How I Use the Accident Reporting Template with Customers in Pilla
Accident reporting is the policy that sits untouched until something goes wrong, and then everyone scrambles. I've walked into businesses after a serious incident and found accident books stuffed in a drawer, half-completed, with no one sure whether they needed to notify the HSE or just write it down. One site I visited had a fractured wrist that went unreported for six weeks because the manager thought RIDDOR only covered fatalities.
The gap is rarely ignorance of the law. It's the gap between knowing the regulations exist and knowing what to do at 2pm on a Thursday when someone falls off a stepladder. That's what this article is for. I'll walk you through what RIDDOR actually requires, give you a ready-made template you can edit for your own operation, and explain the bits that matter most when an HSE inspector asks to see your records.
Key Takeaways
- What is accident reporting in health and safety? Accident reporting is the legal duty to record workplace injuries, diseases, and dangerous occurrences internally and, where they meet specific thresholds, report them to the HSE under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR)
- Why do you need an accident reporting policy? RIDDOR 2013 and the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 require employers to report certain incidents and keep records. Failing to report is a criminal offence, and an HSE inspector will check your accident records during any visit
- How do you set it up in Pilla? Use the knowledge hub template below, edit it to match your operation, and share it with your team through the app so everyone has access and you can track who's read it
- How do you automate the follow-up? Set up Poppi to chase staff who haven't acknowledged the policy and flag when it's due for review
Article Content
Understanding What's Required of You
Accident reporting sits under two pieces of legislation. The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 places a general duty on employers to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of employees and anyone affected by their work. The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) sets out exactly which incidents must be reported to the enforcing authority, how, and when.
Not every workplace accident needs to go to the HSE. But every accident needs to be recorded internally. The distinction between recording and reporting trips up more businesses than any other part of this topic. Recording means writing it down in your accident book or system. Reporting means submitting a formal notification to the Incident Contact Centre through the HSE website. Some incidents require both. Some only require a record.
The events that trigger a RIDDOR report fall into clear categories: deaths arising from work, specified injuries (fractures other than fingers, thumbs and toes, amputations, crush injuries to the head or torso, serious burns covering more than 10% of the body, loss of consciousness, and several others), over-7-day injuries where a worker can't do their normal duties for more than seven consecutive days after the accident, injuries to non-workers who are taken to hospital from your premises, dangerous occurrences, occupational diseases, and gas incidents. Deaths, specified injuries, and dangerous occurrences must be reported without delay. Over-7-day injuries must be reported within 15 days of the accident.
I've seen the over-7-day rule cause the most problems in practice. Someone hurts their back on a Monday, takes a couple of days off, comes back briefly, then goes off again. Nobody is counting the days. By the time the manager realises the absence has crossed seven consecutive days, the 15-day reporting window is closing or already shut. An HSE inspector will look at your records and your absence data side by side. If the dates don't match, that's a question you don't want to answer.
The other area that catches people out is injuries to non-workers. If a member of the public is hurt because of your work activities and is taken to hospital from your premises for treatment, that's reportable. If they go home and visit A&E later on their own, it's not. The distinction matters, and your team needs to know it.
Setting It Up as a Knowledge Hub Entry
I've built an accident reporting template in Pilla covering RIDDOR reportable events, reporting responsibilities, the investigation process, and record-keeping requirements. It gives you a structured starting point, but you need to edit it to reflect how your organisation actually handles incidents.
In the knowledge hub, create a new entry and tag it with "Health and Safety System". Use the same tag across all of your health and safety policies so they are grouped together and Poppi can track them as a set. Assign the entry to all teams so that everyone in the business can access it.
The template is designed to be edited, not just filed. Read through every section. Where it says "Responsible Persons", replace it with the actual names or roles in your business. Where it references the house responsibility chart, make sure that chart exists and is up to date. If your operation has specific dangerous occurrences that are more likely than others, call them out. The HSE wants to see that your policy reflects your operation, not that you've downloaded a generic document and stuck it in a folder.
3. Accident Reporting – Reporting any Injury, Disease or Dangerous Occurrence
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013
In the event of an injury, disease or dangerous occurrence, the *Responsible Persons will notify the Incident Contact Centre.
Upon receiving a detailed appraisal of the incident, the *Responsible Persons (consulting where appropriate with Foursquare Group) shall be responsible for:
❖ Reporting online www.hse.gov.uk the details to the enforcing authority, a copy of which will be sent to you for your records.
Every serious incident will be notified to senior management and thoroughly investigated in order to identify the cause of the incident and to plan and implement measures to prevent recurrence.
Events, which are reportable
The death of any person as a result of an accident arising out of or in connection with work – including the death of an employee, if this occurs sometime after the reportable injury, which led to that employee's death (but not more than one year afterwards).
