How to report an injury at work: accident books and RIDDOR

Hurt at work? Get treated, tell your manager today and keep your own dated record. You have the right to report what happened, even if the shift is still going and the injury seems minor. An accident-book entry is not a report to HSE. The first move is simple: send the facts in writing and keep a copy.

What to do first if you are hurt

Tell your manager, foreman or the person named in your workplace procedure today. Under regulation 24 of the Social Security claims regulations, an employed earner must give notice of a personal injury accident as soon as practicable. Oral or written notice is valid. A prompt accident-book entry counts as that notice. If you are exhausted after a shift, send a short email now; you can add details later.

Write down the date, time and place, what you were doing, how you were hurt and who saw it. Describe what you know, rather than guessing at a diagnosis. Keep relevant photographs and ask your employer to preserve any CCTV before it is overwritten. In a care home, kitchen, shop, warehouse, delivery run or hospital, note the task and equipment involved, too.

1. Get safe and get treated. Get first aid or medical help appropriate to the injury. Call 999 in an emergency. Tell the clinician it happened at work.
2. Send a dated account today. Tell your manager or the named contact. If you already spoke, follow up by email.
3. Check the accident record. Read your entry, ask for errors to be corrected and request a copy. Do not photograph other people’s personal details.
4. Save your evidence. Keep your email, photos, witness names, fit notes and any reply. Ask promptly for CCTV to be preserved.
5. Check pay and absence rules. Ask about Statutory Sick Pay, contractual sick or accident pay and medical evidence.
6. Track the RIDDOR clock. Tell your employer if you cannot do your normal duties, including after returning on light duties. Ask whether they have reported it and keep the reference. Serious-injury notification is without delay; the report deadline is 10 days. For over-7-day incapacity, it is 15 days from the accident.

The accident book: what it is and who must keep one

An accident book records injuries at work. Employers can use HSE’s approved BI 510 book or an appropriate equivalent recording system. Keep personal details confidential and retain the required records for at least three years.

In Great Britain, regulation 25 requires an approved means of recording accidents where 10 or more people are normally employed at the same time on the same premises. It also applies to employers who own or occupy a mine, quarry or factory. A smaller office does not automatically need a formal accident book, but its employer still has RIDDOR recording duties. Recording other injuries is good practice.

A useful entry identifies you and the person recording it, gives the date, time and place, and describes the accident and injury. Add witnesses and any later correction, such as a confirmed fracture. Ask for a copy of your own information, not access to everyone else’s records. If your workplace has no book or the entry is refused, your own dated email still creates a record.

RIDDOR explained: who reports to HSE, and who does not

RIDDOR means the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. These rules apply in England, Scotland and Wales. For an accident to qualify, it must arise out of or in connection with work. Being injured at your workplace is not, by itself, enough.

The reporting duty belongs to the “responsible person”, normally your employer. If you are self-employed and injured on someone else’s premises, the person in control of those premises normally reports. Agency and host businesses should agree their responsibilities in advance. That arrangement must reflect who has the legal duty, rather than leave each business assuming the other has filed.

As an injured employee, you do not submit a RIDDOR report. If your employer will not act, you can raise a safety concern with the regulator. That is a separate process and does not replace your employer’s report.

Which injuries and incidents must go to HSE

The table covers the main reporting rules in Great Britain. Serious injuries take priority over the absence thresholds. A reportable fracture still needs reporting if you return to work the next day.

Specified injuries

Regulation 4 lists eight categories of specified injury to a worker. For a work-related accident, these require notification without delay and a report within 10 days:

• A fracture other than to a finger, thumb or toe.
• An amputation.
• An injury likely to cause permanent loss of sight or a reduction in sight.
• A crush injury to the head or torso causing damage to the brain or internal organs.
• A burn or scald covering more than 10% of the body’s surface, or causing significant damage to the eyes, respiratory system or other vital organs.
• Scalping requiring hospital treatment.
• Loss of consciousness caused by a head injury or asphyxia.
• An injury arising from work in an enclosed space that causes hypothermia or heat-induced illness, or requires resuscitation or hospital admission for more than 24 hours.

