11th September 2018
Changing your mind about a RIDDOR report?
The Scenario
Someone at work has suffered an accident at work and you have had to complete a RIDDOR report for the HSE. The problem is that after doing that, further information could come to light.
Are you able to change the contents after it’s been submitted? And if so, how do you go on about doing this?
RIDDOR Requirements
The Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) require employers and others who are in control of work premises, to report and keep records of various categories of serious accident, dangerous occurrence and occupational disease.
The categories can be quite complicated and therefore to find out whether a particular incident is reportable, it’s always best to check with one of our Health & Safety consultants using the advice line on 0845 459 1724.
There is no paper form available anymore and therefore RIDDOR reports need to submitted using an online form available from the HSE website. However, there is also a reporting phone line available to ‘’report fatal/specified and major injuries” affecting employees and the self-employed. The reason that the HSE has made this provision is that these reports must be submitted “without delay” so in practice making a phone call could be the only option. To verbally report these more serious incidents you can phone the Incident Contact Centre (ICC) on 0345 300 9923.
For all other incidents the reports need to be submitted to the HSE within 10 days. Or in the case of an over-seven-day incapacitation of a worker, you must notify the enforcing authority within 15 days of the incident.
Changed your mind?
So what do you do if you wish to withdraw a report completely? Well, there is actually no official mechanism available to do this. In such circumstances the best course of action is to submit an amended F2508 form, explaining in the incident description why you now believe that the report is not needed. Practical examples of this could be where an injury turned out to be far less serious than originally thought, or if you found out that the worker faked the accident.
A more common scenario is that you wish to add further details or make corrections. Given the tight timescales the HSE require reports to be submitted, it is quote common for clients to have to submit a RIDDOR report before having completed the full accident investigation. Where this situation occurs, make it clear in the section titled “What happened” that this is your initial report and that details are yet to be fully established.
Making Amendments
Once a report is submitted, either by phone or online, you’ll receive a PDF copy of the completed document by return e-mail. This has a unique “notification number” at the top left of page one.
As the PDF is not editable, you will need to resubmit a whole new form, repeating the content exactly as it was where the details are unchanged, and amending the other parts as needed. Make sure you insert a clear description highlighting “Amendment to Incident Notification Number XXXXX” before then continuing to describe the incident/additional information.
If the accident details you’re amending involve a “specified injury” as defined by RIDDOR, or a death, you have alternative option of phoning the ICC and they will amend your form for you. However, be aware you will not receive confirmation of any changes made. This could be quite inconvenient at a later date as your records will be inaccurate and you may well need this information for third parities such as insurers or loss adjusters etc. Therefore, it’s advisable to always stick with the online reporting method for amendments.
If you have any questions about RIDDOR reporting, or need assistance with reporting a recent incident, do not hesitate to contact our team on the Health & Safety advice line – 0845 4591724.
