RIDDOR Reporting for UK Pubs in 2026

Last updated: 12 April 2026

Most pub landlords don’t realise they’re legally required to report workplace injuries and near-misses to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)—and many operators think RIDDOR only applies to factories or construction sites. This misconception costs licensees thousands in fines and creates serious liability exposure. If you’re running a pub with staff in the UK, you have specific legal obligations under RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013) that apply directly to your premises. Managing 17 staff across front-of-house and kitchen at Teal Farm Pub in Washington, Tyne & Wear has shown me exactly how quickly incidents happen in hospitality—and how critical it is to understand what you’re required to report, who you report it to, and what happens if you don’t. This guide covers what RIDDOR actually means for your pub, which incidents you must report, the timelines involved, and the real operational steps you need to take today to stay compliant.

What Is RIDDOR and Why It Applies to Your Pub

RIDDOR is the legal framework that requires you, as a pub employer, to report specific workplace injuries, diseases, and dangerous occurrences to the Health and Safety Executive within set timelines. It’s not optional, it’s not advisory, and it doesn’t only apply to dangerous industries. RIDDOR applies to every pub in the UK with employees—whether you’re a one-person operation with casual bar staff or running a larger food-led venue with a full kitchen team.

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 created a standardised system so the HSE can track workplace safety trends across the hospitality sector and intervene when patterns emerge. From the HSE’s perspective, hospitality—including pubs—has some of the highest injury rates in the UK economy, which is why they actively enforce RIDDOR compliance.

What makes RIDDOR critical for your pub is that it’s not just about following the law. The HSE’s RIDDOR guidance makes clear that reporting creates an official record of what happened, when, and how. That record exists whether you report it or not—but if you don’t report it and the HSE discovers the incident later during an inspection, you face enforcement action. More importantly, that RIDDOR record is public and searchable. Potential staff, customers, and local authorities can all look up your pub’s safety history. Non-compliance damages trust and reputation.

Who Must Report Under RIDDOR

The person or organisation responsible for reporting is the employer—that’s you as a licensee or pub manager if you have employees. It doesn’t matter if you’re a tenant in a tied pub, a free-of-tie licensee, or a leaseholder. If people work for you, you’re responsible for RIDDOR reporting. This is one of the clearest points that catches operators off guard: many tied pub tenants assume their pubco handles RIDDOR, but that responsibility lies with the person who employs the staff.

Tied pub tenants should verify this explicitly with their pubco during onboarding. The real compliance question isn’t who “should” report—it’s who is legally accountable when something goes wrong. That’s you.

If you run a pub with no employees (just you working it solo), RIDDOR doesn’t apply to you directly. But the moment you hire your first member of staff—full-time, part-time, casual, or seasonal—RIDDOR becomes your responsibility.

Self-employed people who work in your pub are covered under RIDDOR as well, which means if you hire a contract chef or a freelance entertainment provider, their injuries must also be reported if they meet the RIDDOR criteria.

What Incidents Must Be Reported

Not every accident at work requires a RIDDOR report. The regulations define specific categories of incidents that cross the threshold for reporting. Understanding these categories is essential because under-reporting is a compliance breach, but over-reporting wastes HSE time and your own administrative effort.

Serious Injuries That Must Be Reported

You must report any serious injury that results in:

• Fractures (any broken bone—ribs, arms, legs, fingers, ankles)
• Loss of consciousness (even briefly)
• Serious head injury (concussion, internal bleeding, acute confusion)
• Eye injuries (chemical burns, penetrating injuries)
• Chemical or thermal burns affecting more than 10% of body surface
• Amputation or permanent loss of use of a limb or body part
• Hospitalisation for more than 24 hours (even if admitted and discharged same day—if they spent a night, report it)
• Serious lacerations requiring hospital treatment

At Teal Farm Pub, a busy Saturday night with a full house and a fryer running at maximum capacity creates real burn risk. I’ve seen bar staff splash hot oil, slip on wet floors near kitchen prep areas, and lift heavy kegs incorrectly. Each of these, depending on the outcome, could trigger RIDDOR. A staff member who slips, bangs their head on a shelf, and loses consciousness for 30 seconds must be reported—even if they seem fine 10 minutes later.

