Record and report an accident or incident

How to report a dangerous occurrence

A dangerous occurrence may not have caused injury, but clearly could have done so.

They include events such as:

• failure of a load-bearing part of a crane
• sudden release of materials from a pressurised system or pipework
• some kinds of fire and explosions
• collapse of part of a building 

You must report the incident without delay, for example by phoning the HSE, and follow this up with a completed accident form, F2508, within ten days.

You can report an incident by completing form F2508 at the Incident Contact Centre website, or buying a pad of forms from HSE books and sending the report in by post.

You are not obliged to report "near misses". These are events which under different circumstances could have been an accident or incident

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• What needs to be reported?
• Who needs to make the report?
• Who to make the report to
• How to report a death or major injury
• How to report an over three-day injury
• How to report a disease
• Keeping records of accidents
• How to report a dangerous occurrence