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Accidents and injuries
Incident reporting and investigation can help make your workplace safer. The following matters should be investigated:
- an injury to a person, or
- damage to equipment, or
- a “near-miss” whereby there was potential for injury or damage.
An investigation should concentrate on identifying the contributing factors for each incident and control measures that can be put in place to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Notifying WorkCover
Certain injuries/incidents are required to be reported to WorkCover. The OHS Act requires employers to notify WorkCover, within seven days of:
- an injury or illness to a person that results in the person not being able to perform their normal work for seven days.
- any incident/accident or other matter occurring at, or in relation to, the place of work that the OHS Regulation 2001 (cl 341) declares to be an occurrence that is required to be notified to WorkCover.
The notification must be on a specific form. These forms can be obtained from a WorkCover 
.
In the case of a non-disturbance occurrence, WorkCover must be notified immediately when the occupier becomes aware of the occurrence and by the quickest available means – eg, telephone, fax.
A non-disturbance occurrence is an occurrence which:
- has resulted in a person being killed, or a body part amputated, or a person being put on a life support system.
- presents an immediate threat to life. These types of occurrences are listed under OHS Regulation 2001, clause344.
In the event of a non-disturbance occurrence:
- the plant involved in the non-disturbance occurrence cannot be used, moved or interfered with.
- an area within 4m of the non-disturbance occurrence site cannot be disturbed for up to 36 hours or until WorkCover gives you permission. However this does not prevent any action taken to rescue or aid any injured persons, remove a body, or to avoid injury to a person or damage to property.
You must keep a copy of all notifications made to WorkCover for up to five years.
You must notify the Worker’s Compensation insurer within 24 hours of becoming aware that a serious injury has occurred. A serious injury is where an employee is unable to perform their normal duties for at least seven days.
The employer must provide a “Register of Injuries” book for employees to record their injuries. These books can be obtained from your Workers’ Compensation insurer.
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