Any of the following specified injuries to a person at work as a result of an accident arising out of or in connection with work:
a) fractures, other than to fingers, thumbs and toes.
b) amputations
c) any injury likely to lead to permanent loss of sight or reduction in sight
d) any crush injury to the head or torso causing damage to the brain or internal organs
e) serious burns (including scalding) which: - covers more than 10% of the body - causes significant damage to the eyes, respiratory system or other vital organs
f) any scalping requiring hospital treatment
g) any loss of consciousness caused by head injury or asphyxia & any other injury arising from working in an enclosed space which: - leads to hypothermia or heat-induced illness - requires resuscitation or admittance for more than 24 hours
Incapacitation of a person at work (i.e., an employee, a self-employed person or a person receiving training for employment) from his or her normal work for more than 7 days as a result of an injury (an 'over 7 day' injury) caused by an accident at work – to be reported on the appropriate online form. The 7 day does not count the day on which the accident happened and employers and others with responsibilities under RIDDOR must still keep a record of all-over three-day injuries. The deadline by which all over seven-day injuries must be reported is 15 days from the day of the accident. Accidents must be recorded, but not reported where they result in a worker being incapacitated for more than three consecutive days. If you are an employer, who must keep an accident book under the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979, that record will be enough.
Any injury to a person not at work, e.g., public, resulting from an accident arising out of or in connection with work, which results in them being taken to hospital, from the accident premises, for treatment in respect of that injury.
Any dangerous occurrence as defined in the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations. (RIDDOR).
Any occupational disease as defined in the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations. (RIDDOR).
Any gas incident as defined in RIDDOR
NOTE: For the purposes of the Reporting of Injuries and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 at work.
The persons responsible for Reporting all Reportable accidents and Injuries Within the Workplace are identified on our house responsibility chart
*In the event of an accident in the workplace the person with ultimate responsibility for health & safety within Company Name will be informed.
A record must be made and kept of all reportable injuries and dangerous occurrences. The record must contain in each case:
1 The date and time of the accident-causing injury.
2 The following particulars about the person affected:
(a) Full Name.
(b) Occupation.
(c) Nature of injury or condition.
3 Place where the accident happened.
4 A brief description of the circumstances.
The nature of the record is not stipulated by "RIDDOR". It is left to the responsible person to use a form of record considered to be appropriate.
* Responsible persons for Accident Reporting – Reporting any Injury, Disease or Dangerous occurrence are identified on the House Responsibility Chart.
This is a preview of the template. In Pilla, you can edit this to match your business.
What I'd want to see when reviewing this:
The reporting chain is the most important part of this policy. I'd want to see that every member of staff knows exactly who to tell when an accident happens, and that those responsible persons know how to assess whether the incident is reportable under RIDDOR. The policy should name roles, not just say "the responsible person". If your site manager is the first point of contact, say so. If you have a deputy for when they're off, name that role too.
The record-keeping section needs to be specific. Every accident record should capture the date and time, the full name and occupation of the person affected, the nature of the injury, the location, and a description of what happened. I'd also want to see a clear statement that records are kept for a minimum of three years and stored securely.
Common mistakes I see:
The biggest one is no deputy arrangement. The responsible person goes on holiday, someone breaks an arm on site, and nobody knows whether to report it or how. I've seen this result in missed RIDDOR deadlines more than once. Your policy needs to name a backup, and that person needs to be trained.
The second is confusing recording with reporting. Staff fill in the accident book and assume the job is done. The accident book is an internal record. A RIDDOR report is a separate submission through the HSE website. Your policy needs to make this distinction clearly, and your training needs to reinforce it.
The third is incomplete records. Vague descriptions like "employee hurt hand" tell an HSE inspector nothing. The record should describe the circumstances: what the person was doing, what went wrong, and what injury resulted. If you can't reconstruct the incident from the record alone, it's not detailed enough.
Automate the Follow-Up with Poppi
Writing the policy is one thing. Making sure your team has actually read it is another. Poppi can handle the chasing so you don't have to.
If you mark the knowledge hub entry as mandatory, Poppi will track who's read it and who hasn't. You can set up automations to chase staff who are behind, notify managers when someone completes the policy, and get a regular report showing where the gaps are.
Here are three automations I'd set up for any knowledge hub policy:
Tom, you have 2 overdue policies to read and acknowledge
Overdue training reminders
Automatically chase team members who have mandatory policies they haven't read yet. Poppi sends the reminder so you don't have to.
Tom, you have 2 overdue policies to read and acknowledge
Emma has completed a mandatory policy
Video completion alerts
Get notified when a team member finishes reading or watching a policy, so you can track progress without chasing.
Emma has completed a mandatory policy
Training Report: 87% team completion. Tom and Sarah behind on 2 mandatory policies, due 3 days ago.
Training gap analysis
Get a regular AI report showing which team members are behind on mandatory policies and where the gaps are across your team.
Training Report: 87% team completion. Tom and Sarah behind on 2 mandatory policies, due 3 days ago.