RIDDOR Review: What Business Owners Need to Know - May TWBM article

In my column for this month’s Tunbridge Wells Business magazine, I explain what business owners need to know about the upcoming RIDDOR review.

If you’ve seen headlines about the HSE’s current review of RIDDOR — the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations — you might be wondering whether you should be doing anything for your business now. The short answer is: not yet.

The HSE launched a public consultation in April 2026, and it closes on 30 June. But it’s important to be clear about what this review actually is. This isn’t a wholesale overhaul of health and safety law. In essence, the HSE is seeking to clarify terms, reduce ambiguity in the reporting process, and improve the guidance around how incidents are reported. For most businesses, day-today obligations under RIDDOR 2013 remain unchanged.

That said, it’s worth understanding what’s on the table. On occupational diseases, the proposals would retain the current six reportable conditions, reintroduce nine conditions from the previous 1995 regulations — including conditions linked to asbestos and silica dust exposure — and add four new ones: noise-induced hearing loss, bronchiolitis obliterans, occupational allergic rhinitis and occupational contact urticaria. Notably, work-related stress and suicide are not being proposed for inclusion.

The HSE is also reviewing the list of reportable dangerous occurrences to better reflect emerging workplace risks — something that has been recognised as necessary for some time.

Any changes resulting from this consultation won’t become law before 2027 at the earliest, but when the final proposals are confirmed, that’s the right moment for businesses to assess the impact and act accordingly. For now, the most important thing is to make sure your current RIDDOR, and wider health and safety obligations are being met properly.

If you’re unsure, we’re here to help.

01892 726060 or sophie@theforrestgroup.co.uk