Workplace health and safety legislation and training materials regularly reference RIDDOR, but what does this actually mean? The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) is a piece of legislation that enforces organisations to report workplace accidents, occupational diseases and specified dangerous occurrences.
RIDDOR states that employers, self-employed individuals or the designated “Responsible Person” must report workplace accidents and similar incidents to comply with law. Organisations must ensure their employees have full understanding of their obligations under RIDDOR and we’re exploring it in more depth here.
Understanding RIDDOR Reporting
Recording and reporting incidents of accident or injury in the workplace is not optional. It is a legal requirement. Therefore, reports must be thorough and informative. RIDDOR reports inform enforcing authorities about any incidents on your business premises. This helps these authorities make decisions about future risk management and whether further investigation is necessary.
Employers routinely keep an accident book or utilise online accident reporting software. This is a reliable way of documenting reports in line with RIDDOR. However, it is important to remember you need separate documentation and reporting for work-related diseases.
What needs reporting under RIDDOR?
Incidents you must report to comply with RIDDOR vary significantly. There are also industry guidelines to keep in mind, but incidents generally fall into one of the following categories:
- Deaths and injuries caused by accidents at work
- Occupational diseases
- Specified injuries to workers
- Biological agents including mutagens and carcinogens
- Gas incidents
- Dangerous occurrences
A Word about Dangerous Occurrences
Dangerous occurrences may seem quite ambiguous. However, it simply refers to any event considered a near-miss. The HSE website lists all incidents that must be reported as dangerous occurrences. It is quite an extensive list that all employers and business owners should become familiar with.
RIDDOR Record Keeping
To comply with RIDDOR, record books and reports must be kept for at least three years after the date of the last recorded incident. Many businesses opt to keep them for a minimum of six years as this is the limitation on civil litigation. It is important to remember that GDPR does not allow for unnecessary data to be held so you must be careful with your accident record keeping.
Workplace Safety Training
At VideoTile we provide our distributors with factually accurate and regularly updated e-learning content. Our video content provides distributors with the materials they need to provide quality training to their own client base.
Our workplace training and health and safety courses cover RIDDOR and accident reporting. This ensures our clients can then give their customers peace of mind relating to this aspect of workplace health and safety legislation.
Explore our health and safety courses here.
