The Importance of RIDDOR Records

Maintaining records of incidents covered by RIDDOR is crucial for effective health and safety management. These records help you manage risks, develop solutions to potential hazards, and prevent injuries and ill health, ultimately controlling costs associated with accidental loss.

Why Keep RIDDOR Records?

Records serve as a valuable management tool, providing crucial information for:

• Risk Assessment: Use the data to assess and mitigate health and safety risks.
• Injury Prevention: Develop strategies to prevent future incidents.
• Cost Control: Manage and reduce costs related to accidents and ill health.

What Must Be Recorded?

You are required to keep a record of:

• Accidents, Occupational Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences: Any incident that requires reporting under RIDDOR.
• Injuries Resulting in Absence: Any occupational accident causing injuries that result in a worker being absent from work or incapacitated for more than three consecutive days (excluding the day of the accident but including weekends or rest days).

Note: You are not required to report injuries leading to absence of over three days unless the period of incapacitation exceeds seven days.

Record-Keeping Requirements

If you are an employer who maintains an accident book, the records kept in this book will suffice for RIDDOR purposes. However, you must produce RIDDOR records when requested by:

• HSE (Health and Safety Executive)
• Local Authority Inspectors
• ORR (Office of Rail and Road) Inspectors

Ensuring that you keep accurate and comprehensive records is essential for compliance and for the effective management of health and safety risks in the workplace.