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Incident Management & Notification
Incident Management Basics for Serious Incidents
The following is not exhaustive, either in general terms, or in relation to specific types of incidents. It offers only guidance on the basic elements of the management of a serious injury and needs to be adapted to the circumstances of each incident.
1. Assess the situation. Don’t panic and rush in.
2. If it is safe - Render Assistance to any injured or ill persons. Remove the danger OR remove the casualty from danger. Take action to prevent anyone else from being injured, e.g. cordon off area or erect barriers, turn off equipment and/or disconnect power, use PPE for confined space entry. If possible avoid leaving the casualty alone.
3. If necessary call Emergency Services. Call 000 (Aust) or 111 (NZ) (and stay on the line) for all required emergency services (ambulance, fire, police). Call for any onsite qualified first aiders.
4. Notify the Regulator. As soon as resources and the circumtances permit. See the OHS/WHS regulator incident notification numbers detailed in the next column.
5. Ambulance not required? Get them to a hospital or appropriate medical centre. Do not risk exacerbating the injury, if in doubt call 000 (Aust) or 111 (NZ) and request advice.
6. Preserve the scene of the incident. The following situations are exempt from this requirement:
• to assist an injured person
• to remove a deceased person
• when it is essential to make the site safe or to reduce the risk of a further notifiable incident happening
• when it is associated with a police investigation
• when an inspector or the regulator gives permission.
7. Contact the injured person's family/emergency contacts.
8. Legal Advice. For all serious incidents, once safety obligations are addressed, recognise that there is likely to be an investigation by the regulator. This could lead to serious charges against the organisation, its officers, managers and/or workers. If there has been a death the police will also attend on behalf of the Coroner's Office and there may be a coronial inquest. Contact your lawyer, if you are satisfied that they have expertise in Occupational/Work Health and Safety law. There are likely to be prohibition and improvement notices, interviews with witnesses and other relevant workers and requests for a significant number of documents (see also the role of legal advice in the conduct of an investigation into the incident in item 11 below).
9. Nominate a company representative to deal with all relevant regulatory authorities and ensure this person is fully briefed and has legal advice before they make statements to the authorities, workers, the media or other persons.
10. Communicate with workers about the actions taken to assist injured/ill workers and to make the workplace safe. Consult with workers in attendance at the incident about matters that will affect their health and safety. Communicate with HSRs, H&S Committee Members through established workplace channels for WHS consultation to aid this. process.
11. Commence an internal investigation, the assistance of an independent expert may be necessary or desireable. If practical legal advice (even by phone) should be obtained before commencing an internal investigation to ensure that, to the extent permitted by the law, the investigation is subject to the protection of legal professional privilege.
12. Counselling. In some instances, other employees may need counselling support and time off work. The services of a professional trauma counselling organisation should be used for this - not the closest GP or psychologist.
Other actions: There will be other issues and measures which will flow from the above as a result of the actions of relevant authorities and the company's own incident investigation.
INCIDENT NOTIFICATION
EMERGENCY - if there is an immediate threat to life or a fire - 000 (Aust) or 111 (NZ)
You are only required to notify your regulator of the most serious safety incidents, but this is not based on your own assessment. You must be aware of how your regulator defines this. For Guidance, in Australia see - SafeWork Australia Guidance on Incident Notification (the guidance in Victoria and Western Australia differs but not materially) and in New Zealand this Notifications guidance.
It is an offence not to notify certain types of incidents classified under relevant Acts and Regulations as “notifiable”. Incidents can be notified 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so there is no excuse for failing to do so.
As a general statement, an incident must be notified where it relates to:
• the death of a person
• a serious injury or illness of a person
• a potentially dangerous incident.
If a notifiable incident occurs, then:
• The regulator must be immediately notified;
• Written notification must be submitted within 48 hours where this is required by the regulator.
• The incident site must be preserved as noted above under Incident Management.
The OHS/WHS Regulator - must be notified immediately even if you have made a 000 (Aust) or 111 (NZ) call. Failure to notify is a serious offence.
AUSTRALIA
Emergency Services 000
ACT WorkSafe (02) 6707 3000
Comcare 1300 366 979
NSW SafeWork 13 1050
NT WorkSafe 1300 369 915
Qld. WorkSafe 1300 362 128
SA SafeWork 1800 777 209
Tas. WorkSafe 1300 366 322
Vic. WorkSafe 13 2360
WA WorkSafe 1800 678 198
NEW ZEALAND
Emergency Services 111
WorkSafe 0800 030 040
ON CALL 24/7 ADVICE - 0419 338 411
I provide a 7 day 24-hour crisis response service.
I've spent many hours at short notice with clients on weekends, evenings or in the early hours of the morning. The full value of legal advice following an incident is when that advice is sought as a priority.
When required I can also arrange appropriate subject matter specialist advice and support. Calling early can ensure that your incident response investigation and advice is protected, to the extent permitted by law, by legal professional privilege. This is extremely important.
I can either be a part of your incident response team, or particularly for small to medium size businesses, in consultation with you, manage the post incident issues which arise.
This support includes liaising with the statutory authorities, employee relations, media relations, the establishment and conduct of an internal investigation, retaining experts, or guiding your own technical experts on relevant legal considerations, the preservation of documents and other evidence, as well as preparation for and support at regulator interviews, representation at coroners' inquests and/or at any resulting criminal proceedings.
Do you know?
- Who to notify following a workplace incident? Whether this varies for contractors, labour hire, the public or remote incidents?
- Your rights when you are being interviewed by a regulatory agency, whether in your role as an authorised representative of the business, or as a witness, as an officer, manager or worker. Do you know how to manage the conflicts of interest which may arise between the business and any of these other persons?
- How to conduct your internal investigation and how to maintain the confidentiality of that from regulatory investigators, through the use of legal professional privilege?
- How you should respond if
- the business, and / or
- its officers, managers or workers (employees or contractors),
- are at risk of being charged?
Call 0419 338 411, or for matters which are not time critical see my contact details here.