Keep safety incident sites intact
When an accident occurs, and someone is hurt your first instinct is probably to clean up and make sure the site is safe for more work to take place.
While you must ensure the area is safe so the incident does not get worse, you could face penalties if you do not ensure the incident site is preserved for workplace safety authorities to inspect.
Preserving an incident site is crucial when identifying an incident’s cause.
In a recent incident in the ACT, a worker fell from a ladder whilst conducting roof cleaning and landed on his lower back and arm. The CCTV footage that WorkSafe ACT reviewed as part of its inquiries, showed someone collecting the fallen ladder prior to WorkSafe ACT’s attendance on the site. Actions like this prevent safety inspectors from doing their jobs.
What to know about notifiable incidents
Notifiable incidents in each state and territory
What is a notifiable incident?
Safe Work Australia lists a ‘notifiable incident’ as:
- the death of a person
- a ‘serious injury or illness’, or
- a ‘dangerous incident’ that exposes someone to a serious risk, even if no one is injured.
‘Notifiable incidents’ may relate to any person—whether an employee, contractor or member of the public.
The incident notification information sheet has more information on what type of injuries, illness and incidents need to be reported.
What is a notifiable incident in:
Can work continue where the incident occurred?
Requirements to preserve a site only apply to the area where the incident occurred—not the whole workplace. If you are unsure about what you need to do, you can ask the regulator for advice or to be excused from having to preserve the site.
If you are unsure contact the workplace safety regulator in your state or territory.
Safe Work Australia
According to Safe Work Australia, an incident site must not be disturbed until an inspector arrives at the site or directs otherwise (whichever is earlier). The person with management or control of the workplace is responsible for preserving the incident site, so far as is reasonably practicable.
Any evidence that may assist an inspector to determine the cause of the incident must be preserved—including any plant, substance, structure, or thing associated with the incident.
However, preserving an incident site does not prevent any action needed:
- to assist an injured person
- to remove a deceased person
- to make the site safe or to minimise the risk of a further notifiable incident, or
- to facilitate a police investigation.
The sooner the regulator is notified, the sooner the site can be released.
New South Wales
You must notify SafeWork NSW immediately after you become aware of the notifiable incident.
In addition to providing first aid where required, you must also:
- secure the site and take care not to disturb anything until an inspector attends to carry out an investigation
- record the incident in the register of injuries
- notify your insurer within 48 hours.
Victoria
Notify WorkSafe Victoria and ensure the incident scene is not disturbed until an inspector arrives. However, incident scenes can be disturbed if necessary to:
- protect a person’s health or safety
- help someone who is injured
- make the area safe (for example, if a person with a confirmed diagnosis of coronavirus (COVID-19) has attended the workplace during the infectious period, it is essential the site is cleaned and disinfected, in order to prevent further transmission of the virus)
Tasmania
Notify WorkSafe Tasmania of the incident. Persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must ensure (so far as is reasonably practicable) the site where a notifiable incident occurred is not disturbed until an inspector arrives at the site, or at any earlier time that an inspector directs.
ACT
If a notifiable incident occurs at a workplace, the person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must:
- make the area safe to prevent any escalation of the incident
- notify WorkSafe ACT, and
- ensure that the incident site is preserved properly.
Following a notifiable incident, any plant, substance, or structure associated with the incident must be preserved. Only the immediate area where the incident occurred needs to be preserved, and if it is safe and practical, other areas of the workplace can continue to work.
South Australia
Notify SafeWork SA. Do not disturb the scene any more than is necessary to assist the injured person or to make the incident area safe. This includes any plant, substance, or structure associated with the incident. Keep people not providing immediate and urgent assistance away from the area.
Queensland
Notify WorkSafe Queensland of any incident. An inspector or police officer may need to investigate the site where an incident has happened. Therefore, you must make sure that an incident site isn’t disturbed until an inspector arrives.
Western Australia
Notify WorkSafe of any incident. An incident site must not be disturbed until an inspector arrives at the site or directs otherwise (whichever is earlier) so far as reasonably practicable. The person with management or control of the workplace is responsible for preserving the incident site, so far as is reasonably practicable.
Any evidence that may assist an inspector to determine the cause of the incident must be preserved—including any plant, substance, structure, or thing associated with the incident.