LCM Tool · RIDDOR checker
Is it reportable under RIDDOR?
Answer a few questions about the incident. The checker tells you whether it must be reported to HSE, who has to report it, the deadline and where to report it.
Injuries and deathsDangerous occurrencesOccupational diseasesDeadline calculator
Based on the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 and HSE guidance, checked October 2026. Covers Great Britain; in Northern Ireland, report to HSENI. HSE consulted on changes to RIDDOR between April and June 2026, and the current rules still apply. This checker is a guide, not legal advice. See HSE's RIDDOR guidance.
RIDDOR does not make every construction accident reportable. The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 cover defined work-related deaths, injuries, occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences, with different tests depending on who was injured and what happened.
On site, the difficult cases are often surprisingly ordinary: a broken finger, a worker who is still on light duties after a week, a scaffold collapse where nobody is hurt, or a self-employed subcontractor injured on a Principal Contractor's site. The answer depends on the RIDDOR category, not simply on how serious the incident looked at the time.
The accident or event must also arise out of or in connection with work. HSE's RIDDOR guidance on reportable incidents separates worker injuries, non-worker injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences, while the Regulations place the reporting duty on the "responsible person".
Is it reportable? Common construction examples
| Site incident | RIDDOR? | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Worker breaks a finger and returns to normal duties | Normally no | Finger, thumb and toe fractures are excluded from the specified-fracture category |
| Broken finger prevents normal work for nine consecutive days | Yes | It can qualify under the over-seven-day rule even though the fracture itself is excluded |
| Doctor confirms a broken wrist or ankle after a work accident | Yes | A fracture other than to a finger, thumb or toe is a specified injury |
| Worker cannot perform normal duties for exactly seven days | No under the over-seven-day rule | The test is more than seven consecutive days |
| Worker cannot perform normal duties for eight consecutive days | Yes | Over-seven-day incapacitation is reportable |
| Substantial part of a scaffold more than 5 m high collapses, nobody injured | Yes | Specified dangerous occurrence |
| Falsework partially collapses, nobody injured | Yes | Unintentional collapse or partial collapse of falsework is reportable |
| Crane overturns without causing an injury | Yes | Collapse or overturning of lifting equipment is a dangerous occurrence |
| Member of the public is injured by construction work and taken directly to hospital for treatment | Yes | The non-worker hospital-treatment test applies |
Which injuries to construction workers are reportable?
A work-related accident causing a specified injury to a worker is reportable. HSE's specified-injury guidance includes fractures other than fingers, thumbs and toes; amputations; permanent loss or reduction of sight; certain crush injuries to the head or torso; serious burns; scalping requiring hospital treatment; loss of consciousness caused by head injury or asphyxia; and defined injuries arising from work in an enclosed space.
For fractures, HSE includes a break, crack or chip confirmed or diagnosed by a doctor. A fracture can also be reportable where a doctor considers that a fracture is likely even if an X-ray was not taken. A worker's own suspected diagnosis is not enough.
Finger, thumb and toe fractures cause frequent confusion. The fracture itself is excluded from the specified-injury list. If that injury then prevents the worker from carrying out normal work for more than seven consecutive days, it becomes reportable under the separate incapacity rule.
How the RIDDOR seven-day rule works
The threshold is more than seven consecutive days during which the injured worker is away from work or unable to perform their normal duties because of the accident. The day of the accident is not counted. Weekends, rest days and days when the person would not ordinarily have worked are counted if the injury would still have prevented normal duties.
This means modified duties count. A carpenter who returns to site but cannot carry out their normal job because of the injury may still be incapacitated for RIDDOR purposes. Being physically present at work does not by itself stop the clock.
An over-seven-day injury must be reported within 15 days of the accident. An injury causing more than three consecutive days of incapacity still needs to be recorded, but an over-three-day case on its own is not a RIDDOR report.
Construction dangerous occurrences can be reportable without an injury
RIDDOR also captures defined high-potential events where nobody is injured. This is particularly relevant to construction because Schedule 2 includes failures involving lifting equipment, scaffolding, structural collapse and falsework.
HSE's dangerous-occurrence guidance requires reporting of the collapse or overturning of lifting equipment, or failure of a load-bearing part. The rule includes cranes and equipment such as bored piling and percussion piling rigs.
Scaffolding has its own threshold. The complete or partial collapse of a substantial part of a scaffold more than 5 m high is reportable. Failure of supporting parts of a slung or suspended scaffold is also covered where it causes a working platform to fall, as is a scaffold failure creating a significant drowning risk.
Structural collapse rules include an unintentional collapse or partial collapse during construction, maintenance or demolition where more than 5 tonnes of material falls, or where any floor or wall of a workplace collapses. An unintentional collapse or partial collapse of falsework is also reportable. HSE gives the example of timber falsework failing during construction of a concrete wall: it is reportable even when nobody is injured.