Over-7-Day Injuries

If an employee is incapable of working for more than 7 consecutive days following an injury, you must report it to the HSE—even if it’s not a serious injury. This is a commonly missed category in pubs. The injury might be relatively minor—a bad back strain, a twisted ankle, a bad cut—but if it keeps the person away from work for 8 days or more, it’s reportable.

This creates an important operational detail: if someone goes off work Monday and isn’t back by the following Monday (8 calendar days), you need to report it. Many operators don’t realise this applies to relatively minor injuries, which is why over-7-day incidents are under-reported across hospitality.

Occupational Diseases

You must report if an employee is diagnosed with a work-related disease, including:

• Occupational dermatitis (from repeated chemical exposure or hand washing)
• Noise-induced hearing loss
• Work-related stress
• Legionella infection (from water systems in your pub)
• Repetitive strain injury

In pubs, occupational dermatitis from constant hand washing and chemical exposure is more common than most operators realise. If a bar staff member develops a diagnosed skin condition directly linked to work, it’s reportable.

Dangerous Occurrences

Even if no one is injured, you must report certain dangerous occurrences—situations that could have caused serious injury:

• Collapse or failure of a load-bearing structure (ceiling collapse, floor failure)
• Failure of gas appliances
• Failure of electrical installation or equipment
• Chemical release or spillage of hazardous substance

If your cellar floods and electrical equipment fails, or if your gas cooker malfunctions in a way that could cause carbon monoxide exposure, these are dangerous occurrences—reportable even if no injury occurs.

RIDDOR Reporting Timelines and Deadlines

RIDDOR creates two distinct reporting pathways based on the severity and type of incident. Missing these deadlines is a compliance breach.

Immediate Reporting (Same Day)

You must report to the HSE by telephone on the same day if:

• Someone is admitted to hospital overnight as a result of a workplace incident
• Someone dies
• A dangerous occurrence occurs (even if no injury)

The HSE maintains a hotline for this: 0300 003 1647 (phone reporting for serious incidents). If a staff member is hit on the head and taken to hospital on Saturday afternoon, you report it Saturday—not Monday. If your gas cooker develops a fault that creates a carbon monoxide risk, you report immediately.

15-Day Reporting (for most other incidents)

For all other reportable incidents—serious injuries that don’t involve hospitalisation, over-7-day injuries, occupational diseases—you have 15 calendar days from the date of the incident to submit a RIDDOR report online. This means if a staff member sustains a fracture on a Monday, you have until the following Monday of the next week to file the report.

This 15-day window creates a practical compliance problem: many operators don’t report until the last day or miss the deadline entirely because they forgot to record the incident. The best practice is to report within 2–3 days of the incident so the timeline is clear, the facts are fresh, and there’s no risk of accidentally missing the deadline.

How to Report a RIDDOR Incident

RIDDOR reports are submitted online via the HSE’s reporting portal. You’ll need:

• Your business details and operator contact information
• Details of the injured person (name, date of birth, occupation)
• A clear description of what happened
• Details of the injury or disease
• Information about the type of work being done at the time

The online form is straightforward, but accuracy matters. Vague descriptions like “staff member injured” won’t suffice—the HSE expects you to describe what happened, where, when, and what the outcome was. A good RIDDOR report reads like this:

“Bar staff member (male, age 26) was pouring hot water from a kettle into a teapot at 14:30 on 10 April 2026 when the kettle tipped, spilling approximately 500ml of boiling water across his left hand and wrist. He immediately ran his hand under cold water and was taken to A&E at the local hospital by another staff member. He was treated for second-degree thermal burns covering approximately 8% of body surface area. He was not admitted to hospital overnight but was given dressings and pain relief. He is unfit to work and GP advised 10 days off.”

That level of detail is what the HSE expects. It’s not a legal statement—it’s a factual record of what happened and why it’s reportable.

After you submit online, you’ll receive a confirmation number. Keep that. If the HSE follows up with questions, they’ll reference this number.

One critical operational point: pub onboarding training for new staff should include clear instruction that all injuries, however minor they seem at the time, must be reported to a manager immediately. If a staff member hides an injury because they’re worried about getting someone in trouble, or because they don’t want to disrupt a busy shift, you lose the reporting window and create a compliance gap.

