RIDDOR is the law that tells employers when a workplace accident, illness or near miss has to be reported to the enforcing authority. In a warehouse, workshop or stores, the incidents that trigger a report are often the ordinary ones: a fork truck impact, a fall from height, a crushed hand, a back injury that keeps someone off work. This guide explains what RIDDOR reporting means in practice, who has to report, the deadlines, and what records to keep. It is general information for Great Britain and not legal advice, and the HSE website is the place to check the current detail before you submit a report.
What is RIDDOR?
RIDDOR stands for the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/1471). The regulations are made under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and apply in Great Britain; Northern Ireland has its own reporting rules. They require certain work-related incidents to be reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), or to the local authority where it is the enforcing body for your premises, such as many shops and offices.
The purpose is to let the regulator see what is going wrong, investigate serious incidents and target its advice. It is not a requirement to report every cut or bruise. Only incidents that are work-related and fall into one of the defined categories are reportable.
Who has to make a RIDDOR report?
Reports are made by the "responsible person". That means employers, the self-employed, and people in control of work premises. If you employ people, or you run the building where the incident happens, assume the duty is yours. Employees who are injured, and members of the public, do not use the RIDDOR form; employees should tell their employer, and the employer decides whether the incident is reportable. A clear internal route for reporting accidents is therefore part of meeting the regulations.
What must be reported?
HSE groups reportable incidents into a small number of categories. The main ones for warehouses, workshops and stores are:
- Deaths. Any work-related death of a worker or non-worker, with the exception of suicides.
- Specified injuries to workers. A defined list of serious injuries (see below).
- Over-7-day incapacitation. A worker is unable to do their normal work for more than seven consecutive days, not counting the day of the accident.
- Injuries to people who are not at work. A member of the public, visitor or contractor is injured by a work activity and taken from the scene to hospital for treatment.
- Occupational diseases. Certain diseases diagnosed by a doctor and linked to work, including some cases of dermatitis, hand-arm vibration syndrome, occupational asthma and carpal tunnel syndrome where the work involves the relevant activity.
- Dangerous occurrences. Specified near-miss events where nobody needs to be hurt, listed in the regulations.
There is also a category for reportable gas incidents, which applies to gas distributors, engineers and similar bodies rather than to a typical warehouse.
Specified injuries
The list of specified injuries in the regulations includes:
- fractures, other than to fingers, thumbs and toes;
- amputations;
- any injury likely to lead to permanent loss of sight or reduction in sight;
- any crush injury to the head or torso causing damage to the brain or internal organs;
- serious burns, including scalding, covering more than 10% of the body or causing significant damage to the eyes, respiratory system or other vital organs;
- any scalping requiring hospital treatment;
- any loss of consciousness caused by head injury or asphyxia;
- any other injury arising from working in an enclosed space which leads to hypothermia or heat-induced illness, or requires resuscitation or admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours.
Dangerous occurrences in a warehouse setting
Dangerous occurrences are reportable even when nobody is injured. The full list is in Schedule 2 of the regulations and is long, so check it against your own activities. Examples relevant to storage and handling sites include the collapse, overturning or failure of load-bearing parts of lifts and lifting equipment, plant or equipment coming into contact with overhead power lines, and the accidental release of a substance that could damage health. If your site uses lifting equipment, our guides to LOLER and LOLER versus PUWER explain the inspection duties that help prevent these events.
RIDDOR reporting deadlines
- Deaths and specified injuries: notify HSE without delay, then submit a report within 10 days of the incident.
- Over-7-day incapacitation: submit a report within 15 days of the accident.
- Injuries to non-workers taken to hospital, occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences: each has its own reporting route on the HSE site; follow the guidance for that category.
Reports are normally made through the online forms on the HSE website. For a fatal or specified injury, HSE's guidance should be followed for how to notify immediately. Do not wait for an investigation to finish before reporting.
RIDDOR record keeping
Reporting is only half the duty. You must keep a record of any reportable death, injury, disease or dangerous occurrence, and of over-3-day injuries where a worker is incapacitated for more than three consecutive days but not more than seven. The record should include the date and method of reporting, the date, time and place of the event, the personal details of those involved and a brief description of what happened. Records must be kept for at least three years. Many employers keep this alongside an accident book or incident log, which also helps with insurance and with your own trend analysis.
Preventing the incidents that lead to a RIDDOR report
RIDDOR is about what happens after something goes wrong. Your risk assessment duties under the management regulations are about stopping it happening in the first place. The incidents most often seen in warehouses and workshops point to a short list of controls:
- Vehicle and pedestrian impacts. Separate people from fork trucks with marked walkways and safety barriers, and protect racking ends with guards. See our guide to warehouse safety barriers.
- Racking damage and collapse. Keep pallet racking within its load ratings and inspected, as set out in our racking inspection guide.
- Falls from height. Use suitable warehouse safety steps instead of improvised access such as pallets or chairs.
- Manual handling injuries. Remove or reduce lifting and carrying with pallet trucks and handling aids, as covered in our manual handling regulations guide.
- Chemical exposure and spills. Store substances in suitable hazardous storage and keep spill containment to hand.
- Loading bay accidents. Use wheel chocks and sound dock equipment, see our loading bay safety guide.
For a wider view of hazards on site, see our warehouse health and safety guide.
A simple RIDDOR checklist
- Do staff know how and to whom to report an accident, injury or near miss internally?
- Is someone named as the person who decides whether an incident is reportable?
- Do you know where to find the HSE online reporting forms?
- Do you record accidents, including those that are not reportable?
- Do you review incidents and near misses to change the way work is done?
Common mistakes
- Assuming an incident is not reportable because the injured person went back to work the next day without checking the over-7-day rule.
- Counting working days instead of consecutive days when working out the over-7-day period.
- Not recording minor incidents, which hides patterns that lead to larger ones.
- Leaving reporting to a manager who is off site or on leave, with no deputy.
- Treating a report as the end of the matter instead of reviewing the risk assessment.
Where to find the official guidance
The regulations are published on legislation.gov.uk and HSE's RIDDOR pages explain who should report, what is reportable and how to make a report. If you are unsure whether an incident is reportable, ask HSE or a competent health and safety adviser before the deadline passes. This guide is general information for UK workplaces and is not legal advice.
RIDDOR reporting FAQs
What is RIDDOR?
RIDDOR is the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. It requires employers and other responsible persons in Great Britain to report certain work-related accidents, illnesses and dangerous occurrences to the enforcing authority.
Who has to make a RIDDOR report?
The responsible person: employers, the self-employed and people in control of work premises. Employees should report incidents to their employer internally rather than using the RIDDOR form.
What types of incident are reportable?
Work-related deaths, specified injuries to workers, injuries causing a worker to be unable to do their normal work for more than seven consecutive days, injuries to non-workers taken to hospital for treatment, certain occupational diseases and specified dangerous occurrences.
What counts as a specified injury?
Examples include fractures other than to fingers, thumbs and toes, amputations, serious burns, loss of consciousness caused by head injury or asphyxia, and crush injuries to the head or torso causing damage to the brain or internal organs.
How long do I have to report an over-7-day injury?
Within 15 days of the accident. The seven days are consecutive days and do not include the day of the accident.
How quickly must deaths and specified injuries be reported?
Notify HSE without delay, then submit a report within 10 days of the incident.
How long must RIDDOR records be kept?
At least three years. Records 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 what happened.
Do near misses have to be reported?
Only those that are listed as dangerous occurrences in the regulations, such as the collapse or failure of load-bearing parts of lifting equipment. Other near misses should still be logged and reviewed internally.