Unintentional contact between plant or equipment and an uninsulated overhead electric line above 200 volts is another listed dangerous occurrence. A discharge caused by close proximity can also trigger the requirement.
These examples connect directly with the collapse, lifting, electrical and temporary works risks mapped in LCM's UK Construction Hazard Register. RIDDOR deals with what must be reported after a qualifying event; the underlying duty remains to control the hazard before the event occurs.
Who makes the RIDDOR report on a construction site?
RIDDOR assigns the duty to the responsible person. For an employee, that will normally be the employer. For certain events involving self-employed workers, members of the public or dangerous occurrences, responsibility can sit with the person in control of the premises.
Construction has an important example. HSE says that where a self-employed subcontractor suffers an over-seven-day injury on a construction site, the person in control of the site is responsible for reporting. In many cases that will be the Principal Contractor. If the self-employed person controls the site themselves, they report their own qualifying accident.
A site manager, health and safety adviser or administrator may be involved in gathering information, but the legal reporting duty follows the responsible-person rules. HSE's reporting guidance says injured employees and members of the public should not submit a RIDDOR report simply because they were involved in the incident.
What about members of the public?
A non-worker injured by a work-related accident must be reported where they are taken directly from the scene to hospital for treatment of that injury. This can apply, for example, where construction work causes an injury to a pedestrian outside the site boundary.
HSE distinguishes treatment from examination. An X-ray or diagnostic examination alone is not treatment. A dressing, stitches, plaster cast or surgery is treatment. A precautionary hospital visit where no injury is apparent does not satisfy the test.
Occupational diseases are also covered
RIDDOR is not limited to accidents. Employers and self-employed people must report certain diagnosed occupational diseases where the required link to work exposure exists. Construction-relevant examples include hand-arm vibration syndrome, occupational dermatitis, occupational asthma and some cases of carpal tunnel syndrome or tendonitis.
The disease must meet the conditions specified by RIDDOR and be diagnosed by a doctor. HSE's occupational disease guidance sets out the disease and associated work-hazard combinations.
RIDDOR reporting deadlines
| Reportable event | When to report |
|---|---|
| Death | Notify without delay; report must be received within 10 days |
| Specified injury to a worker | Notify without delay; report must be received within 10 days |
| Reportable injury to a non-worker | Notify without delay; report must be received within 10 days |
| Dangerous occurrence | Notify without delay; report must be received within 10 days |
| Over-seven-day worker injury | Within 15 days of the accident |
| Reportable occupational disease | Without delay after the responsible person receives the diagnosis |
HSE says most reports should be made online. Its RIDDOR reporting service has separate forms for injuries, dangerous occurrences, occupational diseases and gas incidents. Fatal accidents and specified worker injuries can also be reported by telephone to the Incident Contact Centre.
Frequently asked questions
Is a broken finger reportable under RIDDOR?
A broken finger, thumb or toe is excluded from the specified-fracture category. It can still become reportable if the work-related injury prevents the worker from carrying out normal duties for more than seven consecutive days.
A broken finger, thumb or toe is excluded from the specified-fracture category. It can still become reportable if the work-related injury prevents the worker from carrying out normal duties for more than seven consecutive days.
Do weekends count towards the seven-day RIDDOR rule?
Yes. The day of the accident is excluded, but weekends, rest days and other days when the person would not normally have worked are included where the injury continued to prevent normal duties.
Yes. The day of the accident is excluded, but weekends, rest days and other days when the person would not normally have worked are included where the injury continued to prevent normal duties.
Does an accident have to injure somebody before RIDDOR applies?
No. Defined dangerous occurrences are reportable because of their potential for serious harm. Construction examples include qualifying scaffold collapses, falsework collapse and the collapse or overturning of lifting equipment.
No. Defined dangerous occurrences are reportable because of their potential for serious harm. Construction examples include qualifying scaffold collapses, falsework collapse and the collapse or overturning of lifting equipment.
Does the Principal Contractor report every construction accident?
No. An employer normally reports qualifying incidents involving its employees. The person in control of a construction site may be responsible for qualifying incidents involving self-employed people and for dangerous occurrences; HSE says this will often be the Principal Contractor on a multi-contractor site.
No. An employer normally reports qualifying incidents involving its employees. The person in control of a construction site may be responsible for qualifying incidents involving self-employed people and for dangerous occurrences; HSE says this will often be the Principal Contractor on a multi-contractor site.
LCM's analysis of recent HSE construction accidents and its review of 2026 construction prosecutions examine the incident patterns behind the reporting rules. RIDDOR then determines which qualifying events the responsible person must formally notify to the enforcing authority.
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