Quick answer: When a work-related death, serious injury or illness, or dangerous incident happens in Queensland, you must notify the regulator immediately, leave the incident site undisturbed until an inspector arrives or directs otherwise (apart from a few permitted exceptions, such as helping anyone who is hurt or making the area safe), and keep a record of the incident for at least five years. Working out why it happened is a separate job that follows.
Most Queensland businesses never have to use this, which is exactly why the first hour after a serious incident tends to go badly. People are shaken, the site is chaotic, and nobody is sure whether the incident even counts as notifiable. Knowing the sequence before it happens makes a real difference.
First-response checklist
If you only read one part of this article, make it this list. It follows the sequence on WorkSafe Queensland's own notification pages.
- Look after people. Get first aid and emergency help to anyone who's hurt, and stop anyone else being exposed to the same hazard.
- Notify immediately. Call WHSQ on 1300 362 128 or use WorkSafe Queensland's online notification form. After hours, the same number passes your details to an on-call inspector.
- Preserve the site. Leave the incident area undisturbed until an inspector arrives or directs otherwise, apart from the permitted exceptions covered below.
- Keep the record. Hold a record of the notification for at least five years from the date you notified. If you notified by phone, WHSQ gives you written details of what it received that you can keep.
- Notify your workers' compensation insurer separately. It isn't the same as notifying WHSQ, although if you're insured with WorkCover Queensland you can do both at the same time.
What counts as a notifiable incident
Under the WHS Act, a notifiable incident is a death, a serious injury or illness, or a dangerous incident, and it has to arise out of the work of the business. An incident isn't notifiable just because it happened at or near a workplace. A serious injury or illness includes anything needing immediate treatment as an in-patient in hospital, or immediate treatment for injuries such as an amputation, a serious head or eye injury, a serious burn, a spinal injury or a serious laceration.
A dangerous incident is the one that catches people out, because nobody has to be hurt. If someone was exposed to a serious risk from something like a collapse or partial collapse of a structure, an uncontrolled escape, spillage or leakage of a substance, an uncontrolled explosion or fire, or the fall or release from a height of plant, a substance or a thing, it can be notifiable even though everyone walked away. Electrical incidents can also trigger separate notification requirements under Queensland electrical safety laws, including notification of serious electrical incidents and dangerous electrical events to the Electrical Safety Office. WorkSafe Queensland has a page to confirm whether an incident is notifiable, and if you're still unsure, its advice is to call 1300 362 128.
How to notify, and who is responsible
The business owner or employer, referred to in the legislation as the person conducting a business or undertaking, is legally responsible for making sure WHSQ is notified. You can notify by phone, through WorkSafe Queensland's online incident notification form, or by emailing a completed incident notification form. The duty is to notify immediately after the business becomes aware of the incident, so internal escalation needs to get incidents to the right person without delay. If more than one business is involved, such as a principal contractor and a subcontractor, each one has to make sure the regulator has been told.
Preserving the incident site
Once you've notified, the person with management or control of the workplace has to make sure the incident site isn't disturbed until an inspector arrives or directs otherwise. WHSQ lists four situations where the site can be disturbed: to help an injured person, to remove a deceased person, to make the site safe or minimise the risk of a further notifiable incident, and to assist a police investigation. An inspector can also give permission to disturb the site, including over the phone, so call first if you need to.
The requirement applies to the area where the incident happened, not your whole place of work, so other work can often continue. What you can't do is tidy up, restart machinery or put the incident area back into use because the day has to go on. In practice, that means barricading the area, noting anything that was moved and why, and taking photos where it's safe to do so and doesn't change anything.
Records, and what comes after notification
A record of each notifiable incident must be kept for at least five years from the day it was notified, and keeping a copy of the completed notification is the simplest way to do that. Notification isn't the end of the process. An inspector may attend, ask for documents or answers to questions, and may issue notices, which is where your everyday records, training and risk assessments get tested. For a fatality or a very serious injury, it's sensible to get legal advice early, before formal interviews take place.
Separately from all of that, the business needs to understand why the incident happened. A proper investigation looks at the sequence of events, which controls failed or were missing, and whether the same gap exists elsewhere, then closes out corrective actions with real dates and named owners. If the incident involved a task or piece of plant you've assessed before, revisit the risk assessment for it too. An incident should trigger a review of the controls, although it doesn't by itself prove they were inadequate.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to notify if nobody was hurt?
Possibly. A dangerous incident can be notifiable even when nobody is injured, if it exposed someone to a serious risk from an immediate or imminent exposure to a hazard such as a collapse or an uncontrolled escape of a substance. If you're unsure whether it counts, WHSQ's advice is to call and ask.
What happens if a business doesn't notify?
Failing to notify immediately after becoming aware of a notifiable incident, or failing to keep the record for five years, is an offence, and penalties apply.
Can work continue after a notifiable incident?
Often, yes, elsewhere. The requirement to leave things undisturbed applies to the area where the incident happened, not your whole workplace. Within that area, the site can only be disturbed for the permitted reasons or with an inspector's permission, so call WHSQ on 1300 362 128 first if you need to.
Being ready before it happens
A short incident response plan that names who calls the regulator, who looks after the site and who keeps the records is worth having before you need it. Overwatch Safety Solutions can review your current incident response and investigation process, identify where it would struggle under pressure, and give you a clear action plan, or support a formal investigation if one has already happened.
Sources: WorkSafe Queensland, Notify us of an incident; Confirm if an incident is notifiable; Don't disturb the site of an incident.