Did you know that the Commonwealth’s Work Health and Safety Act 2011 requires that certain serious workplace incidents and injuries be reported to regulators? This applies to any person in the workplace, such as employees, contractors or members of the public.

These notifications are intended to help preserve the incident site pending further direction from the regulator; so it's vital you are aware of the type of incidents that must be reported. These are:

• death of person
• serious injury or illness
• a dangerous incident arising from work carried out by the business, undertaking or workplace.

Worksite preservation

When a notifiable incident occurs, there is a legal requirement to keep the incident site and any associated plant, substance, structure or object undisturbed until an inspector arrives or notifies otherwise. It's a good idea to notify the regulator as soon as possible because that will ensure the timely release of the incident site. Penalties apply for failure to preserve a site.

Keeping records

Once the regulator has been notified, a record of the notifiable incident must be kept for at least five years from the date of notification, and penalties apply for failure to comply.

Like to know more? Click here to download the WorkCover fact sheet.