When someone is hurt at work, there is often confusion about who should write it up. The short answer: the injured person, or someone acting on their behalf, can make the entry, but the employer is responsible for providing the accident book, making sure entries are made, and acting on them.
What the law says
The duty to keep an accident book comes from the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979. It applies to employers with 10 or more employees at any one time, and to anyone who owns or occupies a mine, quarry or factory.
Under these regulations:
- The employee must tell their employer about an accident that causes personal injury. Making an entry in the accident book counts as giving that notice.
- Someone acting on the employee’s behalf can make the entry if the injured person cannot, for example a colleague, first aider or manager.
- The employer must keep the accident book somewhere it can be easily reached by employees, and must take reasonable steps to investigate the circumstances of each accident.
Read more in our guide to whether an accident book is a legal requirement.
Who fills it in, in practice
| Person | Role |
|---|---|
| Injured person | Makes the entry if they are able to, describing what happened in their own words. |
| First aider | Often completes or helps with the entry and records any treatment given. |
| Colleague or witness | Can complete the entry on the injured person’s behalf, and should add their own name and details. |
| Line manager or supervisor | Checks the entry is complete, starts any investigation and decides whether it is RIDDOR reportable. |
| Employer | Provides the book or system, keeps records secure, reviews entries and acts on them. |
What if the injured person was a visitor or contractor?
The 1979 regulations cover employees, but good practice is to record accidents to anyone on your premises, including visitors, customers, pupils and contractors. The person in charge of the site, or a member of staff who saw what happened, should make the entry. Accidents to members of the public may also need reporting under RIDDOR if they are taken straight from the scene to hospital for treatment. See what accidents are RIDDOR reportable.
What should the person filling it in record?
At a minimum: the injured person’s name, address and occupation, the date, time and place of the accident, what caused it and the injury, and the name and details of the person making the entry if it is not the injured person. Our guide to what must be recorded in an accident book explains each field.
What if nobody fills it in?
An accident that is not recorded can cause problems later. The employer has no record to investigate or to defend a claim with, RIDDOR-reportable incidents can be missed, and patterns go unnoticed. An employee can still make a claim even if the accident was not recorded, so a missing entry rarely helps anyone. If an accident is discovered later, record it as soon as you find out, and note the date the entry was made.
What if the employee refuses to sign?
You cannot force someone to sign an entry. Record the facts as you understand them, note that the person declined to sign, and keep a note of any conversation. See our guide on an employee refusing to sign the accident book.
Making it easy for the right person to report
The biggest reason accidents go unrecorded is that the book is not to hand. With a digital accident book, anyone can report by scanning a QR code on their phone, the site manager is alerted straight away, and the record is stored securely rather than in a shared book.