Reporting Incidents, Including near Misses and Accidents

 

Employers, self-employed persons, and persons in control of work premises, have legal duties under RIDDOR to report and record certain work-related accidents by the quickest means possible.

Exercise

The following accidents must be reported:

The easiest way to report an accident, in most cases, is via the appropriate online report form at http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor.

The form is submitted directly to the RIDDOR database and a copy is provided for the responsible persons records.

A telephone service is available for reporting fatal and major injuries only through the Incident Contact Centre on 0845 300 9923. The service is available during office hours – Monday to Friday 8.30 am to 5 pm.

The HSE has an out of hours duty officer available for responding in emergency situations such as:

  • a work-related death;
  • a serious accident with a need to collect physical evidence before it is lost with time; or
  • a major incident where the severity of the incident, or degree of public concern, requires an immediate public statement from the HSE or government.

A suitable record should be kept of any reportable injury, disease or dangerous occurrence.

The record should 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.

The record can be kept in any suitable format, e.g.

  • A file of hard copies of report forms;
  • Electronic records on a computer; or
  • Accident Book entries.

If the incident is reported by telephone or through the HSE web site, the ICC will send a copy of the record held within its database.