An accident book is a legal requirement if ten or more people are normally employed at the same time on or about the same premises, or if you run a factory, mine or quarry. It must let an injured employee record who they are, when and where the accident happened and the injury. Entries must be kept for at least three years.
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Is an accident book a legal requirement?
For many employers, yes. The duty does not come from health and safety law. It comes from social security law: regulation 25 of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979, which exists so that an injured employee has a dated record to rely on if they later claim industrial injuries benefit.
The regulation applies to two groups of employer:
- every employer who has 10 or more people normally employed at the same time on or about the same premises
- every employer who owns or occupies a mine, a quarry or premises covered by the Factories Act 1961, whatever the headcount
If you are in either group you must keep "readily accessible" a means by which an employee, or someone acting for them, can record the details of any accident that injures them. The regulation says this can be "a book or books or by electronic means", in a form approved by the Secretary of State.
Two points of detail. The threshold in the regulation is "10 or more", although some summaries, including pages on HSE's own website, say "more than 10". And the count is by premises: eight people at the yard and six at the office is fourteen employees, but neither site reaches ten.
If you have fewer than ten people and are not a factory, mine or quarry, there is no legal duty to keep an accident book. You still have to keep records of certain injuries under RIDDOR, which applies to every employer, so in practice a small firm needs somewhere to write accidents down as well.
What must be recorded in the accident book
Schedule 4 of the same regulations lists five particulars. These are the legal minimum for an entry:
- the full name, address and occupation of the injured person
- the date and time of the accident
- the place where the accident happened
- the cause and nature of the injury
- the name, address and occupation of the person making the entry, if it is not the injured person
The book most firms use is the one HSE publishes, the Accident Book BI 510. HSE Books describes it as using an approved format for recording accident information, and it contains 50 record forms.
The legal minimum makes a thin record. It says what happened to the person and nothing about why. For your own purposes it is worth capturing more: what the person was doing, what equipment was involved, who saw it and what was done straight away. Our guide to the accident report form goes through a fuller record section by section.
Who can write in it
The injured employee, or anyone acting on their behalf. That is the wording of the regulation, and it matters: the book is there for the employee to use, so it cannot be locked in a manager's office where nobody on the night shift can reach it.
An entry made as soon as practicable after the accident counts as the employee's formal notice of the accident to you. Once you have that notice, regulation 25 puts a duty on you to take reasonable steps to investigate what happened. If what you find differs from what was written, you must record what you found.
The legal duty covers accidents to your employees. HSE's book is also designed for recording accidents to contractors and visitors, and it makes sense to use it that way, because an injured visitor taken to hospital may be reportable under RIDDOR.
Keeping entries confidential
An accident record contains a name, a home address and details of an injury. Under the UK GDPR, information about someone's health is a special category of personal data, and all personal data has to be kept secure. HSE's advice is to protect people's personal details by storing records confidentially in a secure place.
A bound book in which each person can read every earlier entry does not meet that standard. The current HSE book has perforated record forms, so a completed form can be torn out and handed to the person responsible for keeping it, and the next person to pick up the book sees only blank pages.
Name one person who collects and stores completed records, and keep them in a locked drawer or a system with restricted access. If the injured person asks for a copy of their own entry, give them one.
How long to keep accident records
At least three years from the date of the entry. That is the period in regulation 25 for accident book records, and regulation 12 of RIDDOR sets the same three years for the records it requires.
Three years is a minimum. The law sets no maximum, although data protection law says personal data should be kept no longer than is necessary for its purpose. There is a practical reason to think about keeping some records longer. In England and Wales a personal injury claim can normally be brought up to three years after the accident, or three years after the person first knew of the injury if that is later, so a claim can arrive after a three-year-old record has been shredded. Ask your employers' liability insurer what it expects you to keep, and write the period you settle on into your own procedures.
Do not confuse this with health records. Records of health surveillance, such as lung function or skin checks for people working with hazardous substances, must be kept for 40 years under COSHH. Those are a different record from the accident book. See our guide to health and safety documents and how long to keep them.
Paper book or electronic record
You do not have to use paper. The regulation itself allows "electronic means", and HSE's guidance says you can buy the accident book from HSE Books or "record the details in your own record system".
