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Accidents and near misses

How to record, investigate and report accidents and near misses

It is important to be prepared for accidents and near misses in your organisation and to make sure your employees know what to do if one unfortunately does take place.

There are three key stages that you need to be aware of and plan for. Use the links below to find information on each of these steps. 

  1. Recording accidents and near misses
  2. Investigating accidents and near misses
  3. Reporting accidents and near misses

3. Reporting accidents and near misses

It is important that all staff, contractors and workers know how to report an incident and to whom.  The person receiving a report should also know what is expected of them.  

You may use a form for this, or advertise another route in your workplace, for example an internal phone number to a person who will record the details and pass them on for analysis and investigation.

You do not always need to report accidents or near misses to the health and safety authorities. Cases when you do are covered by the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR).

Types of reportable incidents and examples

You can find information on types of reportable incidents on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) site. They also have examples of reportable incidents . 

​Who should submit a report?

A RIDDOR report has to be submitted by the designated responsible person in your organisation. This can be

  • employers
  • the self-employed
  • people in control of work premises.

How to submit a report

In most cases a RIDDOR report should be submitting using ​an online form.

If someone has been killed or if specified and major incidents have occurred then the HSE's Incident Contact Centre can be called via telephone.​

Visit the HSE site ​​for details of how to ​make a RIDDOR report​​