window applies before the pressure of an incident hits.
- Deaths and specified injuries: report the incident without delay by telephone, then follow up with a written report within 10 days.
- Dangerous occurrences: report within 10 days.
- Over-7-day injuries: report within 15 days of the accident.
- Occupational diseases: report as soon as a doctor’s written diagnosis is received.
You must also keep a record of any reportable incident for at least 3 years.
Compliance Steps for Employers
Reporting is only one part of a wider duty of care. The Health and Safety Executive sets out a broader checklist that turns RIDDOR from a reactive form-filling exercise into part of how a well-run business protects its people. Work through the steps below, and reporting becomes the natural end of a system rather than a scramble after the fact.
- Appoint a competent person to help you manage health and safety in your business
- Prepare a health and safety policy
- Carry out a risk assessment
- Consult your workers
- Provide information and training (tell your workers their health and safety duties)
- Provide suitable workplace facilities (toilets, washbasins, and other welfare facilities workers need)
- Have appropriate first aid kits, train workers, and appoint first aiders
- Display the health and safety law poster or give workers an equivalent leaflet
- Get employers’ liability insurance for your business
- Understand the law (the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, including RIDDOR)
- Report specified injuries, near misses, and work-related illnesses to the HSE
Where you are tracking these duties across a project, a risk register keeps every action and owner in one place so nothing slips through the net.
When to Train Employees on RIDDOR
RIDDOR training works best early, and UK law sets a hard deadline for larger employers. Getting new starters through it on day one, rather than whenever a gap in the induction schedule allows, is what keeps the duty from slipping.
- Within 28 days of starting: employers with more than 250 employees must arrange a RIDDOR induction with new recruits by law.
- At induction or the first safety briefing: smaller companies can cover RIDDOR when a new employee starts their job.
- At a formal meeting early in employment: larger organisations may prefer a structured session at the start of the role.
- Whenever the rules or risks change: refresh training when regulations, equipment, or the risk profile shifts.
Treat RIDDOR training as an ongoing duty rather than a single induction task. The people who witness an incident are usually the first to know it happened, so they need to recognise a reportable event and know exactly who to tell, on day one and years into the job.
The Importance of Reporting Dangerous Incidents
Under-reporting happens more often than most employers expect, and reviews keep finding it. Whether you are a construction worker, doctor, police officer, or firefighter, the duty to report a dangerous occurrence applies the same way.
Employers in the UK must prompt their employees to report any potentially dangerous conditions under legislation such as the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the Act RIDDOR sits beneath. Industry and government reviews have, at times, uncovered significant under-reporting of reportable incidents, for example in the Rail Safety and Standards Board’s 2011 review of Network Rail. Where under-reporting is intentional or the result of a broken internal process, it can result in prosecution.
UK health and safety law has continued to expand reporting duties over recent decades, and that direction has only strengthened as the country pushes to improve workplace safety. Building a reliable reporting habit now costs far less than rebuilding one after an inspector has already found the gap.
Reporting Infectious Diseases
Certain work-related infections are reportable under RIDDOR, including cases where a doctor diagnoses a disease linked to a biological agent a worker was exposed to on the job. During public health events such as a pandemic, the HSE issues specific guidance on when a diagnosis counts as reportable. Keeping an open dialogue with your insurer about changes to your risk profile, maintaining proper ventilation on site, and following current public health guidance from your trade or industry body all help keep this category under control.
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With the categories and deadlines clear, the only question left is how reporting fits into your everyday routine.
Making RIDDOR Part of How You Work
RIDDOR comes down to 3 things: knowing which incidents are reportable, filing them with the HSE inside the deadlines, and keeping the records to prove it for at least 3 years. The employers who find it painless are the ones who have stopped treating it as a form to fill in after something goes wrong and instead built reporting into their everyday safety routine, from induction training through to a clear internal route for flagging events. If you want a system that catches these duties before they become breaches, Get expert RAMS & compliance support from Coyle Group’s chartered team, covering RIDDOR reporting, risk assessments, and training on a footing that protects both your people and your business.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): RIDDOR
Still weighing up what RIDDOR means for your business? These are the questions UK employers ask most often about what to report, who is responsible, and the deadlines that apply.
What does RIDDOR stand for?
RIDDOR stands for the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. It is the UK law that sets out which workplace deaths, injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences a responsible person must report to the Health and Safety Executive. Coyle Group treats the acronym as a legal reporting duty, not a general safety slogan, because each category in the Regulations carries its own reporting deadline.
What is the purpose of RIDDOR?
RIDDOR exists to give the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities the data needed to identify where and how serious workplace risks arise. That evidence lets regulators investigate deaths and major injuries, target inspections at higher-risk sites, and issue guidance that improves safety across whole industries. Coyle Group sees this data used most often to justify closer scrutiny of sectors with a pattern of dangerous occurrences.
What must employers report under RIDDOR?
Employers must report work-related deaths, specified injuries such as fractures, amputations and serious burns, injuries that keep a worker off normal duties for more than 7 consecutive days, certain occupational diseases, dangerous occurrences such as the failure of lifting equipment, and specific gas incidents. Coyle Group advises clients to check every incident against these categories before ruling it outside RIDDOR, because the thresholds are narrower than most site teams assume.
Who is responsible for reporting to the HSE?
The responsible person must report, usually the employer, the self-employed individual, or whoever controls the premises where the work takes place. Employees do not submit RIDDOR reports themselves, though they are expected to tell their employer about any incident that might be reportable. Coyle Group recommends naming this responsible person in writing on every site, so a reportable incident is never left waiting on an assumption about who owns the form.
What are the time limits for reporting under RIDDOR?
Deaths and specified injuries must be notified without delay and followed up with a written report within 10 days. Dangerous occurrences also carry a 10-day deadline, injuries that keep a worker off normal duties for more than 7 days must be reported within 15 days, and occupational diseases are reportable as soon as a doctor's written diagnosis is received. Coyle Group treats these windows as fixed deadlines, never a target to aim for.
Do near misses have to be reported under RIDDOR?
Yes. Certain near misses, known as dangerous occurrences, are reportable under RIDDOR even when nobody is hurt. Examples include the failure of load-bearing parts of lifting equipment, plant making contact with overhead power lines, and the accidental release of a substance capable of causing injury. Coyle Group flags dangerous occurrences as the category employers most often miss, because the absence of an injury makes the incident feel less urgent to log.
How long must RIDDOR records be kept?
A record of any reportable death, injury, disease or dangerous occurrence must be kept for at least 3 years from the date it was made, at the place the work is carried out or the responsible person's usual place of business. Coyle Group builds this retention period into the record-keeping systems it sets up for clients, so the evidence stays available if the Health and Safety Executive asks for an extract years after the event.
