Industrial Accidents
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of injuries that occurred in the workplace were investigated by the Health and Safety Executive in the (a) 2022, (b) 2023 and (c) 2024 reporting year.
Answered by Sir Stephen Timms
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) puts duties on employers and other people in charge of work premises to report and keep records of all work-related fatalities, work related injuries, diagnosed cases of reportable occupational diseases, and certain 'dangerous occurrences' (incidents with the potential to cause harm).
The purpose of RIDDOR is to inform the relevant enforcing authority (Health and Safety Executive (HSE), local authorities or other enforcing authorities) that a work-related accident or event has happened to enable an appropriate regulatory response where required. This is to ensure businesses maintain compliance with their duties and responsibilities under health and safety law.
HSE does not investigate everything that is reported. When a RIDDOR report is received, each report is considered against HSE’s published Incident Selection Criteria to help determine what will be investigated. Consideration is also given to the seriousness of the incident and the level of risk, or potential risk, that exists along with any previous enforcement history of the duty holder.
The following data is for RIDDOR reports received by the HSE relating to work-related fatalities, work related injuries (workers and non-workers) and over-7-day absences.
Year | RIDDOR reports | Accidents investigated | % investigated |
2022/23 | 59,910 | 1,949 | 3% |
2023/24 | 61,846 | 1,956 | 3% |
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