RIDDOR 2026: The Biggest Workplace Injury Reporting Shake-Up Since 2013 — What UK Construction Firms Must Do Now

The Health and Safety Executive is overhauling RIDDOR — the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations — for the first time since 2013. A public consultation running until 30 June 2026 proposes new mandatory reporting categories that will hit UK construction firms hardest. Three CDM prosecutions in June alone, a £79,300 fine handed down on 10 June, and the collapse of Ardmore Construction Group with 500+ workers affected: enforcement is not slowing down. If you run a construction business, you need to understand what is changing and what you must do before the new rules land.

This guide covers every proposed change, what triggers a RIDDOR report under the new categories, how the Ardmore collapse affects the sector, and how to make your incident reporting bulletproof today.

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What Is RIDDOR and Who Does It Apply To?

RIDDOR stands for the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. It is the legal framework that requires employers, the self-employed, and people in control of work premises to report certain workplace incidents to the Health and Safety Executive.

In construction, RIDDOR applies to:

• Principal contractors and main contractors
• Sub-contractors employing workers on site
• Self-employed workers in control of premises or plant
• Site managers and CDM dutyholders

Failure to report is a criminal offence. Fines can reach £20,000 in a Magistrates' Court — and there is no cap if the case goes to Crown Court. More importantly, a failure to report frequently surfaces during HSE investigations triggered by something else, turning a near-miss into a criminal charge.

What Is Changing in the RIDDOR 2026 Overhaul?

The proposed changes, published by HSE in spring 2026, introduce new dangerous occurrence categories specific to construction and modify the threshold for several existing reportable incidents. The consultation closes on 30 June 2026. Regardless of the final outcome, the direction of travel is clear: stricter, broader, and more prescriptive reporting requirements for the sector.

New Dangerous Occurrence Categories Proposed for Construction

A "dangerous occurrence" is an event that does not result in a reportable injury but had the potential to cause serious harm. Currently, there are 27 dangerous occurrence categories. The 2026 proposal adds the following construction-specific categories:

• Overturning of construction plant — any unintended overturning of excavators, telehandlers, dumpers, cranes or other plant on a construction site
• Falling objects from height — unsecured materials, tools or debris falling from scaffolding, roof edges, or elevated platforms where there is a risk to people below
• Tunnelling and ground engineering incidents — unexpected ground movement, tunnel face collapse, dewatering failures, or significant groundwater ingress during excavation
• Structural collapses — partial or complete collapse of temporary works, falsework, formwork or scaffolding structures, whether occupied or not
• Trench and excavation collapses — collapse or near-collapse of the sides of any excavation deeper than 1.5 metres

These are the categories that have historically generated the most avoidable fatalities and serious injuries in construction. By making them mandatory dangerous occurrences, HSE gains the data infrastructure to identify patterns before workers are killed.

Changes to Existing Reporting Thresholds

The 2026 proposals also tighten existing thresholds:

• Over-three-day injuries are proposed to become over-two-day injuries for construction workers — aligning with the risk profile of the sector
• Occupational diseases related to silica dust exposure (stone, brick, concrete cutting) are proposed to trigger reporting at diagnosis, not just confirmed occupational disease status
• Near-miss reporting for work at height incidents is proposed to be extended to include any unplanned fall arrest activation on scaffolding or rope access systems

Why Construction Is in the Crosshairs: June 2026 Enforcement Signal

The RIDDOR overhaul does not exist in a vacuum. It follows a sustained period of elevated HSE enforcement in construction:

• 10 June 2026: Clover Access Systems and STM360 were fined a combined £79,300 after a scaffolder fell through an invisible skylight, sustaining a broken arm, leg, and head injuries. HSE cited failures under CDM 2015 Regulations 13 and 15 — specifically, inadequate supervision and failure to plan for risks during the work phase.
• June 2026: Three separate CDM 2015 prosecutions concluded in June, all citing systemic failures in planning, supervision, and risk assessment. HSE described these as "not random failures but sector-wide patterns."
• 11 June 2026: Ardmore Construction Group, a £350m turnover firm with 500+ employees and 10 active London projects, entered administration. Building Liability Orders under the Building Safety Act 2022 were cited as a contributing factor. Collective redundancy and TUPE obligations are now in play for 500+ affected workers.

The Ardmore collapse is a marker, not an outlier. Compliance costs have risen sharply under the Building Safety Act, and smaller firms — not just large contractors — are exposed. If a £350m firm can face structural collapse from compounding compliance liabilities, the calculus for a 20-person site contractor is stark.

Your Current RIDDOR Obligations (What You Must Do Today)

Even before the 2026 changes take effect, your current RIDDOR obligations require active management. These are the most common failures HSE finds on inspection:

1. Know Your Reporting Deadlines

Incident Type	Reporting Deadline	Method
Fatality or specified injury (fracture, amputation, loss of consciousness)	Without delay (same working day)	Phone: 0345 300 9923, then written within 10 days
Over-seven-day incapacitation injury	Within 15 days of incident	Online: HSE RIDDOR portal
Dangerous occurrence	Without delay	Phone, then written within 10 days
Occupational disease (diagnosis)	Immediately on receipt of written diagnosis	Online: HSE RIDDOR portal

2. Maintain an Incident Register

You must keep records of every reportable incident for a minimum of three years. This includes the date and method of reporting, the personal details of the person involved, the nature of the injury or occurrence, and the place where it happened. These records must be available for HSE inspection on request — and HSE does request them.