Whichever you choose, check it against what the regulation asks for:
- It captures the five particulars listed above for every entry.
- It is readily accessible. An injured employee, or a colleague on their behalf, must be able to get an entry made on any shift and at any site. If only managers can log in to your system, people need a known route to get an accident recorded, such as telling a supervisor who enters it there and then.
- Entries are kept for three years and cannot be read by people who have no need to see them.
A paper book on a shelf has one weakness an electronic record does not: nobody knows an entry has been made until someone looks.
How the accident book relates to RIDDOR
They are separate duties under separate laws, and an entry in the accident book is not a report to HSE.
The accident book is your own record. RIDDOR requires you to report certain incidents to the enforcing authority: deaths, specified injuries such as fractures and amputations, injuries that keep a worker from their normal work for more than seven days, and others. It also requires you to keep a record of every reportable incident and of any injury that keeps a worker from their normal work for more than three days, even though an over-three-day injury does not have to be reported.
HSE's guidance is that employers who keep an accident book can use it as their RIDDOR record of injuries. Two cautions. A RIDDOR record of a reported incident must also show the date and method of reporting, which the book does not ask for. And cases of occupational disease need a separate record, because the book only covers accidents. Our guide to RIDDOR reporting sets out what is reportable and the time limits.
The check to build in. Every time an entry is made, someone should ask two questions within a day or two: is this reportable under RIDDOR, and has the person been off or on light duties since? An over-seven-day injury often starts as an ordinary accident book entry that nobody followed up.
Recording accidents in SafetyPro360
SafetyPro360 holds incident reports for accidents, near misses, dangerous occurrences and property damage. A report records the date, time, site and exactly where it happened, what happened, what was done straight away, who was hurt, the injury and treatment, witnesses and the root cause, with a severity and a status that runs from reported through to closed. It can be filled in on a phone. Reports are entered by people who have a login, so agree who records an accident for someone who does not. It does not send anything to HSE: a RIDDOR report is still made on HSE's website.
Questions people ask
Is an accident book a legal requirement?
Yes, if ten or more people are normally employed at the same time at the same premises, or if you own or occupy a factory, mine or quarry. The duty is in regulation 25 of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979. Smaller employers have no duty to keep an accident book, but must still keep records of certain injuries under RIDDOR.
How long do you have to keep accident book records?
At least three years from the date of each entry. RIDDOR sets the same three-year minimum for the records it requires. Neither law sets a maximum. Because injury claims can arrive three years or more after an accident, ask your insurer whether it expects records to be kept for longer.
Can an accident book be electronic?
Yes. The regulation allows a book or "electronic means", and HSE says you can use the HSE accident book or record the details in your own record system. An electronic record must capture the same particulars, be readily accessible so that an injured employee can get an entry made, and be kept for three years.
Who fills in the accident book?
The injured employee, or someone acting on their behalf, such as a first aider, colleague or supervisor. If someone else makes the entry, their own name, address and occupation are recorded as well. The employer then has a duty to take reasonable steps to investigate the accident.
Do I need an accident book with fewer than ten employees?
Not by law, unless your premises are a factory, mine or quarry. You do still need a record of any injury that is reportable under RIDDOR and of any injury that keeps a worker from their normal work for more than three days. The simplest way to do that is to keep one record of every accident.
Does writing an accident in the book count as reporting it under RIDDOR?
No. The accident book is your own record. If the accident is reportable, the responsible person must also report it to the enforcing authority through HSE's website: straight away for a death or specified injury, with the report made within 10 days, and within 15 days for an over-seven-day injury.
Where this comes from
- Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979, regulation 25 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979, regulation 24 and Schedule 4 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013, regulation 12 (legislation.gov.uk)
- HSE: Report accidents and illness
- HSE: RIDDOR, what records do I need to keep?
- HSE Books: Accident book BI 510
- Limitation Act 1980, section 11 (legislation.gov.uk)
- UK GDPR, Article 9: special categories of personal data (legislation.gov.uk)
This guide is general information for small employers in Great Britain, checked against the sources above on the date shown. It is not legal advice. If something serious depends on it, check the source or ask a competent adviser.