Incidents

You have a duty to notify the regulator of "notifiable incidents" that occur in your workplace. A "notifiable incident" includes death, serious injury or illness of person connected to work (e.g. where a person requires immediate treatment in a hospital), or a dangerous incident (e.g. uncontrolled spillage of a substance, uncontrolled explosion, uncontrolled gas leakage).

The WHS Legislation requires you to give this notice by the "fastest possible means".  This can include by telephone, facsimile, email or other electronic means.

You are best advised to work with your Host Provider, contact your local Disability Services office or contact General enquiries 13 QGOV (13 74 68) if a critical incident occurs or has the potential to occur to get the most up to date advice.

You should document action taken in an Incident Report Form.  Reporting should be factual, noting dates, details and any other relevant information.  The report should be filed with the regulator within 24 hours of the incident.

Ensure the person's confidentiality and privacy is maintained and that no discussion about the event is to be held with any person who is not directly involved.  

At the conclusion of any investigation process, a review of the incident and all subsequent actions should be undertaken to determine the effectiveness of the response procedure.  Any changes that will minimise the risk of the situation recurring will be implemented.

Site Preservation

Where a critical incident occurs (and hopefully it never will), you must also ensure (so far as is reasonably practicable) the the site where the incident occurred is not disturbed until an inspector arrives at the site, or such earlier time as the inspector directs.  An exception to this is to assist an injured person or any action that is essential to make the site safe or to minimise the risk of a further notifiable incident.