On site
What is an incident?
An incident is an unplanned event that caused, or could have caused, injury, ill health or damage. Certain categories must be reported to the enforcing authority under RIDDOR.
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<figure>
<img src="https://buildoptix.co.uk/glossary/incident/diagram.svg" alt="incident — diagram from BuildOptix" width="880" height="620" loading="lazy">
<figcaption>
<a href="https://buildoptix.co.uk/glossary/incident">What is an incident?</a> — diagram by
<a href="https://buildoptix.co.uk">BuildOptix</a>
</figcaption>
</figure>Reportability is defined by category and by consequence rather than by how serious it felt at the time, which is why the classification needs checking against the regulations rather than judged.
The investigation matters more than the report. A reportable incident that produces a notification and no change has met a legal duty and learned nothing.
Incidents and near misses differ only in outcome, which is why treating the two the same way for investigation purposes is usually the right call.
What goes wrong in practice
- Reportability judged by feel rather than checked against the categories.
- Investigation stopping at immediate cause rather than reaching the conditions behind it.
- Reports filed with no action tracked to completion.