The responsible person can submit the report online. HSE’s telephone service, 0345 300 9923, operates Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm, for fatal and specified injuries to workers only. Use the online route for other reports. Nuclear-site reporting goes to the Office for Nuclear Regulation.

Over-7-day injuries: the counting rule that catches people out

Exclude the day of the accident. Then count consecutive days when the injury stops you doing your normal duties, including weekends and rest days. You do not have to be completely absent. More than 7 consecutive days triggers a report, as soon as practicable and within 15 days of the accident. Exactly 7 days does not meet this threshold.

Diseases and dangerous occurrences

Regulation 8 covers six named conditions linked to specified work activities or exposures. They are carpal tunnel syndrome, hand or forearm cramp, occupational dermatitis, hand-arm vibration syndrome, occupational asthma, and tendonitis or tenosynovitis of the hand or forearm. A diagnosis alone is not enough unless the relevant work condition also applies.

Regulation 9 covers occupational cancers attributable to carcinogens or mutagens and diseases attributable to occupational exposure to biological agents. Offshore work has a separate disease list. The responsible person must report as soon as practicable after receiving the doctor’s diagnosis, which must be in writing for an employee. General back pain and work-related stress are not reportable diseases under these lists, but employers must still address the underlying health risks.

Dangerous occurrences are the events defined in Schedule 2. Examples include specified failures of lifting equipment, contact with overhead power lines and certain explosions or fires that suspend normal work for more than 24 hours. Nobody needs to be injured. But a spill, fire or machine fault is not automatically reportable. It must meet the relevant schedule entry.

Sick pay and time off after a work injury

RIDDOR does not create a separate right to “injury pay”. Check your contract for sick pay or an accident-pay scheme. Some employed people with lasting disablement may also qualify for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit. Ask a benefits adviser about your circumstances.

Since 6 April 2026, eligible employees receive SSP from their first full working day off sick, without the old three waiting days or a minimum earnings threshold. For 2026/27, the weekly amount is £123.25 or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, for up to 28 weeks. SSP covers qualifying days you would normally work, not every calendar day. Genuinely self-employed people do not qualify through their own business; agency workers may qualify.

Reporting the accident does not replace reporting your sickness absence. Follow your employer’s notification deadline, or tell them within 7 days if they have not set one. You normally need a fit note after more than 7 consecutive days off, including non-working days. Keep copies. If your employer disputes your SSP entitlement, GOV.UK explains the HMRC dispute route.

If your employer did not report

Ask your employer in writing whether they have assessed the incident and made any required report. Keep the reply. Your union or safety representative can help raise the concern. If a report has been missed, or a hazard remains, you can use the regulator’s concerns route. You do not need to wait for your employer’s permission.

Raise a health and safety concern with HSE, giving dates, the workplace address, a factual account and what your employer has done. HSE decides what action to take. Some workplaces are enforced by the local authority rather than HSE, so follow the guidance on which regulator handles your workplace. A RIDDOR breach can lead to enforcement and prosecution.

If reporting is followed by a warning, lost shifts or dismissal, keep those records and get advice promptly. Join or contact your workplace union: Unite, UNISON and GMB represent workers across many care, hospitality, retail, warehouse, delivery, cleaning and health workplaces. Acas explains protection from dismissal and detriment. If you may need an employment tribunal, contact Acas about early conciliation before a deadline expires. Citizens Advice and a local law centre can help you find advice if you are not in a union. Employees have protection for certain health and safety actions, including reporting an issue to an appropriate person. Workers also have protection from detriment in serious and imminent danger, and whistleblowing law may apply. Your status and what you raised matter. A grievance or HSE investigation does not stop a tribunal deadline. See our guides to whistleblowing protection and bringing a tribunal claim.

Scotland, Northern Ireland and non-standard work

Scotland uses the same RIDDOR duties, thresholds and HSE reporting routes as England and Wales. Civil compensation claims go through Scottish courts under Scottish limitation law.

