School accident book

The rules: three duties behind one book

The legal accident book is a staff record. Regulation 25(3) of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979 requires “every employer by whom 10 or more persons are normally employed at the same time on or about the same premises in connection with a trade or business carried on by the employer” to “keep readily accessible a means (whether in a book or books or by electronic means), in a form approved by the Secretary of State” for recording accidents causing personal injury to employees, and to “preserve every such record for the period of at least 3 years from the date of its entry”. Regulation 25(1) also requires the employer to investigate each accident reported and, where its findings differ from the entry, to “record the circumstances so found”. The regulations do not say how “trade or business” applies to a school employer, but the Department for Education’s first aid guidance refers to “the statutory accident book”, so a school with ten or more staff on one site should keep one.

The second duty is RIDDOR. Regulation 12 of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 requires a record of every reportable incident and of every work injury that keeps a person off routine work “for more than three consecutive days”, each entry kept “for at least three years from the date on which it was made”. Regulation 12(4) lets an existing record, such as the accident book, satisfy this if it holds the required particulars.

The third is about pupils and visitors, whom neither of those covers fully. The Department for Education’s guidance, First aid in schools, early years and further education, says: “It is strongly recommended that schools and colleges keep a record of all incidents involving staff, pupils, students and visitors, which require first aid staff to be in attendance.” It adds that “this record is not the same as the statutory accident book although schools and colleges can choose to combine them”. For children in a school’s nursery or reception classes the recommendation becomes a requirement: paragraph 3.78 of the EYFS statutory framework for group and school-based providers says “providers must keep a written record of accidents or injuries and first aid treatment” and must tell parents “on the same day as, or as soon as reasonably practicable after”.

What each entry should record

For staff, the minimum is set by Schedule 4 to the 1979 Regulations: the injured person’s full name, address and occupation; the date and time of the accident; where it happened; the cause and nature of the injury; and, if someone else makes the entry, their name, address and occupation. Under regulation 24, an entry made in the book “as soon as practicable” by the employee or someone on their behalf counts as notice of the accident to the employer.

For pupils and visitors, the DfE lists what the first aid record should include:

• date, time and place of incident
• name of injured or ill person
• details of the injury or illness
• details of what first aid was given
• what happened immediately after the incident (for example, went home, went back to class, went to hospital)
• name and signature of first aider or person dealing with the incident

Three further details make an entry useful later. Who was told and how: the parent informed, at what time and by whom, which for an early years child the framework requires on the same day. What caused it, in neutral terms, including the state of the floor, the equipment or the supervision if relevant, because that is the RIDDOR test for pupils (below). And what was done afterwards: a repair, a risk assessment reviewed, a follow-up call, and the reference number of any RIDDOR accident report made to the HSE. Write it at the time, factually and without opinion, as you would any contemporaneous note.

Which school accidents are reportable under RIDDOR

The HSE’s information sheet Incident reporting in schools (accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences) starts from the reassuring end: “Most incidents that happen in schools or on school trips do not need to be reported.” The duty to report rests with the responsible person, which for pupils and staff “is normally the main employer at the school”; some employers, such as a local authority or trust, run central reporting procedures.

Staff and other workers. Under regulation 4 of RIDDOR, a work-related death or specified injury must be notified to the HSE “by the quickest practicable means without delay” and reported “within 10 days of the incident” (Schedule 1). Specified injuries include fractures other than to fingers, thumbs and toes, amputations, serious burns, and “any loss of consciousness caused by head injury or asphyxia”. An injury that keeps a worker off normal work for more than seven consecutive days, not counting the day of the accident, must be reported “as soon as practicable and in any event within 15 days of the accident”; an over-three-day injury is recorded but not reported. The HSE’s example of reportable violence is “an incident where a teacher sustains a specified injury because a pupil, colleague or member of the public assaults them while on school premises”.

Pupils and visitors. Under regulation 5, an injury to someone not at work is reportable only if it results from a work-related accident and the person “is taken from the site of the accident to a hospital for treatment in respect of that injury”, or dies. The HSE says the responsible person should ask whether the incident was caused by “a failure in the way a work activity was organised (eg inadequate supervision of a field trip)”, “the way equipment or substances were used” or “the condition of the premises (eg poorly maintained or slippery floors)”. Its example: a pupil taken to hospital after breaking an arm in an ICT lesson by falling over a trailing cable is reportable.

The HSE is equally clear about what is not reportable: an injury from “the normal rough and tumble of a game”; most playground collisions, slips, trips and falls; a pupil taken to hospital because of a medical condition such as an asthma attack or epileptic seizure; anyone taken to hospital “purely as a precaution, when no injury is apparent”; “violence between pupils”, which “is a school discipline matter”; road traffic incidents involving a school vehicle on the public highway; and incidents overseas. A pupil on a work experience placement is treated as the placement employer’s employee.

Data protection and how long to keep the record

Every entry is personal data, and most entries are health data, which is special category data under Article 9 of the UK GDPR. The practical consequences are simple. One person’s entry should not be readable by the next person who writes in the book, which is why many accident books have a perforated, detachable sheet for each incident. A book sold as “GDPR compliant” helps, but the label does not make the school’s handling compliant; completed entries should be stored securely with access limited to those who need them; and the school’s privacy notices should mention accident records. Safety representatives are entitled to see health and safety records, including RIDDOR records, but the HSE notes the exception “where they reveal personal health information about individuals”.

