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OH&S - Incident / Hazard Reporting

Staff are responsible for reporting all hazards, near misses, incidents and injuries to their manager immediately as per the Incident / Hazard Reporting procedure. If their manager is not available the next senior manager. All reports must be supported in writing using the Incident/Hazard Report Form.

Incident/Hazard Report Form
For completion in Word For hand written completion


This form needs to be sent through to the manager within 24 hours. The Incident / Hazard Report form contains three sections.

The person making the report is to complete

Section A - giving details of the hazard observed, description of events or incident
Section B - In the event of an injury being sustained, description of injuries and bodily locations

The manager then completes:

Section C - Follow up Incident / Hazard Investigation & Control

The manager of the person making the report must:

• Take action to prevent any person being further exposed to the hazard; if the event is a serious incident or dangerous occurence as described below notify the OH&S Consultant immediately on 0404-006-987 or speed dial 3188
• Conduct an investigation with the worker, consulting with the health & safety representative and / or OH&S Consultant as required
• Identify the factors which may have contributed to the hazard or incident
• Assess the level of risk associated with the hazard & determine controls / actions to eliminate the hazard or reduce the risk
• Implement the controls allocating responsbility to person/s and giving time frames
• All sections of the Incident / Hazard Report must be faxed to the OH&S Consultant (on fax 9214 8565) within 48 hours of receiving the report
• Where managers cannot complete all aspects of the form, the form must still be faxed to the OH&S Consultant within 48 hours. Further details can be completed later and an updated form resubmitted

Definition of Serious Incidents
Compliance with the OH&S Act 2004 requires an employer to notify WorkSafe immediately after becoming aware of an incident at a workplace which results in a serious injury or of an incident which exposes a person to risk:

A Serious injury is defined in accordance with the OH&S Act 2004 as being:

• The death of a person; or
• A person requiring medical treatment within 48 hours of exposure to a substance; or
• A person requiring immediate treatment as an in-patient in a hospital;
• A person requiring immediate medical treatment for
• The amputation of any part of his or her body
• A serious head injury
• A serious eye injury
• The separation of his or her skin from an underlying tissue (such as de-gloving or scalping)
• Electric shock
• A spinal injury
• The loss of bodily function;
• Serious lacerations;
• Any other injury to a person or other consequences prescribed by the regulations

A Dangerous Occurrence is defined by the OH&S Act 2004 as being one of the following:

• The collapse, overturning, failure or malfunction of, or damage to any plant that the regulations prescribe must not be used unless the plant is licensed or registered; or
• The collapse or failure of an excavation or of any shoring supporting an excavation; or
• The collapse or partial collapse of any part of a building or structure; or
• An implosion, explosion or fire; or
• The escape, spillage or leakage of any plant, substance or object; or
• The fall or release from a height of any plant, substance or object
  When reporting a notifiable incident the OH&S Consultant will need to provide:

• The name and address of the place where the incident occurred
• The name of any injured persons
• The details of the injury and a brief description of what happened
• Contact details of a person at the incident site and
• Whether the police, an ambulance or other emergency service is attending or has attended the scene

The OH&S Consultant will notify WorkSafe via phone of the event. A reference number will be issued by Work Safe that is proof of immediate notification. The OH&S Consultant will then ensure written notification of the incident is given to Work Safe within 48 hours of the manager becoming aware of the incident.

If you have any questions in relation indicent / hazard reporting please contact the OH&S Consultant/s Jennifer O'Brien 8157 or Suzanne Canterbury 8049