Consultation on proposals for The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013

‘Duty holder’ is a broad term that describes any person or organisation with legal duties under health and safety law.

• It is not limited to a specific role — it could be an employer, contractor, self-employed person, or anyone who has control over work activities, premises, or equipment
• The main principle is it is the person/persons who has the legal duty to manage risk and ensure safety

An ‘employer’ is a duty holder with specific responsibilities toward their employees and others affected by their work.

• Their legal duties in relation to health and safety are mainly under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA) and supporting regulations
• They must provide a safe working environment, proper training, safe systems of work, and adequate supervision

A ‘responsible person’ means the person identified in accordance with regulation 3 of RIDDOR.

Responsible people will be:

• employers (in relation to workers)
• some self-employed people
• those in control of work premises when a reportable work-related accident or incident has occurred

‘Work-related accident or incident’ means an accident or incident arising out of or in connection with work. An accident taking place at work premises does not, in itself, mean that it is work-related – the work activity itself must cause the accident.

An accident is work-related if any of the following played a role:

• how the work was carried out, including how the work was organised, supervised or performed by a duty holder or any of their employees, or by a self-employed person
• any machinery, plant, substances or equipment used in connection with the workplace or work processes carried out there
• the condition of the workplace where the accident happened, including:
  • the state of the structure or fabric of a building or outside area forming part of the workplace
  • the state and design of floors, paving, stairs, lighting, etc.

An incident can include an undesired outcome, a ‘near miss’ or an event that, while not causing harm, has the potential to cause injury or ill health.

RIDDOR reports should only be submitted by the responsible person.

For each type of reportable accident or incident, the ‘reporting procedure’ details how the responsible person must notify the relevant enforcing authority. The enforcing authority may be HSE, but it can be another regulator such as the Office for Rail and Road (ORR) or the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).

The reporting procedure is listed, in relation to:

1. an injury, death or dangerous occurrence (except at a mine or quarry), the procedure described in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 1
2. an occupational disease or a disease offshore, the procedure described in paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 1
3. exposure to a carcinogen, mutagen or biological agent, the procedure described in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 1
4. an injury, death or dangerous occurrence at a mine or quarry, the procedure described in paragraph 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 1

HSE tries to make its consultation procedure as thorough and open as possible. Information provided in response to this consultation may be subject to publication or disclosure in accordance with the access to information regimes (these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR)). Statutory Codes of Practice under the FOIA and EIR also deal with confidentiality obligations, among other things.

If you would like us to treat any of the information you provide as confidential, please make this clear in your response. If we receive a request under FOIA or EIR for the information you have provided, we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances.

Any automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will be disregarded for these purposes. Requests for confidentiality should be made explicit within the body of the response.

HSE will process all personal data in accordance with the GDPR. This means that personal data will not normally be disclosed to third parties and any such disclosures will only be made in accordance with the Regulations. 

• HSE’s Privacy Policy Statement

If you have any complaints about the consultation process (as opposed to comments about the proposals which are the subject of the consultation) please send an email outlining your concern to RIDDORconsultation2026@hse.gov.uk. HSE aims to reply to all complaints within 10 working days.