The statutory minimum is three years: from the date of entry for the staff accident book, and from the date the entry was made for a RIDDOR record. No law sets a fixed period for routine pupil first aid records, and three years is rarely enough for them. Under section 11 of the Limitation Act 1980 a personal injury claim must usually be brought within three years, but section 28 extends the time for a person “under a disability”, which section 38 defines to include a child, so in England and Wales a child’s claim can usually be brought until three years after they turn 18. Many schools therefore keep pupil accident records at least until the pupil’s 21st birthday – but treat that as a starting point, not a universal cut-off: limitation has other exceptions, and serious injuries, incidents linked to a safeguarding concern and anything subject to a claim or an insurer’s instruction need longer.

Set the periods by record type in the school’s retention schedule and record why, as the data retention policy guide explains, and keep the RIDDOR record “at the place where the work to which it relates is carried on, or at the usual place of business of the responsible person” (regulation 12(2)). The staff entries also belong in the wider employee records schedule.

Paper or digital, who writes in it, and what the record is for

The book does not have to be paper. Regulation 25(3) allows the means of recording to be “in a book or books or by electronic means”, in a form approved by the Secretary of State, and the DfE says the first aid record “should be readily accessible”. The HSE publishes an accident book that employers may buy and use to record all incidents, including RIDDOR ones. A digital system works if it captures the same particulars, controls who can read each entry, and can produce a complete, unaltered record when asked.

Who writes in it depends on whose accident it is. For staff, regulation 24 lets the injured employee or “some other person acting on his behalf” make the entry. For pupils and visitors, the DfE’s list ends with the “name and signature of first aider or person dealing with the incident”, so it is usually the first aider, the lunchtime supervisor or the teacher on duty. The school’s first aid policy should name who checks entries and decides on RIDDOR, because the clock for a specified injury starts at the incident, not when the paperwork reaches the office.

The record exists to prevent the next accident as well as to evidence the last. The DfE says it “will help identify trends in accidents and areas for improvement as well as when to review first aid needs assessments”. A termly summary for the headteacher and the governor or trustee responsible for health and safety – where accidents happen, at what times, which equipment recurs – turns a book of entries into a risk assessment.

Where the first account of an accident is written

The accident book is usually the second record of an accident. The first is a message. A lunchtime supervisor tells the office by text that a Year 2 boy has bumped his head on the climbing frame and seems fine. A teaching assistant posts in the year group chat that the same boy is pale and quiet after lunch. A colleague who slipped on the wet path outside the sports hall tells the business manager in a direct message that her wrist hurts and she will see how it is tomorrow. That evening a parent messages the class teacher’s personal number asking why nobody mentioned the bump.

Those messages fix the facts the formal entry depends on: when the injury happened, what was seen, who was told and when, and whether the school knew enough to call the parent or to think about RIDDOR. If the colleague’s wrist proves to be fractured, a ten-day reporting clock started on the path; if the boy’s family brings a claim, it can come years later, and the messages will be the most contemporaneous evidence of what the school knew. They sit on personal phones, in apps the school does not run, outside its retention schedule.

The point is not to forbid staff from sending a quick message in the middle of a lunchtime; it is often the fastest way to get help. It is that the message is part of the accident record. The question for the next leadership or governing board meeting is this: if a claim arrived in five years about a head injury in the playground, could the school produce the messages that show when it knew, and who it told?

Questions people ask

Is it a legal requirement for a school to have an accident book?

Yes, for staff, in practice: regulation 25 of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979 requires an employer with ten or more people normally employed on the same premises “in connection with a trade or business” to keep an accident book, or an electronic equivalent, and a school of that size should treat the duty as applying to it. For pupils and visitors, the Department for Education strongly recommends a record of every incident needing first aid, and for children in nursery and reception classes the EYFS framework requires a written record of accidents and first aid.

Can an accident book be online?

Yes: regulation 25(3) of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979 allows the accident record to be kept “in a book or books or by electronic means”, in a form approved by the Secretary of State. An online accident book should capture the same particulars, keep each person’s entry confidential and preserve entries for at least three years.

Who fills out an accident book?

For a staff accident, the injured employee or someone acting on their behalf fills out the accident book, under regulation 24 of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979. For pupils and visitors, the Department for Education expects the record to carry the name and signature of the first aider or person dealing with the incident.

Where should an accident book be kept?

An accident book should be kept readily accessible to staff, as regulation 25(3) of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979 requires, but with completed entries stored securely because they contain health information. RIDDOR records must be kept at the place where the work is carried on or at the responsible person’s usual place of business.

How long should a school keep accident records?

RIDDOR records must be kept for at least three years under regulation 12 of RIDDOR 2013, and each entry in an accident book kept under regulation 25 of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979 must be preserved for at least three years from the date it was made. No law sets a fixed period for routine pupil first aid records, but they usually need keeping longer than three years, because a child’s personal injury claim can generally be brought until three years after they turn 18, so many schools keep them at least until the pupil’s 21st birthday and longer for serious incidents.

Is a pupil injury at school reportable under RIDDOR?

A pupil injury is reportable under RIDDOR only if it arose out of or in connection with a work activity and the pupil died or was taken directly from the scene to hospital for treatment. The HSE says most playground accidents, sports injuries from normal play, medical conditions and violence between pupils are not reportable.

Official guidance and your next step

The HSE’s incident reporting in schools information sheet is the clearest guide to RIDDOR in a school, and its RIDDOR pages explain how to report online. The DfE’s first aid guidance covers the first aid record and needs assessment. The law is in regulation 25 of the 1979 Regulations and RIDDOR 2013; schools with early years classes should also read section 3 of the EYFS framework, as the nursery record keeping guide describes.

This guide summarises published law and guidance for schools in England and is not legal advice; for a serious injury or a possible claim, speak to the school’s employer, insurer or risk protection arrangement promptly.

Then do one thing: open the accident book and check the last ten pupil entries for three things – the time a parent was told, what caused the accident, and a signature. Any entry missing one of them shows where the form or the training needs to change.