Investigating and reporting incidents
All unsafe work is serious whether an injury occurs or not.
You must record all incidents in a register of injuries and investigate why the incident occurred.
Document the investigation, the outcome, all work changes or risk controls put in place as a result, and how you have communicated these changes to your workers.
Reporting incidents
If you are concerned about any incident, minor or significant, call us for advice on 13 10 50.
If there is a serious incident – what we call a ‘notifiable incident’ – call us immediately on 13 10 50.
Notifiable incidents
A notifiable incident is when:
- a person dies
- a person experiences a serious injury or illness
- a potentially dangerous incident occurs.
Significant penalties apply if you don’t notify us of a ‘notifiable incident’.
You must also notify your insurer within 48 hours.
What we need to know
When you call us to report an incident, we will ask for:
- an overview of what happened, including date, time and location
- information about anyone who was injured, including their date of birth, contact details and their relationship to you (worker, site visitor, volunteer, contractor, member of the public)
- information about the injury, including treatment received and hospital details, if they were taken to hospital
- your details, including business information and contact details
- immediate action taken to make the site safe
- further safety action taken, or actions that will be taken, to prevent the incident happening again.
Investigating a 'notifiable incident'
A notifiable incident is when:
- a person dies
- a person experiences a serious injury or illness
- a potentially dangerous incident occurs.
Significant penalties apply if you don’t notify us of a ‘notifiable incident’.
You must also notify your insurer within 48 hours.
What we need to know
When you call us to report an incident, we will ask for:
- an overview of what happened, including date, time and location
- information about anyone who was injured, including their date of birth, contact details and their relationship to you (worker, site visitor, volunteer, contractor, member of the public)
- information about the injury, including treatment received and hospital details, if they were taken to hospital
- your details, including business information and contact details
- immediate action taken to make the site safe
- further safety action taken, or actions that will be taken, to prevent the incident happening again.
Your responsibilities after an incident
When an incident has occurred in your workplace, you must:
- provide first aid and make sure the worker gets the right care
- record the incident in the register of injuries
- help the worker recover at work by offering suitable employment, staying connected with the worker, and planning a return to work program with your worker, their doctor, and your insurer.
What we can do
We can use a range of measures to ensure the health and safety of your workers. These include:
- prosecutions
- improvement, prohibition and penalty notices
- enforceable undertakings
- regular site inspections.
Other incidents where workers compensation is payable
You have 48 hours after becoming aware a worker has received a workplace injury to notify your insurer.
Even if you are unsure whether workers compensation will be required, you need to notify your insurer.
Problems reporting a workplace injury (for workers)
If you are a worker and your employer has not notified their insurer about your workplace injury, or will not give you their workers compensation insurance policy number, call us on 13 10 50. We can give you the necessary details so you can call the insurer yourself.
Register of injuries
If you are an employer, sole contractor or an employer of staff in a volunteer association, you must keep a register of injuries to record workplace injuries or illnesses sustained by workers or visitors, regardless of whether there has been a claim made to your insurer.
A register of injuries must be kept for workers to record workplace injuries or illnesses.
The register of injuries may be kept in writing or be electronic (like on a computer).
Having a register that all workers can access will help them raise any safety issues they have. It can also help you develop new safe work procedures.
There are penalties for failing to keep a register of injuries.
What to include in your injury register
The register of injuries must include:
- the name of the injured worker
- the worker's address
- the worker's age at the time of injury
- the worker's occupation at the time of injury
- the industry in which the worker was engaged at the time of injury
- the time and date of injury
- the nature of the injury
- the cause of the injury.
We have a standard template you can use for your injury register or you can buy one from your office stationery supplier.
If there is a serious injury, illness, dangerous incident or death Call 13 10 50 immediately.
