Accident Book Requirements UK: What Employers and the Self-Employed Need to Know

If you run a business, manage a site, or work as a self-employed contractor with staff, keeping an accident book is not optional — it is a legal requirement once you meet the threshold. Getting it wrong leaves you exposed in civil claims and can undermine your RIDDOR reporting. Here is what you actually need to know.

Who Must Keep an Accident Book?

Under the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979, any employer with ten or more employees must keep an accident book (BI 510 or equivalent) on the premises. Smaller employers are not legally required to maintain a formal accident book, but they still have a duty to record and investigate incidents under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (reg 3) — which requires a suitable and sufficient risk assessment — and under RIDDOR 2013 (see below).

In practice, any employer of any size benefits from keeping written records. Incidents you do not record today become disputes you cannot defend tomorrow.

What the Accident Book Must Contain

Each entry should capture, at minimum:

• Full name and address of the injured person
• Date and time of the accident
• Location where it happened
• Description of what occurred and how
• Nature of the injury sustained
• Name of the person completing the entry (if different from the injured person)

The HSE's approved BI 510 format satisfies these requirements. Crucially, since GDPR came into force, each completed accident entry must be stored separately from the book itself — the page is detachable or the record is sealed — so that other employees cannot read colleagues' personal medical information. This is a common oversight that creates real data protection risk.

How Long Must Records Be Kept?

Accident records should be retained for a minimum of three years from the date of the entry. However:

• Records involving children or young people should be kept until the individual turns 21
• Where an injury may lead to a civil claim, keep records for at least three years from the date of the accident (the limitation period for personal injury claims under the Limitation Act 1980)
• RIDDOR records must be kept for three years from the date of the report

Store records securely, with access restricted to those with a legitimate need.

Accident Book vs RIDDOR — Understanding the Difference

These are two separate obligations that often get confused.

An entry in the accident book does not automatically fulfil your RIDDOR duty. If a reportable incident occurs, you must report it separately via the HSE's RIDDOR online portal (or by phone for fatal/specified injuries). Equally, minor injuries that do not meet RIDDOR thresholds should still go in the accident book.

Accident Books on Construction Sites

On sites where CDM 2015 applies, the Principal Contractor is responsible for site safety management, which includes ensuring adequate accident recording arrangements are in place for all workers — including subcontractors. Subcontractors should record incidents in their own systems and notify the Principal Contractor so site-level records remain complete.

Self-Employed Without Employees

If you work alone and have no employees, you are not required to keep an accident book. You are, however, still subject to RIDDOR if a reportable incident occurs, and maintaining your own incident log is simply good practice for insurance purposes and any civil proceedings.

Practical Checklist

• ✔ If you have 10+ employees, keep an accident book on the premises at all times
• ✔ Use a GDPR-compliant format — detachable or sealed pages, stored separately after completion
• ✔ Record every injury, no matter how minor it seems at the time
• ✔ Cross-reference entries against RIDDOR thresholds — report to HSE where required
• ✔ Store completed records securely for at least three years (longer for children or potential civil claims)
• ✔ Brief workers on their right and responsibility to report incidents promptly

Why Accurate Records Matter in Practice

Insurers, solicitors, and enforcement officers all ask to see your accident book when something goes wrong. A gap in records — or a book that has clearly never been used — signals poor health and safety management. Thorough, contemporaneous entries, on the other hand, demonstrate that you took the incident seriously, investigated it, and put controls in place. That is evidence that works in your favour.

Good accident recording is not bureaucracy for its own sake. It is the foundation of learning from what goes wrong and demonstrating that your risk management is real.