Notifiable incidents
A ‘notifiable incident’ is:
- the death of a person
- a ‘serious injury or illness’, or
- a ‘dangerous incident’ that exposes someone to a serious risk (even if no one is injured)
arising out of the conduct of the business or undertaking.
‘Notifiable incidents’ may relate to any person—whether an employee, contractor or member of the public.
The incident notification information sheet has more information on what type of injuries, illness and incidents need to be reported.
If a notifiable incident occurs
If a notifiable incident occurs, the PCBU must:
- report it to the WHS regulator immediately, and
- preserve the incident site until an inspector arrives or directs otherwise. This doesn’t prevent help being provided to an injured person, removing a deceased person, making the site safe to minimise the risk of a further notifiable incident, or to facilitate a police investigation.
Call 000 if there is an immediate risk to life.
Reporting an incident to the WHS regulator
Notifications need to be made directly to state, territory or Commonwealth WHS regulators. Contact your WHS regulator for advice on how to make a notification. Safe Work Australia is not a WHS regulator and does not receive notification of incidents.
The Incident notification information sheet provides information on the incidents that need to be reported to the WHS regulator.
Supporting information
- Incident notification information sheet
- model WHS Act (Part 3)
- model WHS Regulations (Part 11.3, Regulation 699)