RIDDOR Explained: What to Report on a Construction Site and When

Every construction worker eventually sees an accident on site or hears about one. When it happens, people ask the same questions. Does this need to be reported? Who reports it? How long do we have? Getting those answers wrong has real consequences. That is where RIDDOR comes in. This guide explains how the regulations work on a construction site in plain terms.

What Is RIDDOR?

RIDDOR stands for the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. They apply across Great Britain, and Northern Ireland has its own equivalent. They require employers, the self-employed and people in control of premises to report certain workplace incidents to the regulator. In Great Britain that is usually the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). In Northern Ireland it is HSENI.

The video sums it up simply:

“In simple terms it’s the rules for external reporting of accidents and incidents that happen in your workplace.”

RIDDOR does not replace your site’s own accident book or internal reporting procedure. It sits on top of them. Every incident should be recorded internally. Only certain incidents must also be reported to the regulator.

Why RIDDOR Matters

In a typical year in Great Britain, over half a million workers are injured at work. Around 1.8 million are suffering from new or long-standing work-related ill health. RIDDOR reports give the regulator the data to spot trends, focus inspections and invest in prevention.

The pattern in construction is clear:

• Slips, trips and manual handling cause more than half of non-fatal reportable injuries.
• Falls from height and being struck by a vehicle or moving object cause more than half of fatal injuries.

RIDDOR also keeps employers accountable. Failing to report a reportable incident is a criminal offence. The duty sits alongside the general duties in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA). On a notifiable project, it also sits alongside the management arrangements required by CDM 2015. You can read more about how those duties fit together in our guide to CDM 2015 regulations.

Who Has to Report?

Only a responsible person can submit a RIDDOR report:

• Employers report incidents involving their own workers.
• Self-employed people report incidents that happen to them on their own premises or in domestic premises. They also report a work-related disease once a doctor has diagnosed it.
• People in control of premises report work-related deaths, certain injuries to members of the public or self-employed people on their premises, and dangerous occurrences.

There is an important point for self-employed trades. If you are working on someone else’s site and suffer a specified injury or an over-7-day injury, the person in control of the premises is responsible for the report. You still need to tell them promptly, or they cannot do it.

If you are an employee, a worker representative or a member of the public with concerns about an incident, you do not submit a RIDDOR report yourself. Speak to the regulator for advice.

The Three Tests: Is It Reportable?

This is the area that causes the most confusion. In the words of the video:

“If an accident or incident is not deemed to be work related then there is no obligation to report it to your regulator, hence we need to make sure we get this one right.”

Work through three questions in order.

1. Was it an accident?

An accident needs a separate, identifiable external event that caused the injury. A broken leg from a collision with a forklift is an accident. A bad back from simply bending down may not count as one.

2. Was it work-related?

Consider whether any of the following played a significant part:

• The way the work was organised, carried out or supervised
• Any machinery, plant, equipment or substances involved, such as chemicals controlled under COSHH
• The condition of the site or work area

3. Is the outcome reportable?

If it was an accident and it was work-related, it must be reported when it results in any of the following:

• The death of any person, whether a worker or not
• A specified injury to a worker (see the list below)
• An over-7-day injury, meaning a worker is away from work, or cannot do their normal duties, for more than seven consecutive days, not counting the day of the accident. In Northern Ireland the threshold is more than three days.
• An injury to a non-worker, such as a visitor or a member of the public, that results in them being taken directly from the scene to hospital for treatment

You do not need to report over-3-day injuries in Great Britain, but you must still record them.

Specified Injuries to Workers

The specified injuries list is worth learning. It comes up regularly in the CITB test:

• Fractures, other than to fingers, thumbs and toes
• Amputations
• Any injury likely to cause permanent loss of sight or reduced sight
• Crush injuries to the head or torso causing damage to the brain or internal organs
• Serious burns covering more than 10% of the body, or damaging the eyes, respiratory system or other vital organs
• Scalpings that need hospital treatment
• Loss of consciousness caused by a head injury or asphyxia
• Any injury from working in an enclosed space that leads to hypothermia or heat-induced illness, or that requires resuscitation or admission to hospital for more than 24 hours

Occupational Diseases

It is easy to focus on injuries because they are visible and need immediate action. Diseases develop slowly, so they can be missed. The video makes this point directly:

“It’s important not to forget about occupational diseases which are typically progressive over longer periods of time.”

The following must be reported when a doctor diagnoses them and they are likely to have been caused or made worse by work:

• Severe cramp of the hand or forearm
• Tendonitis or tenosynovitis of the hand or forearm
• Hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS), which is common among breaker, grinder and compactor operators
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Occupational dermatitis, for example from wet cement
• Occupational asthma
• Any occupational cancer
• Any disease caused by exposure to a biological agent

Keep in close contact with HR or whoever handles occupational health. Diagnoses often reach the business through sickness records, not through site.

Dangerous Occurrences

Dangerous occurrences are serious near misses. Nobody was necessarily hurt, but someone could easily have been. Examples relevant to construction include:

• The collapse, overturning or failure of load-bearing parts of lifts and lifting equipment, such as a crane or MEWP
• Plant or equipment coming into contact with overhead power lines
• Explosions or fires that stop work for more than 24 hours
• The collapse of a scaffold more than 5 metres high

A separate category covers gas incidents. Distributors, fillers, importers and suppliers of flammable gas must report deaths, loss of consciousness or hospital treatment linked to their gas. Gas Safe registered engineers must report gas appliances or fittings they consider dangerous.

How and When to Report

• Deaths and specified injuries: report without delay, and within 10 days.
• Over-7-day injuries: report within 15 days of the accident.
• Occupational diseases: report as soon as you receive a doctor’s written diagnosis.
• Dangerous occurrences: report without delay, and within 10 days.

Most reports are made online through the HSE or HSENI website. A telephone service is available for fatal and specified injuries only. Once you have submitted a report, keep a copy and the acknowledgement from the regulator.

Every record should include:

• The date, time and location of the incident
• The name, job title and other personal details of those involved
• A description of the injury, illness or occurrence
• The date the RIDDOR report was submitted

Store these records securely in an accident book, a file or a software system for at least three years. Update them if new information comes to light. If a compensation claim follows, the insurer will ask to see them.

Why This Matters for Your CSCS Card and Site Career

On a busy site, the first person to deal with an incident is often a gold card supervisor or a black card manager. If you are working towards either card, or studying for the SSSTS course, you need to know RIDDOR well enough to act on it without looking it up. Green Labourer and blue Skilled Worker card holders should still understand the basics. You are often the one who reports an incident upwards, and your account goes into the record.

RIDDOR is also a regular topic in the CITB HS&E test. Our guide on how to pass the CSCS test explains how to structure your revision around topics like this.

How CSCS Mastery Fits Into This

RIDDOR knowledge is essential for anyone supervising or managing work on site. The SiteSafetyPlus app is built for that. Visit our site safety page for over 900 SSSTS and SMSTS practice questions, each with a detailed explanation of why the answer is correct. Full mock tests show you exactly where your gaps are.

The app also includes practical site tools: a RIDDOR reporting helper, an F10 notification checker, a risk-matrix builder and a permit-to-work tool. You can use them for revision or on the job when an incident happens.