Accident Book and Incident Log for Hospitality: What to Record and When to Report

Burns from the dishwasher steam, a chef's knife slip, a customer down the cellar steps they shouldn't have been near, a glass to the hand when a drunk punter kicks off at closing. Hospitality has more accidents than most workplaces, and most of them are small. The accident book is how you prove you noticed, and RIDDOR is the narrower set of cases you must also tell the authorities about.

This guide covers Great Britain unless it says otherwise. Northern Ireland has its own rules, covered near the end.

The short answer

• Keep an accident record if 10 or more people normally work at your premises at the same time. Paper or electronic both count. Keep each entry for at least 3 years.
• Record every injury, however minor, to staff and to customers. It costs you nothing and protects you with insurers.
• Report to HSE under RIDDOR when: anyone dies; a worker suffers a specified injury; a worker is off or on light duties for more than 7 consecutive days; or a member of the public is hurt in a work-related accident and taken straight to hospital for treatment.
• Record (but don't report) injuries that keep a worker off, or unable to do their normal job, for more than 3 consecutive days.
• Keep it private. Accident records contain personal data. Store them securely.

Who must keep an accident book?

The duty comes from social security law, not health and safety law. Regulation 25 of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979 says an employer with 10 or more people normally employed at the same time on or about the same premises must keep "readily accessible" a means of recording accidents causing personal injury. It can be "in a book or books or by electronic means", and each record must be kept for at least 3 years from the date of entry.

HSE's plain-English guidance phrases the threshold as "more than 10 employees". Either way, a busy pub or restaurant with a full Saturday team is likely to meet it. And if you're under the threshold, keep one anyway. When a customer's solicitor writes to you eight months later, a dated entry made on the night is worth far more than anyone's memory.

What to record in the accident book

The regulations set out the minimum particulars:

1. Full name, address and occupation of the injured person
2. Date and time of the accident
3. Place where it happened
4. Cause and nature of the injury
5. Name, address and occupation of the person recording it, if not the injured person

For a hospitality business, add the details that help you stop it happening again:

Record near misses too. The keg that fell off the stack and hit nobody is the warning before the one that hits someone.

When you must report under RIDDOR

RIDDOR stands for the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. The "responsible person" reports: for your staff, that's you as employer; for customers and visitors, it's whoever controls the premises. In practice, for a pub or restaurant that's the operator.

Injuries to staff

Report it if a worker:

• dies as a result of a work-related accident;
• suffers a specified injury: a fracture (other than fingers, thumbs and toes), an amputation, an injury likely to cause loss of sight, a crush injury to the head or torso, a serious burn or scald (more than 10% of the body, or damaging eyes, breathing or vital organs), loss of consciousness from a head injury or asphyxia, scalping needing hospital treatment, or certain injuries from working in an enclosed space;
• is away from work, or unable to do their normal duties, for more than 7 consecutive days (not counting the day of the accident, but counting weekends and rest days).

A chef who breaks a wrist slipping on a wet floor is a specified injury. A KP whose back injury from lifting a stock pot keeps them on light duties for 9 days is an over-7-day injury.

Injuries to customers and other members of the public

Report it if a member of the public dies, or is injured in an accident that arose out of, or was connected with, your work activity and is taken from the scene to hospital for treatment of that injury. Some points that catch people out:

• "Work-related" matters. HSE's own example: a customer scalded by hot soup served by staff and taken to hospital is reportable. A customer who knocks over their own soup reaching for a wine glass is not.
• "Treatment" means treatment. X-rays and examinations alone don't count. Stitches, a dressing, a plaster cast or surgery do.
• How they get there doesn't matter. Ambulance, taxi or a mate's car, it still counts.
• A GP or drop-in clinic is not a hospital. If they go to their GP the next day, it isn't reportable.
• Precautionary trips aren't reportable. If there's no apparent injury and they go to hospital just to be safe, don't report.
• Fights between customers are generally not work-related for the customer who's hurt. Violence towards your staff arising from their work is.

Deadlines and how to report

Most reports are made online through HSE's RIDDOR forms, which also give you a reference number and a PDF copy. Keep that copy with your accident record.

Who enforces this for pubs and restaurants?

In Great Britain, health and safety in pubs, restaurants, hotels and other leisure premises is generally enforced by your local council's environmental health team, not HSE inspectors. RIDDOR reports still go through HSE's system, which passes them on to the right authority.

How long to keep records

• Accident book entries: at least 3 years from the date of entry (Social Security regulations).
• RIDDOR records: at least 3 years from the date made, kept at the premises or your usual place of business (RIDDOR regulation 12). If you don't keep the online report, your own record must include the date and method of reporting, date, time and place, personal details of those involved, and a brief description.

Many operators keep injury records longer, since personal injury claims can arrive later. Ask your insurer what they want.

Data protection: keeping the accident book private

An accident record is personal data, and often health data. HSE advises storing records "confidentially in a secure place". In practice:

• No open books on the bar. The old pre-printed books with every entry on show are the problem. Tear-out pages or a digital log with limited access fix it.
• Limit access. The manager on duty and the owner need it. The whole team doesn't.
• Record facts, not opinions. "Customer appeared intoxicated" is a judgement; "customer was unsteady, had been served four pints since 8pm" is a fact.
• Don't share photos of injuries in group chats. Ever.

Incidents that aren't injuries

A good incident log covers more than the accident book. Record:

• Aggression and abuse towards staff, including verbal abuse and threats. Acas's timeline for the Employment Rights Act 2025 lists a stronger duty on employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, including by third parties such as customers, as planned from 30 October 2026. A log of what happened and what you did is part of showing you took it seriously.
• Refusals and ejections, with the reason, so you can back up your door policy if challenged.
• Lost property and damage.
• Near misses: the shelf that came down after close, the gas smell that turned out to be a loose coupling.
• Food complaints where someone says they were ill after eating with you.

Common mistakes

1. Waiting until the end of the night. By 1am nobody remembers the time or who saw it. Log it within the hour.
2. Only recording staff injuries. Customer injuries are where claims come from.
3. Not tracking days off. Over-7-day injuries are the RIDDOR reports most often missed, because nobody's counting.
4. Recording without fixing. The same glass washer burn three times is a maintenance problem, not three accidents. Link it to your maintenance log and risk assessment.
5. Letting the book live in a drawer. Review it monthly. Look for patterns: same place, same shift, same task.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has its own regulations: the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997, enforced by HSENI or the local council. They were not updated when Great Britain changed its rules in 2012 and 2013, so the over-three-day absence threshold for reporting still applies there. Reports can be made to HSENI, which forwards them to the council where needed.

A one-page checklist for your team

• ☐ First aid given and the scene made safe
• ☐ Entry made in the accident book within the hour
• ☐ Witnesses' names taken
• ☐ Photo of the area taken
• ☐ Manager on duty told
• ☐ Is it RIDDOR? (death, specified injury, customer taken to hospital for treatment)
• ☐ If a worker: days off tracked; over 3 = recorded, over 7 = reported within 15 days
• ☐ Cause fixed or logged as a maintenance job
• ☐ Risk assessment reviewed if needed

Logging incidents in ShiftComplete

ShiftComplete lets anyone on shift log an incident or maintenance issue in seconds from their phone, with a photo, a severity level and a status (open or resolved). Managers add resolution notes, and open incidents stay on the dashboard until someone deals with them. The weekly report counts incidents alongside your maintenance backlog, and the full audit log can be exported to CSV. You still decide what's RIDDOR-reportable and make the report to HSE; ShiftComplete is where your team's record of what happened lives.

It's £1.49 per staff member per month, every feature included, and free for 60 days with no card needed.