What does RIDDOR stand for?

RIDDOR is the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. It requires certain work-related injuries, occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences to be reported to the relevant enforcing authority by the responsible person.

What does RIDDOR cover?

Not every workplace accident is reportable. The current reportable categories cover areas such as work-related deaths, specified injuries, certain injuries that keep a worker off normal duties for more than seven days, certain injuries to people who are not at work, specified occupational diseases and defined dangerous occurrences. Thresholds and definitions matter, so check HSE guidance on reportable incidents for the detail.

For trades and site-based businesses, RIDDOR can become relevant across many common working environments, including:

  • Construction sites
  • Domestic renovation projects
  • Commercial fit-outs
  • Maintenance and repair work
  • Roofing and scaffolding
  • Plumbing and electrical work
  • Demolition and refurbishment
  • Facilities management
  • Landscaping, groundwork and civils

Who has to report under RIDDOR?

Reports are made by the "responsible person" under RIDDOR. Depending on the circumstances, that may be the employer, a self-employed person, or the person in control of the work premises. It is not something every individual worker is expected to submit personally — see HSE guidance on who should report.

Does RIDDOR apply to the self-employed?

Yes, it can. RIDDOR applies to self-employed people as well as employers where the relevant reporting conditions are met. Who makes the report can depend on where the incident happened and who was in control of the premises, so sole traders working on someone else's site should check the current HSE rules for their situation.

What types of incidents may be reportable?

Deaths and specified injuries

Work-related deaths and certain serious injuries, described by HSE as "specified injuries", may be reportable. HSE publishes the list of specified injuries and how quickly they need to be reported.

Over-seven-day injuries

An injury that keeps a worker away from work, or unable to do their normal duties, for more than seven consecutive days may be reportable, depending on the circumstances.

Injuries to people not at work

Some injuries to members of the public or other people who are not at work may be reportable — for example, where they are taken directly from the scene to hospital for treatment and the incident arose from the work activity.

Occupational diseases

Certain occupational diseases may be reportable where they are diagnosed and linked to work activities. For trades, relevant exposures can include dust, silica, asbestos, noise, vibration, chemicals, fumes and repetitive manual tasks. Safety is not only about visible accidents: long-term exposure risks can be harder to spot, harder to record and easier to dismiss until they become serious.

Dangerous occurrences

Dangerous occurrences are a defined list of serious incidents that may be reportable even where nobody is injured. They are not the same as general near misses: most near misses should be recorded internally and acted on, while only events matching a defined dangerous-occurrence category are reportable. The current list is set out in HSE guidance on dangerous occurrences.

Is a near miss reportable under RIDDOR?

Ordinary near misses are not automatically reportable. Certain specified dangerous occurrences can be reportable even where nobody was injured, so the answer depends on the specific event and current HSE guidance. For how to record and act on near misses day to day, see near miss and incident reporting for small site teams.

When does an injury become reportable?

The difficulty is that RIDDOR can be hard to interpret in practice. Many smaller businesses are unsure what counts as "work-related", what qualifies as a "dangerous occurrence", or when an incident crosses the threshold for formal reporting.

That creates two risks. Some incidents may be under-reported because teams do not realise they meet the threshold. Others may be over-reported because businesses are trying to do the right thing but lack confidence in the rules. Whether something is reportable depends on what happened, who was affected, the outcome and how it relates to the work — so check the current HSE rules for each incident and seek competent advice if you are unsure.

How RIDDOR differs from an internal accident record

A RIDDOR report is a formal notification to the regulator for incidents that meet the reporting criteria. An internal accident or incident record is your own business record of what happened — and it is useful whether or not the event turns out to be reportable.

Many incidents will never need a RIDDOR report but should still be recorded, reviewed and acted on. Our accident report form for UK workplaces sets out the fields to capture, and HSE has guidance on keeping an accident book.

What information should businesses keep?

Before deciding whether to submit any formal report, a business may need to understand:

  • What happened
  • When and where it happened
  • Who was involved
  • What work was being carried out
  • What controls were in place
  • Whether the incident was work-related
  • What immediate action was taken
  • What follow-up action was agreed
  • What supporting documents exist

That information is much easier to capture at the time than reconstruct days, weeks or months later. A report does not sit in isolation either: if a serious incident is reviewed, the surrounding records may matter too — risk assessments, method statements, inductions, toolbox talks, PPE records, photographs, witness notes and corrective actions.

Practical record-keeping for small trades

For larger organisations, RIDDOR decisions may be handled by health and safety departments. For smaller contractors and sole traders, the responsibility often sits with the owner, supervisor or working foreman — the same person pricing jobs, ordering materials and keeping the project moving.

Many trade businesses still rely on scattered records: paper forms in vans, photos buried in camera rolls, PDFs saved to someone's laptop and messages split across WhatsApp groups. That may feel manageable when work is going well. It becomes a problem when something goes wrong.

A practical review could start with these questions:

  • Who is responsible for RIDDOR decisions in the business?
  • Do supervisors know which incidents should be escalated?
  • Are near misses recorded consistently?
  • Are incident records stored somewhere accessible?
  • Can incident records be linked back to RAMS or site safety documents?
  • Are corrective actions assigned to a named person?
  • Is there a record of when follow-up actions are completed?
  • Are occupational health concerns captured and escalated appropriately?
  • Could you evidence what happened six months later?

It is also worth checking that your risk assessments and RAMS reflect the work actually being carried out, so incident records can be read against what was planned.

A quick note on "UK" vs "Great Britain"

This guide uses "UK trades" because that is how many contractors search for health and safety guidance online. However, RIDDOR as described here applies in Great Britain. Businesses working in Northern Ireland should check the relevant regulator and rules for their location.

What about the proposed 2026 RIDDOR changes?

The HSE consulted on proposed changes to RIDDOR during 2026. The consultation has closed, but the current RIDDOR rules remain unchanged while the HSE response is awaited.

For a detailed look at the proposals, current construction injury data and what the potential changes could mean for sole traders and small contractors, read our 2026 RIDDOR changes analysis.

Where Graftly fits in

Graftly helps trades create, manage and store practical site safety documents, including RAMS, incident and near-miss records, and supporting site information.

Graftly does not decide whether something is RIDDOR-reportable. It does not replace official HSE reporting, legal advice or competent health and safety support. What it can do is help businesses keep the right information together, so that when something happens, they are not starting from a blank page.

Site safety, sorted.

Graftly helps UK trades create, manage and store practical site safety documents without the paperwork headache.

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Official guidance / sources

Disclaimer: This guide is general information only and does not constitute legal advice. RIDDOR duties depend on the facts of each incident and the relevant enforcing authority. Businesses should refer to official HSE guidance and seek competent professional advice where required.