3. Appoint a Responsible Person for Reporting

Every construction site must have a named person responsible for RIDDOR compliance. This does not have to be the site manager, but it must be documented and that person must be trained in what is and is not reportable. The most common failure is not failing to report serious injuries — it is failing to report dangerous occurrences, which are often dismissed as "near-misses that didn't cause harm."

4. Understand CDM 2015 Interaction

RIDDOR and CDM 2015 are distinct legal frameworks, but they interact in enforcement. A dangerous occurrence that should have been reported under RIDDOR frequently surfaces as evidence of inadequate planning under CDM Regulation 11 (pre-construction phase plan) or Regulation 12 (construction phase plan). When HSE investigates a RIDDOR failure, it almost always also checks CDM compliance — and vice versa.

Preparing for the 2026 Changes: A Six-Step Checklist

1. Audit your dangerous occurrence recognition: Circulate the new proposed categories to your site supervisors now. Ask them: would they have recognised and reported these? Most won't have seen a formal list since induction.
2. Update your incident reporting procedure: Add the proposed new categories to your site procedure document before the final rules land. Being ahead of regulation is a defence — it shows proactive management.
3. Review your plant overturning and fall-arrest logs: Go back through the last 12 months. Were there any plant near-tips or fall-arrest activations that were not reported? Identify and log them now as near-misses in your own records.
4. Train your supervisors on the new silica reporting trigger: Any worker diagnosed with a silica-related condition must now trigger reporting on diagnosis, not on confirmed occupational disease status. This requires your supervisors to know when to escalate health monitoring results.
5. Check your RIDDOR records are up to date and accessible: A three-year complete record is the minimum. Gaps in records are treated by HSE as evidence of unreported incidents.
6. Map your CDM documentation to your RIDDOR records: Ensure your construction phase plan and risk assessments reference the dangerous occurrence categories. If HSE pulls your RIDDOR report, your CDM file should show the risks were identified and managed.

The Bigger Picture: Employment Rights Bill and Contractor Liability

The RIDDOR overhaul lands alongside the Employment Rights Bill — the most significant piece of employment legislation in a generation. For construction contractors, the relevant provisions include:

• Unfair dismissal qualifying period reduction to six months from 1 July 2026. Any worker you hire from 1 July will have unfair dismissal rights from January 2027. Summer hiring for site clearance and infrastructure work now requires probation processes that construction firms have not historically maintained.
• Zero-hours guaranteed hours rights from October 2026. Casual site labour arrangements that have worked for decades will need formal documentation.
• Fair Work Agency enforcement — now actively enforcing National Minimum Wage, holiday pay, and SSP across all sectors, with construction flagged as a priority target.

The compliance load is compounding. A construction firm that falls behind on RIDDOR also tends to fall behind on CDM, and CDM failures during HSE investigation reveal NMW and holiday pay irregularities. The Fair Work Agency and HSE are increasingly cross-referring enforcement intelligence.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does RIDDOR apply to self-employed construction workers?

Yes, if you are self-employed and employ others or control a premises, you have RIDDOR obligations. If you are self-employed and work alone, you are only required to report incidents that result in incapacitation for more than seven consecutive days.

When does the RIDDOR consultation close?

The HSE consultation on the 2026 proposed changes closes on 30 June 2026. The final rules will be laid before Parliament after that date. HSE has indicated implementation is targeted for Q1 2027, but enforcement of existing RIDDOR rules continues in full throughout.

What happens if we fail to report a dangerous occurrence?

Failure to report is a criminal offence under RIDDOR Regulation 14. Penalties in the Magistrates' Court are up to £20,000 per offence. Crown Court has no upper limit. HSE can also serve Improvement Notices, Prohibition Notices, and refer cases to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Is falling scaffold debris a dangerous occurrence under current rules?

Currently, falling objects are not always a specified dangerous occurrence unless they cause injury or specific structural failure. The 2026 proposals would change this — any uncontrolled fall of material from height in circumstances where workers or the public were at risk would become reportable. This is a significant expansion.

How does ComplianceAlert help with RIDDOR?

ComplianceAlert monitors HSE regulatory updates — including the RIDDOR consultation — and sends plain-English alerts to your inbox when changes take effect. The Action Centre guides you through the exact steps you need to take, with sector-specific checklists built for construction. When the 2026 rules land, you will have the updated compliance checklist on your dashboard the same day.

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Key Takeaways

• The HSE RIDDOR consultation closes 30 June 2026 — the first overhaul of workplace injury reporting since 2013
• New mandatory dangerous occurrence categories for construction: plant overturning, falling objects, trench collapse, structural collapse, tunnelling incidents
• Existing failure to report is a criminal offence — fines up to £20,000 in Magistrates' Court, unlimited in Crown Court
• Three CDM prosecutions in June and a £79,300 fine issued 10 June signal active enforcement
• Ardmore Construction Group collapse underlines how compounding compliance liability affects even large firms
• Prepare now: audit your dangerous occurrence recognition, update procedures, and train supervisors before the rules change

ComplianceAlert monitors HSE updates, RIDDOR changes, and CDM enforcement — and guides you through exactly what to do when rules change. Free forever plan available, no card required. Start at compliancealert.co.uk/construction.

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