Accident Report Form Template (UK)

Recording accidents is both a legal duty and plain good sense. An accident report form captures what happened while it is fresh, supports any RIDDOR report you have to make, and gives you the pattern of incidents that tells you where to act before someone is hurt more seriously.

The duty to record

Businesses with ten or more employees must keep an accident book under social security law, and in practice every employer should record work accidents. Keeping records is also part of managing health and safety under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. Since accident books hold personal data, entries must be kept so that one person cannot read another's details, in line with data protection law.

What to record

1. Who was involved and who filled in the form.
2. The date, time and exact place.
3. What happened and what injury resulted.
4. What the person was doing and what went wrong.
5. Any witnesses and immediate action taken.

When RIDDOR applies

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013, RIDDOR, require certain more serious events to be reported to the HSE: deaths, specified injuries such as fractures other than to fingers and toes, injuries that keep a worker off their normal work for more than seven days, certain occupational diseases, and dangerous occurrences. Your internal accident form feeds the information you need to decide whether a RIDDOR report is due and to make it.

Use the record

Do not just file the forms. Reviewing them shows up recurring hazards, a particular task or area producing injuries, so you can improve the risk assessment before a minor cut becomes a major one.

Get the template

Our accident report form template, included in membership, gives you a clear form to capture each incident and support your accident book and any RIDDOR report.