Worker Injury Reporting and Notifiable Incidents Procedure

Health & Safety > Worker Injury Reporting and Notifiable Incidents Procedure

Authorised by Chief Executive Officer

Revised Date: 12 July 2019

 

Kyeema Support Services Inc. (Kyeema) will maintain a record of Health & Safety incidents and will notify WorkSafe Victoria of incidents considered notifiable under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

 

Related legislation

Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004

Accident Compensation Act 1985

Accident Compensation (Occupational Health and Safety) Act 1996

Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 (Vic)

Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Regulations 2014

Guide to Incident Notification January 2008 – WorkSafe Victoria Guidelines

 

Related documents

Workplace Inspection Checklist – SC / Windward / Woodbox / GF SF-05

Workplace Inspection Checklist – Lalor St SF-07

Issue Resolution Flowchart KEF-41

Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 KEF -14

Incident notification forms https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/resources/incident-notification-form

WorkSafe https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/disability-services Phone 132 360

 

Scope 

 

The procedure identifies the process for reporting an injury that has occurred to Kyeema workers (employees, supported employees and contractors) at Kyeema’s worksites. The procedure identifies the WorkSafe notifiable incidents and reporting requirements.

 

Procedure

 

Worker Injury

•      Injuries are to be recorded in the Register of Injuries book present at all work sites. This is important for organisational records and for learning purposes. There is also potential for an injury to seem minor at the time but have more major repercussions later.

•      Where an employee is injured while working with a participant the employee or another person will seek whatever assistance is needed for the injured worker and call the Manager/Team Leader for back-up support to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the participant.

•      If the Manager/Team Leader are unavailable phone On Call 0417 156 239

•      Injuries are reported at Kyeema’s bi-monthly Occupational Health and Safety Meetings. 

 

Off-site responsibilities

 

•       Workers working on sites located in the community must also report incidents as per the requirements of the site e.g. Portland Aluminium incident reporting, logging of lost days etc.

 

Investigation

 

•      It is the responsibility of the Manager to ensure that any moderate or serious injury and any near miss that could have caused injury are investigated.

•      Worker Injury Reporting Form SF-48 is to be completed by the Manager in conjunction with the worker involved and the worker Health and Safety Representative for the area.

•      Each investigation should have attached to it a copy of the Injury Report – Worker Injury Reporting Form SF-48. Any WorkCover claim that eventuates must have an investigation report completed - Incident notification form https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/resources/incident-notification-form

 

Reportable incidents

 

WorkSafe Victoria Incident notification form to be used for notifiable incidents and are not for general use in reporting minor injuries.

 

Incident notification form:

https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/resources/incident-notification-form

 

A copy of the Incident notification form must be forwarded to the Chief Executive Officer within 8 hours of the incident.

 

Part 5 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 legally obliges us to report any serious injury or illness, death, or dangerous incident that occurs in your workplace.

 

Part 5 of the Act requires:

 

•    immediate notification of a notifiable incident to WorkSafe on 132 360

•    written notification within 48 hours; and

•    preservation of the incident site until an inspector arrives or directs otherwise.

 

WHAT IS A NOTIFIABLE INCIDENT?

 

Incidents that result in death or serious injury

 

Notification is required where an incident at a workplace results in:

 

•    death; or

•    serious injury

 

Serious injury is used in this context to describe those incidents that result in the consequences described in section 37(1) of the Act. They include, but are not limited to, incidents that result in a person requiring:

 

•    medical treatment within 48 hours of exposure to a substance

•    immediate treatment as an in-patient in a hospital

•    immediate medical treatment for:

–    amputation

–    serious head injury

–    serious eye injury

–    separation of skin from underlying tissue (for example de-gloving or scalping)

–    electric shock

–    spinal injury

–    loss of bodily function

–    serious lacerations

 

Incidents that expose a person to immediate risk to health or safety

 

The notification duty also applies to incidents that expose a person in the immediate vicinity to an immediate health or safety risk through incidents including:

•    the collapse, overturning, failure or malfunction of, or damage to, plant that is required to be licensed or registered;

•    the collapse or failure of an excavation or of any shoring supporting an excavation; • the collapse or partial collapse of a building or structure;

•    an implosion, explosion or fire;

•    the escape, spillage or leakage of any substance including dangerous goods;

•    the fall or release from a height of any plant, substance or object;

 

And certain obligations regarding mines that are not relevant to our industry.

 

A dangerous incident (also called a notifiable near miss) is either an incident that causes immediate serious risks to someone’s health or safety, or exposure to a hazardous substance, e.g. asbestos or hazardous chemicals, which is likely to create a serious risk to someone’s health or safety in the future.

Below we outline what steps you must take in the event of a notifiable incident.

 

Step 1: Seek medical assistance

 

When an incident results in a serious injury or illness, seek immediate medical attention for the affected person by:

 

•    providing first aid; or

•    dialling 000 to request an ambulance if necessary.

 

Step 2: Take control of the incident site

 

When any notifiable incident occurs, we must:

 

•    arrange the rescue of any person still within the incident area (if it is safe to do so);

•    make the area safe to prevent anyone else from being hurt or exposed to harm; and

•    preserve the incident site, i.e. do not disturb the site where the incident occurred.

 

Step 3: Report the incident internally

 

You must report all incidents (regardless of severity, including near misses) internally immediately after they occur. The Kyeema notification procedure is to inform a Manager or the CEO.

 

Internal reporting of an incident helps to ensure that:

 

•    our external notification obligations are met, using accurate information;

•    assistance has been provided to site managers and employees;

•    immediate safety is assured;

•    the incident site has been properly preserved;

•    legal advice can be sought;

•    appropriate prevention activities are implemented; and

•    internal investigation activities can begin.

 

Step 4: Determine who will notify the health and safety regulator of the incident

 

In many cases, there are several parties involved in a notifiable incident, or who are aware of the incident occurring. Each party who has some knowledge of the incident has a responsibility to ensure it is reported to the health and safety regulator.

 

This does not mean that every party is required to complete a notification report, as long as there is agreement about who will report on behalf of others.

 

Step 5: Notify your health and safety regulator of the incident

 

Under the OH&S Act, a person who conducts a business or undertaking (PCBU) must immediately notify the regulator of the incident.

 

In Victoria, an employer or self-employed person must immediately notify the regulator once a notifiable incident has occurred.

 

The following flowchart shows the process for notifying your regulator of an incident by phone:

 

http://www.healthandsafetyhandbook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/notifying-regulator-of-incident-flowchart.png

 

 

Written notification must either be provided on the health and safety regulator’s approved form or contain the details outlined in the form.

 

Step 6: Make a record of the injury and incident

 

Accident and injury compensation laws require injuries to be recorded.
We keep our register of incidents in:

 

•    an Injury Book at each site

•    the electronic file called Incident Report Register

 

Make sure all your workers know that every incident must be reported and documented in the register.


Ideally, the injured or ill person’s supervisor or the trained first aid provider should enter the information in the register.

 

Step 7: Notify your insurer

 

If there is a serious injury from an incident, there is an obligation under workers’ compensation laws to notify the workers’ compensation insurer, usually within 48 hours of the incident. This applies to all jurisdictions.