Do you know your RIDDOR?
This article appears in the March/April 2025 edition of Registered Gas Engineer and supersedes previous articles.
What is RIDDOR?
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences (RIDDOR) 2013 is a legal requirement that covers mandatory reporting to HSE of workplace injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences. The law requires employers, self-employed people and other people in control of work premises to report and keep records of:
- Work-related accidents that cause death
- Work-related accidents that cause certain serious injuries (reportable injuries)
- Dangerous occurrences with the potential to cause harm.
There are special requirements for gas incidents and the majority of situations that you will come across in terms of dangerous gas fittings are reportable under Regulation 11(2).
RIDDOR 11(1) is the duty on the gas conveyor, importer, supplier or filler of LPG refillable containers. If someone has died or lost consciousness, or has been taken to hospital, then the gas conveyor needs to report it too, under RIDDOR 11(1).
Why report?
It’s the law. The regulations spell out the dangerous gas fittings that gas engineers must report under RIDDOR Regulation 11(2). The report informs the enforcing authorities, via HSE, about potential and actual deaths, injuries, occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences, so they can identify where and how risks arise and whether they need to be investigated.
This helps the enforcing authorities to target their work and provide advice about how to avoid work-related deaths, injuries, ill-health and accidental loss.
It is a requirement under Gas Safe Register’s Rules of Registration to ensure that you follow IGEM/G/11, the Gas Industry Unsafe Situations Procedure (GIUSP), where required, which includes guidance on RIDDOR and reporting.
What is reportable?
RIDDOR 11(2) states: Registered gas engineers must provide details of any gas appliances or fittings that they consider to be dangerous, to such an extent that people could die, lose consciousness or require hospital treatment. The danger could be due to the design, construction, installation, modification or servicing of that appliance or fitting, which could cause:
- An accidental leakage of gas
- Incomplete combustion of gas, or
- Inadequate removal of products of the combustion of gas.
In general, what this usually means is situations that would be deemed as being Immediately Dangerous (ID) under IGEM/G/11, the Gas Industry Unsafe Situations Procedure (GIUSP), would be reportable.
IGEM/G/11 gives a lot of guidance, including:
- How to risk assess to classify a dangerous situation
- How to deal with dangerous situations/installations correctly
- The RIDDOR reporting process
- A list of dangerous situations and how they would be classified.
If you repair a dangerous gas fitting, you must still report it under RIDDOR. It’s helpful to provide as much evidence as you can and clearly set out what is dangerous about the installation, construction or design, and the appliance itself.
What is NOT reportable?
Gas installations that are dangerous solely because they have not been maintained are NOT reportable under RIDDOR. Dangerous non gas-safety defects are generally not reportable – such as damaged or inappropriate electrical connections and hot water cylinders without pressure relief.
You can report a concern about certain gas work that is not reportable under RIDDOR through HSE and Gas Safe Register.
Should I fix it?
Ideally, you should leave the installation intact as evidence. But if this is not possible or if the customer wants it back on, take as many photos and gather as much documentation as possible before you make safe. If required, HSE can then take a statement from you to support the photographs and any other evidence.
Not sure?
Use IGEM/G/11 to risk assess the installation. Following this should give you a clear indication of whether you should report under RIDDOR. But if you’re still unsure whether it meets the criteria, you can call Gas Safe’s Technical Helpline and talk the situation over in order to help you make your mind up. However, Gas Safe Register will not classify the unsafe situation: this must be done by the engineer on site.
Reporting poor or illegal gas work
Work that is poor but is not RIDDOR reportable can be reported to Gas Safe Register. You are required to report unsafe gas work to Gas Safe Register under the Rules of Registration.
Where the work has been carried out by a Gas Safe registered business, the Register will investigate and an inspection on competence grounds is likely to be triggered automatically for the registered business that carried out the work. Illegal gas work will be investigated by Gas Safe Register.
What does HSE do with my report?
When you submit a report, it will be ‘triaged’ initially by HSE gas officers. It’s important to note that if you report work that has been carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer, then the information will be passed to the Register to investigate; if not, HSE gas officers will check whether they need more information or whether there is enough to start investigating.
Reports of dangerous work involving commercial organisations and catering establishments will be passed to the appropriate local authority for investigation.
What does Gas Safe do?
Gas Safe Register receives RIDDOR reports directly from HSE after they have been submitted. Gas Safe will send a notification email to the business allegedly involved and provide a response form for the business to supply all details of the incident.
For larger businesses, this may involve internal investigations to provide all the information required.
When the information has been gathered, Gas Safe Register will act appropriately. RIDDORs are sometimes deemed to be unjustified against the business. However, when they are justified, the local inspector will arrange a visit to the specific engineer involved to ensure safe working practices are being followed, and that overall gas competency is satisfied.
The outcome of any RIDDOR investigation is not shared with either the reporting business or members of the public, in compliance with Gas Safe Register’s privacy policy and the responsible use of data.
How to report
Report a dangerous gas fitting
