Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

8.5 
Legal recording and reporting 
requirements
8.5.1 Accident 
book
Under the Social Security (Claims and Payments) 
Regulations 1979, regulation 25, employers must keep 
a record of accidents at premises where more than ten 
people are employed. Anyone injured at work is required 
to inform the employer and record information on the 
accident in an accident book, including a statement on 
how the accident happened.
The employer is required to investigate the cause and 
enter this in the accident book if they discover anything 
that differs from the entry made by the employee. The 
purpose of this record is to ensure that information is 
available if a claim is made for compensation.
The HSE has produced a new Accident Book BI 
510 in May 2003 with notes on these Regulations, and 
the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous 
Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) (see Figure 8.4) 
and now complies with the Data Protection Act 1998.

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Introduction to Health and Safety at Work
122
8.5.2 RIDDOR
RIDDOR requires employers, the self-employed and 
those in control of premises, to report certain more 
serious accidents and incidents to the HSE or other 
enforcing authority and to keep a record. There are no 
exemptions for small organizations. A full summary of 
the Regulations is given in Chapter 17. The reporting 
and recording requirements are as follows:
Death or major injury
If an accident occurs at work and:
➤
an employee, or self-employed person working on 
the premise is killed or suffers a major injury (includ-
ing the effects of physical violence) (see Chapter 17 
under RIDDOR for defi nition of major injury)
➤
a member of the public is killed or taken to hospital.
The responsible person must notify the enforcing author-
ity without delay by the quickest practicable means, for 
example, telephone. They will need to give brief details 
about the organization, the injured person(s) and the 
circumstances of the accident and, within ten days, the 
responsible person must also send a completed acci-
dent report form, F2508.