A worker has received first aid and the accident form has been signed. That does not mean the incident has been dealt with. The record captures the first facts; the employer must still make the area safe, investigate what happened, decide whether a statutory report or other notification is needed, protect the person's information and complete actions that reduce the chance of recurrence.
When an accident book is required
HSE's current guidance says employers with more than 10 employees must keep an accident book under social security law. Mines, quarries and factories are also covered by premises-specific requirements. An employer does not have to buy HSE's published book: it may use another paper or electronic system, provided the record contains the required information and personal details are stored securely and confidentially.
Smaller employers should not treat the headcount threshold as permission to keep no evidence. RIDDOR has separate record-keeping rules, and a clear internal record supports investigation, risk-assessment review, absence management, insurance notification and trend analysis. Use a proportionate system even where the prescribed accident-book duty does not apply.
HSE: basic accident records ↗ · Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979 ↗
Record the facts promptly
The initial entry should identify the injured person, their occupation or status, and the person making the record. Include the date, time and place; a brief factual description of what happened; the injury or apparent condition; and any immediate treatment or action. Capture witness names and preserve relevant photographs, equipment information, permits or CCTV in a controlled investigation file where proportionate.
Write what is known, not what somebody assumes. Phrases such as 'careless employee' or premature conclusions about fault can distort the investigation. If information later proves wrong, correct it transparently rather than silently rewriting the original account. Managers should know who receives a report, who checks that the entry is complete and who takes control when the incident may be serious.
The accident book is not the investigation
First, provide suitable first aid, control continuing danger and preserve the scene where that is safe and proportionate. Then investigate beyond the immediate act. Ask what task was planned, what actually happened, whether the risk assessment matched the work, and whether equipment, maintenance, workload, training, supervision, layout or communication contributed.
The Social Security regulations require employers to take reasonable steps to investigate the circumstances of notified accidents for benefit purposes and record any discrepancy between the notification and the findings. Wider health and safety duties also make learning essential: review the relevant risk assessment, decide whether existing controls remain suitable and record each corrective action with an owner, deadline and closure evidence.
A minor outcome can expose a high-consequence failure. Escalate promptly where the event could reasonably have caused serious harm, involves vulnerable people, suggests a guarding or structural failure, or may require specialist, insurer or legal input. The depth of investigation should reflect potential severity as well as the injury that happened this time.
An accident-book entry is not a RIDDOR report
Screen every work-related incident separately against the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. RIDDOR covers specified injuries, occupational diseases, dangerous occurrences, certain gas incidents and injuries to people not at work in defined circumstances. An over-seven-day worker injury may be reportable; the day of the accident is excluded when counting incapacity.
There is also a record-only threshold. A work-related injury that incapacitates a worker from their normal duties for more than three consecutive days must be recorded even when it does not cross the over-seven-day reporting threshold. A local book entry does not send anything to HSE, and HSE says a RIDDOR submission is not passed to the employer's insurer. Make each required notification through the correct route.
Related guide: RIDDOR reporting tests → · HSE: RIDDOR records ↗
Turn accident findings into clear, owned controls.
HR + SAFETY can help North East SMEs investigate proportionately, review risk controls and track actions through to closure.
Discuss accident-investigation supportKeep injury information confidential
An injury record contains health information, which UK data-protection law treats as special-category personal data. Identify a lawful basis and the relevant special-category condition, tell workers how the data is used, collect only what is necessary and restrict access to people with a genuine role. Do not leave a bound book open where colleagues can read earlier entries.
HSE's BI510 accident book uses removable forms so completed records can be stored separately; a digital alternative needs equivalent access controls. Keep clinical detail out of general action trackers unless it is genuinely necessary. Managers can usually be told what control must change without receiving an employee's full medical information.
RIDDOR records must be kept for at least three years from the date the record is made. Do not turn that into an automatic deletion rule for every accident document. Set and document retention periods for other records according to the legal purpose, potential claims, insurance requirements and business need, then securely delete information that is no longer required.
ICO: workers' health information ↗ · Related guide: employee record retention →
Use the records to spot patterns
Review records by task, location, equipment, shift and immediate cause. Near misses should have their own simple reporting route and should be analysed alongside injuries. Look for repeated manual-handling strains, slips near the same entrance, first-aid cases on one machine or delays in closing actions—not just a headline accident rate.
For a North East business with several workshops, offices or customer sites, use the same core fields and escalation rules across locations. Compare like with like and involve workers in deciding why patterns exist. The purpose is prevention, not a league table that encourages under-reporting.
Employer accident-record checklist
Legal duties and official guidance were checked on 8 October 2026. The correct response depends on the facts, so confirm current regulator guidance when deciding whether an event is reportable.
- Provide first aid, control immediate danger and preserve relevant evidence.
- Record the date, time, place, people involved, injury and factual circumstances promptly.
- Keep assumptions, blame and unnecessary medical detail out of the initial entry.
- Appoint an investigator and scale the investigation to actual and potential harm.
- Check the risk assessment, safe system, equipment, competence and supervision.
- Screen the incident separately against current RIDDOR reporting and recording tests.
- Notify the insurer or another body separately where policy or sector rules require it.
- Restrict access to injury information and store completed records securely.
- Give each corrective action an owner, deadline and evidence of closure.
- Review trends and share preventive learning without identifying people unnecessarily.
A useful accident record starts a control process: capture reliable facts, protect the person, investigate causes, make the right notifications and close actions that prevent a repeat.
This guide provides general information for UK employers. It is not legal advice and should not replace advice based on the facts of a specific matter.