Common Pub Incidents That Trigger RIDDOR

Understanding which incidents actually require reporting helps you build a safer culture and avoid under-reporting. Here are the incidents that happen regularly in UK pubs and where RIDDOR applies:

Burns and Scalds

Any thermal burn that requires hospital treatment is reportable—this includes deep fryer burns, kettle spills, and steam burns. Burns are among the most common serious injuries in hospitality. At Teal Farm Pub, I’ve witnessed staff place their hands too close to a fryer basket and sustain sudden burns. If the burn is deep enough to require emergency assessment, it’s reportable. Most burns from hot oil or boiling water are serious enough to warrant hospital attention, which triggers immediate reporting.

Back Injuries from Manual Handling

Lifting heavy kegs, moving crates of bottles, or shifting furniture during deep cleans creates back injury risk. If a staff member sustains a back injury that results in a fracture (compressed vertebra) or keeps them off work for 8+ days, it’s reportable. Muscle strains alone aren’t necessarily reportable unless they prevent work for over 7 days. But a disc prolapse or pinched nerve that results in 10 days off work is reportable.

Head Injuries from Slips

Any slip or trip that results in loss of consciousness, even brief, or a head injury requiring hospital admission is immediately reportable. Wet floors near the bar, spilled drinks, or misplaced items create slip hazards. A staff member slips on a wet floor, hits their head on a shelf, and is briefly unconscious—that’s an immediate HSE report. A staff member slips, fractures a wrist, and needs hospital treatment—also reportable.

Eye Injuries

Chemical splashes (cleaning products, drain unblockers) that damage the eye, or penetrating injuries, are reportable. These are relatively rare in wet-led pubs but more common in pubs with food operations where cleaning products are used regularly. If someone gets cleaning fluid in their eye, you’re looking at hospital attendance and likely a reportable incident.

Fractures

Any fracture, no matter the severity or location, is reportable. A staff member breaks a finger, a wrist, an ankle, or a rib—all reportable. Fractures are clear-cut RIDDOR incidents.

Understanding these patterns helps you build safety systems. At Teal Farm Pub, we’ve invested in non-slip mats around the bar area, proper handling training for keg storage, and clear protocols for moving heavy items. These are business decisions that reduce both injury risk and RIDDOR reporting obligations.

Building a RIDDOR-Ready Operation

Compliance starts with three concrete steps:

Create an Incident Recording System

Every incident—even minor ones that don’t meet the RIDDOR threshold—should be recorded in a single log. This log becomes your documentary evidence that you’re taking workplace safety seriously. At Teal Farm Pub, we use a simple spreadsheet that captures: date, time, person involved, what happened, outcome, and whether it met RIDDOR criteria. This log also helps identify patterns (e.g., “three incidents involving the fryer in two months” signals a training gap or equipment issue).

Your pub IT solutions should include a reliable way to track incidents. This might be a shared spreadsheet, a dedicated incident management app, or a section in your staff management software. The format matters less than having a single, dated, accessible record.

Train All Managers and Team Leaders

Every person with supervisory responsibility needs to know: what incidents to report, what the timelines are, and how to fill in a RIDDOR form. This doesn’t require formal training—30 minutes during a team meeting explaining the key categories and showing the online form is sufficient. But it needs to happen. Front-of-house staff should also know that they need to report injuries to management immediately rather than hiding them.

Review Your Insurance and Liability Position

Your employer’s liability insurance provider should be notified of any reportable incident. Failing to inform them of a RIDDOR report could jeopardise a claim if there are follow-up complications. When you make a RIDDOR report, also notify your insurer in writing.

Frequently Asked Questions

The reality of RIDDOR is straightforward: it’s a legal requirement, it applies to your pub if you have staff, and compliance is non-negotiable. What makes RIDDOR work in your favour is that it forces you to document safety failures and incident patterns. That documentation then becomes the evidence you need to justify safety improvements—whether that’s non-slip mats, retraining, or equipment replacement. When you understand RIDDOR not just as a compliance burden but as a safety management tool, it changes how you operate.

Managing your pub’s legal and operational requirements is complex, but it doesn’t have to be chaotic. Using a pub management software platform that includes incident tracking, staff training records, and compliance checklists helps you stay on top of obligations like RIDDOR without it becoming an administrative nightmare. Many operators use our pub staffing cost calculator to plan team size—part of that planning should include the time investment required to properly manage safety, training, and compliance reporting.

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