This topic should provide you with the ability to:
Plan work in accordance with provisions of OHS legislation and standards
Identify and address hazards and report risk, incidents and injuries in line with organisation policies and procedures
Undertake OHS housekeeping in work area and update own knowledge of OHS issues
Manage own levels of stress and fatigue to ensure ability to work safely
Section 1.5 Report incidents and injuries in line with organisation policies and procedures
Accidents
Accidents and incidents are unplanned and undesired events that result in injury to people or damage to property, or at least, they have the potential to cause injury or damage.
Accidents and incidents, including ‘near misses’, can tell us a lot about the types of risks that can arise from work activities. Whether or not injuries or damage result from an incident, investigation of the causes can be a valuable aid to hazard identification and risk assessment. They can also reveal weaknesses in a system which was supposed to control the risk.
For these reasons, it is important to report incidents and keep records of them. Some kinds of accidents, incidents and dangerous occurrences, as well as some kinds of work health problems, should be reported to WorkCover.
Accident investigation
The cause of an accident may not be obvious. Investigation may reveal several co-incidental causes, making a chain of causation factors, none of which would have been sufficient on its own to cause the accident. Poor maintenance, inadequate training, poor planning or too much pressure to meet deadlines can all contribute, as can the work environment. The aim of the investigation is not to assign blame, but to understand the various factors which contributed to the accident happening, with a view to preventing it from happening again.
Incident notification
Notification of work-related incidents to OHS authorities is a legal requirement of both the workers compensation and occupational health and safety legislation. In New South Wales this authority is WorkCover NSW.
The following is a list of relevant legislative provisions:
Section 44 of the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998
Clause 32 of the Workers Compensation Regulation 2003
Sections 86 and 87 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000
Clauses 341, 341A, 342, 343 and 344 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation 2001
From 1 September 2003, work-related incidents under clause 341 are called incidents. Previously, these incidents were called accidents and other matters. Also from 1 September 2003, there is a new simplified incident notification system in NSW. The types of incidents that should be reported include:
Serious incident involving a fatality or a serious injury or illness. Notify WorkCover immediately by phone and the workers compensation insurer within 48 hours.
Incident involving an injury or illness to workers, where workers compensation is or may be payable. Notify the workers compensation insurer within 48 hours.
Serious incident with no injury or illness, but is immediately life threatening. Notify WorkCover immediately by phone plus notify WorkCover within seven days to make full report.
Incident with no injury or illness, and is not immediately life threatening. Notify WorkCover within seven days.
These provisions include non-workers, for example visitors or customer at the workplace.
When notifying, you will be asked questions about the incident. Some information will only need to be provided when there has been a death, injury or illness.
Employer information:
name of employer
address (street address, suburb, postcode)
ABN number
type of industry.
Notifier information:
name of notifier
phone number.
Injured person details:
name of injured, ill or deceased person
residential Address (street, suburb, postcode)
date of birth
phone number
non-worker category (eg. visitor, customer).
Incident details:
date of incident
location of incident (location, street, suburb, postcode)
description of how incident happened
description of injury, illness or death*.
Insurers may ask for more information.
Occupiers of workplaces/employers must keep the following records about the notification for at least five years after the notification is given:
a record of the date, time, place and nature of the incident/injury
a record of the date of notification and the way in which the notification was given
a record of any acknowledgement given by the insurer or WorkCover.
These records must be made available for inspection by a WorkCover inspector or an authorised representative of the worker. An entry in the Register of Injuries kept under is a sufficient record of an injury to a worker for notification purposes. The record of any acknowledgement of the notice can also be kept as part of the Register of Injuries.
Register of injuries
Under Section 63 of the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998, employers are required to keep a register of injuries that is readily accessible in the workplace. The manager is responsible for this register of injuries. The Register of Injuries a current record of any injuries suffered by workers, whether they result in claims or not. You should fill in the Register even if the accident is small and seems insignificant. You may need to provide this information in case you have to make a workers compensation claim
Sample of the Register of Injuries
Employers can draw up their own injury register. However, it must be reproduced in the prescribed form:
[Entries in this book should, if practicable, be made in ink]
Activity 1.4
Read about the following situation to you and then fill in the blank page from the Register of injuries logbook (.doc 30 KB).
You were printing a document on a laser printer at work. It appeared that the printer had a paper jam. You picked up the printer to see if the paper was jammed underneath the tray. The toner poured out of the printer, all over your clothes and hands. You cleaned up the mess and changed your clothes. Later that day you noticed your hands were red and swollen.
Register of injuries – first aid
The sample Register of injuries logbook can also be used for the Register of Injuries which should be kept within the First-Aid Kit.
Workplace injury and disease recording
The Code of Practice for Workplace Injury and Disease Recording was adopted by WorkCover NSW in November 1991. The object of this Code of Practice is to adopt the Australian Standard title ‘AS 1885.1- 1990 Workplace injury and disease recording standard’, being a standard issued by Standards Australia. This standard provides guidance to employers, self-employed persons and employees in the recording of injuries and diseases in the workplace.
A copy is available at the Safe Work Australia. However a PDF copy that was valid as of Sept 2009 is available here as part of this DVD.
The main purpose of the Standard is to give employers a guide on how to establish a relatively inexpensive and easy method of recording information on workplace injury and disease.
Activity 1.5
Find out what the following terms mean. (Hint: Search the WorkCover NSW site or the Safe Work Australia, formerly the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission.
lost time injury
no lost time injury
near miss
commuting injuries.
When completed, try the following drag n-drop learning interaction to match definitions to the terms.
The goal of an organisation’s recording system is to provide the data required without duplication or double handling wherever possible. Some systems are designed to provide separate internal reports. Some circulate all the information to the units who maybe involved in OHS. Irrespective what system is used, the data must be available in a manner that will allow analysis and action to be taken.
