South Australia's Work Health and Safety laws require a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) to immediately notify SafeWork SA of serious injuries or illnesses, dangerous incidents or deaths that occur at work. These obligations are largely set out in Sections 35 through to 39 of the Act.
Incidents are notifiable if they arise out of the conduct of a business or undertaking and may relate to anyone at a workplace, from a worker to a contractor or member of the public.
While anyone at a workplace can report a notifiable incident, PCBUs are legally obligated to do so. Failure to report a notifiable incident to SafeWork SA is an offence and penalties apply.
Notification by the PCBU must be done as soon as practicable after having become aware of the incident and via the fastest means available. In most cases, this is by phone. SafeWork SA may request confirmation of incident details in writing within 48 hours of your phone notification.
You may also notify SafeWork SA in writing by email or fax using the notifiable incident report form available on the SafeWork SA website.
SafeWork SA investigates notifiable incidents. The person with management or control of a workplace must, so far as is reasonably practicable, preserve the incident site until an inspector arrives at the site, or directs otherwise. The site includes any plant, substance, structure or anything associated with the notifiable incident. A number of prescribed reasons enable the person with management or control of a workplace to disturb an incident site to:
- assist an injured person
- remove a deceased person
- make the site safe or to minimise the risk of a further notifiable incident
- facilitate a police investigation
- follow direction from a SafeWork SA inspector that the scene may be disturbed
Where a workplace incident or injury has occurred, the PCBU must investigate it to establish all of the factors involved and determine the appropriate action or actions to prevent a recurrence. By collecting incident information and analysing it within a risk-management process to identify and control risks, everyone can learn from it and improve safety practice.
Business SA can assist with our Inspections and Incident Investigations training course. The reporting of an incident can be make or break for a business, so this course aims to make the process as streamlined and pain-free as possible by providing a step-by-step process that’s both practical and effective. To book or find our more,
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