What is RIDDOR? A Plain-English Guide for Care Providers
RIDDOR is the UK regulation that requires employers to report serious workplace injuries and incidents. Here's what every care provider needs to know.
RIDDOR stands for the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. It places a legal duty on UK employers, the self-employed and people in control of premises to report certain workplace incidents to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
What must be reported
Under RIDDOR, you must report:
- Work-related deaths.
- Specified injuries to workers (e.g. fractures, amputations, serious burns, loss of consciousness).
- Injuries that result in a worker being unable to perform their normal duties for more than 7 consecutive days.
- Certain occupational diseases, including some caused by repeated manual handling.
- Dangerous occurrences — "near misses" with the potential to cause significant harm.
Why it matters for care
Care environments see a high volume of manual handling incidents — back strains during transfers, slips on cluttered floors, finger and hand injuries around bed mechanisms. Many of these meet the 7-day incapacitation threshold and must therefore be reported.
The data submitted under RIDDOR is what powers HSE's annual statistics — including the 59,219 non-fatal employee injuries reported in 2024/25.
How to reduce your RIDDOR exposure
The most effective way to reduce reportable incidents is to design the hazard out in the first place. For care homes that typically means:
- Routine manual handling training with practical refreshers.
- Clear, uncluttered bed bays with cables managed and remotes stowed.
- Equipment audits — are profile beds, hoists and slings still in safe working order?
- A no-blame reporting culture so near misses surface before they become RIDDOR-reportable injuries.
Source: HSE, RIDDOR guidance; HSE annual statistics 2024/25.