Report an incident: Criteria for notifiable incidents

An obligation to notify

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (OHS Act), employers and self-employed persons must notify WorkSafe immediately after becoming aware a notifiable incident has occurred. Failure to report an incident to WorkSafe is an offence and may result in prosecution.

You must report incidents resulting in

• death of a person
• a person needing medical treatment within 48 hours of being exposed to a substance
• a person needing immediate treatment as an in-patient in a hospital
• a person needing immediate medical treatment for one of the following injuries: amputation, serious head injury or serious eye injury, removal of skin (example: de-gloving, scalping), electric shock, spinal injury, loss of a bodily function, serious lacerations (example: requiring stitching or other medical treatment)

Medical treatment means treatment by a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law to practice in the medical or nursing or midwifery profession (doctor, nurse, midwife etc.).

You must also report the following incidents

You must also report the following incidents if they expose a person to a serious risk to their health or safety emanating from an immediate or imminent exposure to:

• an uncontrolled escape, spillage or leakage of any substance , including dangerous goods within the meaning of the Dangerous Goods Act 1985, or
• an implosion, explosion or fire, or
• electric shock, or
• the fall or release from a height of any plant, substance or thing, or
• the collapse, overturning, failure or malfunction of, or damage to, any plant, including plant in relation to a mine, that is prescribed by the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (OHS Regulations), or the design of which must be registered in accordance with the OHS Regulations, or
• the collapse or partial collapse of a building or structure, or
• the collapse or failure of an excavation or mine or of any shoring supporting an excavation or mine, or
• the inrush of water, mud or gas in workings in a mine, underground excavation or tunnel, or
• the interruption of the main system of ventilation in a mine, underground excavation or tunnel.

Dangerous goods incidents

Under the Dangerous Goods Act 1985 all accidents involving dangerous goods must be reported to the nearest fire authority or police station, including:

• fire
• explosion
• spills
• leakage
• escape

This does not apply to prescribed dangerous goods or prescribed quantities of dangerous goods.

Explosive incidents

Under the Dangerous Goods (Explosives) Regulations 2022 the following must be reported:

• incidents relating to explosives involved in explosions, fire or other incidents causing:
  • injury to any person or immediate risk to their health or safety
  • property damage
• theft or loss of explosives, break in or attempted break in

Still unsure if you need to report an incident - call us on 13 23 60.