Accident Book and RIDDOR: What Must Be Recorded

After a workplace accident, two recording duties may apply to your employer: the accident book entry under the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979, and — in defined cases — a RIDDOR report to the Health and Safety Executive. Both can become useful evidence if you later make a claim.

What Is the Accident Book?

The accident book is the workplace record of injuries sustained at work. Under UK health and safety law, employers with ten or more employees must keep an accident record (commonly the HSE's BI 510 accident book or a compliant equivalent). Smaller employers are still expected to record workplace accidents in some form.

Each entry typically captures the injured person's details, the date, time and location of the accident, what happened, the injuries sustained, and the name of the person making the entry.

How to Make Sure It's Recorded

• Report your accident to a manager or supervisor as soon as practical
• Ask for the accident book entry to be made the same day where possible
• Read the entry before signing — make sure it accurately reflects what happened
• Ask for a copy of the entry; you are entitled to one

How to Get a Copy of Your Entry

Put a written request to your employer — an email or letter identifying the accident and its date is enough. The entry contains your personal data, so you are entitled to it under UK GDPR. Keep a copy of the request and note when you sent it. If your employer ignores or refuses it, a solicitor can make a formal request, court disclosure orders are available if a claim is issued, and you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

What If You Were Not Able to Record It at the Time?

This does not necessarily prevent a claim. You can ask for a late entry to be made, and if symptoms get worse in the following days, ask for an updated or supplementary entry. Other evidence — medical records, photographs, witness accounts, CCTV, and messages you sent around the time — can still support your case.

What If Your Employer Refuses to Record It, or the Entry Is Wrong?

Write down what happened in your own words — the date, time, place, cause, your injuries, and any witnesses — and email it to your employer so there is a dated record that you reported it. Keep a copy. For serious incidents you can also raise a concern with the HSE. If the entry is inaccurate, tell your solicitor: it does not stop a claim, but the discrepancy needs to be dealt with using other evidence. A workplace with no accident book or no clear reporting procedure may itself be evidence of poor safety management.

What Is RIDDOR?

RIDDOR stands for the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. It places a duty on the responsible person — usually the employer — to report certain categories of work-related accident, occupational disease, and dangerous occurrence to the Health and Safety Executive.

Examples of RIDDOR-Reportable Incidents

• Death of any worker or member of the public arising from a work activity
• Specified injuries — including fractures (other than fingers, thumbs and toes), amputations, serious burns, and loss of consciousness from head injury or asphyxia
• Injuries to workers that result in incapacity for more than seven consecutive days
• Specified occupational diseases — including occupational dermatitis, occupational asthma, hand-arm vibration syndrome, and certain cancers linked to occupational exposure
• Defined dangerous occurrences — such as collapse of scaffolding or accidental release of harmful substances

RIDDOR Reporting Deadlines

• Deaths, specified injuries and dangerous occurrences: reported without delay, with the formal report within 10 days
• Over-seven-day injuries (not counting the day of the accident): reported within 15 days
• Over-three-day injuries: not reported to the HSE, but must be recorded by the employer

Employers must keep RIDDOR records for at least three years.

Who Reports It?

The duty to report under RIDDOR rests with the responsible person — typically the employer, the self-employed person, or the person in control of the premises. As an injured worker you do not have to make the RIDDOR report yourself.

Does Your Claim Depend on These Records?

No. A claim does not depend on whether the accident was entered in the accident book or reported under RIDDOR — many successful claims involve injuries below the RIDDOR threshold. However, both can be valuable evidence — particularly where liability is disputed — and a missing or inaccurate entry, or a failure to make a required RIDDOR report, can sometimes itself indicate a wider failing in the employer's safety management. You can ask your employer for a copy of any RIDDOR report, and your solicitor can request it formally.

Reporting an accident under RIDDOR is a regulatory notification, not an admission of fault: an employer can report an accident and still dispute liability.

Are You Protected If You Report an Accident?

Yes. Raising a health and safety concern, including reporting a workplace accident, is protected under section 100 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Dismissal for it is automatically unfair with no minimum service period. The same protection applies if you are pressured not to report, penalised for reporting, or discouraged from getting legal advice. If that happens, write it all down, keep it safe, and tell your solicitor — pressure not to report can itself strengthen a claim. See claiming against your employer.