Northern Ireland uses RIDDOR 1997, enforced by HSENI or district councils. Injuries preventing normal work for more than 3 consecutive days are reportable within 10 days on form NI2508. Exclude the accident day and include weekends and rest days. NI also uses a separate “major injury” list, not GB’s specified-injury list. For help, HSENI’s number is 0800 0320 121. Do not apply the GB table to an accident in Belfast or Derry.

For Northern Ireland sick pay, nidirect confirms payment from the first day off sick and links to GOV.UK’s SSP guidance. Employment protections and tribunal procedures still differ. Use the Northern Ireland guide for those rights.

Compensation: the three-year clock

A RIDDOR report is not a compensation claim and does not prove negligence. Nor does the absence of a report prevent a claim. If you believe an employer or another party caused your injury through negligence or breach of duty, seek advice from a personal-injury solicitor or your union.

In England and Wales, the usual limit for starting personal-injury proceedings is three years from the accident or a later legal date of knowledge. That later date can matter for an occupational disease, but it is not automatically the date you receive a diagnosis. Scotland also has a usual three-year limit with its own knowledge rules. Northern Ireland has separate limitation law. Ask a solicitor practising in the relevant jurisdiction to calculate your deadline.

Do not wait for the three-year anniversary to get advice. Keep medical records, your accident entry, fit notes, lost-pay evidence and correspondence about the hazard. Telling your employer or a solicitor about the injury is not the same as starting court proceedings.

Questions people ask

Do you report every work injury to HSE?

No. Tell your employer and keep an internal record. Only the responsible person submits a RIDDOR report when the legal criteria are met. As an injured employee, you can raise a safety concern separately.

Does a firm with six staff need an accident book?

A small GB office may not need a formal book. The statutory book requirement applies where 10 or more people are normally employed simultaneously on the same premises, and to mines, quarries and factories. RIDDOR recording duties still apply at smaller firms. Send your own written account and keep it.

Can concussion be reportable without a blackout?

Yes. In GB, an injury that prevents routine work for more than 7 consecutive days is reportable, even without a blackout. Another specified-injury category may also apply. Concussion is not automatically a specified injury just because it is diagnosed. Seek medical advice rather than waiting to see how many days you miss.

How long does your employer have to report?

For the main serious-incident categories in GB, notify without delay and report within 10 days. For over-7-day incapacity, report as soon as practicable and within 15 days of the accident. Over-3-day incapacity with no other trigger needs a record, not a report, in GB. In NI it is reportable within 10 days.

Can you be sacked for reporting an injury?

You may have protection under health and safety or whistleblowing law. The facts and your employment status matter. Keep evidence of what you reported and any response, then get advice from your union or Acas promptly. Do not assume a six-month deadline applies to events before 1 October 2026.

Does a hospital visit make an injury RIDDOR-reportable?

Not by itself if you were working. The worker tests include specified injuries and more than 7 days unable to do routine work. The separate non-worker rule concerns being taken directly from the accident scene to hospital for treatment, not simply attending for checks. A specified injury to a non-worker on hospital premises is also reportable.

Sources

1. Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013, legislation.gov.uk
2. RIDDOR regulation 4, non-fatal injuries to workers, legislation.gov.uk
3. RIDDOR regulation 12, records, legislation.gov.uk
4. When to report an incident, HSE
5. Who should report under RIDDOR?, HSE
6. How to report an incident, HSE
7. Reporting accidents and ill health, HSE
8. Non-fatal injuries at work in Great Britain 2024/25, HSE
9. Social Security claims regulations, regulation 24, accident notice, legislation.gov.uk
10. Social Security claims regulations, regulation 25, accident records, legislation.gov.uk
11. Statutory Sick Pay, full guide, GOV.UK
12. Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027, GOV.UK
13. Employment tribunal time limits, Department for Business and Trade
14. Accident reporting in Northern Ireland, HSENI
15. Sick pay rights, nidirect
16. Limitation Act 1980, section 11, legislation.gov.uk
17. Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, section 17, legislation.gov.uk
18. Head injury and concussion, NHS
19. Protection from dismissal and detriment, Acas