Accident and incident reporting

How to report an accident

Where an employee has an accident at work, the employer is responsible for reporting the accident. The responsible person is normally the manager, as identified in the safety statement.

If the injured person is self-employed or a member of public, the accident is reported by the most senior person on duty in the place of work.

Accidents and incidents must be reported on the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and there may also be a further legislative requirement to report to the Health & Safety Authority.

National Incident Management System (NIMS)

Accidents and incidents (including confirmed cases of COVID‐19 acquired within a health or social care setting) are reported through the National Incident Management System (NIMS)

Where a staff member tests positive, having contracted COVID-19 in the workplace, this must be reported as soon as possible on NIMS via the the NIRF form and/or interactive NIRF form. The HSE are actively seeking this data to aggregate the information and make it useful in our management of COVID-19 related risk.

You do not have to report onto NIMS if a staff member has contracted COVID-19 while:

• they are fully working from home, and
• they have not attended the workplace in the previous two weeks

This may be considered community transmission and there is no requirement to report the incident onto NIMS.

Contact the NIMS helpdesk

Email: nimshelpdesk@ntma.ie
Phone: 01 2384240

What to report to the Health & Safety Authority (HSA)

Workplace fatalities

COVID-19 occupational (work) exposure

General injuries involving employees

Road traffic and vehicle accidents involving employees

General injuries involving members of the public

Workplace fatalities

Workplace fatalities must be reported to the HSA. This must be done by a responsible person as shown in your safety statement.

You must give the HSA:

• name of the deceased
• location of the accident
• brief details of the accident

This should be done as quickly as possible by:

• LoCall 0818 289 389 (between 9:30 am and 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday)
• sending a written report of the accident to the HSA, using the IR1 form online, within five working days of the death

The responsible person should ensure that no one disturbs the accident scene before:

• the scene has been examined by an inspector
• 3 clear days after notification of the accident

If an injured person dies within a year of an accident, the responsible person must notify the HSA. This must be done in writing as soon as possible after they have been told about the death. This must be done even if the accident had not before been notified to the HSA previously.

The Gardaí should be notified immediately of all workplace accidents resulting in death.

COVID-19 occupational (work) exposure

As SARS-CoV-2 (causative agent of COVID-19) has been included in the 2020, Biological Agents Code of Practice there is a requirement to report work related infection to the Health & Safety Authority (HSA). 

Notification to the HSA should occur when an employer becomes aware of a confirmed case of COVID-19 in an employee due to the employee carrying out work (occupational exposure) with the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).

In the case of a death of an employee from COVID-19, where it has been established that the death was due to the employee’s work (occupational exposure) with the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), the employer (or medical practitioner) must notify this death to the Authority.

How do I know if the case of COVID-19 is work-related/occupational exposure?

There are two scenarios where occupational exposure to biological agents can occur:

1. Occupational exposure to SARs-CoV-2 can result from carrying out work activities that involve a deliberate intention to work with the virus e.g. propagating the virus in a research laboratory. 
2. Occupational exposure can also occur incidentally from specific work activities involving direct exposure to the virus e.g. working directly with a COVID-19 patient, handling SARs-CoV-2 infected waste, conducting COVID-19 testing or carrying out diagnostic testing for COVID-19 in a laboratory. 

The form below should be used to report cases of COVID-19 or deaths resulting from COVID-19 in employees resulting from occupational exposure to the SAR-CoV-2 virus.

Form for Reporting a case of disease or death from occupational exposure to a biological agent

General injuries involving employees

Accidents must be reported to the HSA when a person injured at work cannot perform their normal work duties for 3 consecutive days after the accident. This does not include the day of the accident. Non-fatal accidents or dangerous occurrences should be formally reported within 10 working days of the event.

Road traffic and vehicle accidents involving employees

Accidents must be reported to the HSA when a person is injured while driving, or as a passenger, in the course of their work and they cannot do their normal work for more than 3 consecutive days after the accident. This does not include the day of the accident. Non-fatal accidents or dangerous occurrences should be formally reported within 10 working days of the event.

General injuries involving members of the public

Accidents must be reported to the HSA when they relate to a place of work or a work activity, and the person needs medical treatment.

Accidents relating to pre-existing medical conditions do not need to be reported.

How to report accidents to the Health & Safety Authority (HSA)

Submit an IR1 form to the HSA online or

Post the IR1 form to:

The Workplace Contact Unit
Health and Safety Authority
The Metropolitan Building
James Joyce Street
Dublin 1

How to report dangerous occurrences

Dangerous occurrences are reported using HSA's online reporting system

The list of dangerous occurrences is available in Appendix 1 of The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Reporting of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences) Regulations 2016)