How to notify us

Life threatening issues or a death

  • call us on 1800 777 209 (statewide – 24 hours)

Non-life threatening injuries/issues

Safe Work Australia's incident notification information sheet provides more information about mandatory reporting requirements with examples.

Notification requirement

A person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must notify us of fatalities and certain serious injuries/illnesses, dangerous incidents or COVID-19 cases that occur at work as a result of the conduct of the business or undertaking.

Incidents may relate to anyone at a workplace such as a worker, contractor or member of the public.

It is an offence to fail to report a notifiable incident.

Fatalities

We will investigate the cause of all reported fatalities within or related to a workplace. Workplace fatalities will fall into one of three categories:

  • notifiable, work-related fatality
  • non-notifiable, non work-related fatality
  • non-jurisdictional fatality, e.g. a road traffic death travelling between home and work.

Serious injuries or illnesses

A serious injury or illness of a person includes:

  • immediate treatment as an in-patient in hospital for any duration, even if the stay is not overnight or longer
  • immediate treatment for:
    • amputation of any body part
    • serious head, eye or burn injury
    • degloving or scalping
    • spinal injury
    • loss of bodily function
    • serious lacerations
  • medical treatment within 48 hours of exposure to a substance.

The following prescribed serious illnesses are also required to be reported:

  • any infection where the work is a significant contributing factor or is reliably attributable to:
    • working with micro-organisms
    • providing treatment or care to a person
    • contact with human blood or body substances
    • handling or contact with animals, or animal hides, skins, wool, hair, carcasses or waste products
  • occupational zoonoses contracted in the course of work involving handling or contact with animals, or animal hides, skins, wool, hair, carcasses or waste products, including:
    • Q fever
    • Anthrax
    • Leptospirosis
    • Brucellosis
    • Hendra Virus
    • Avian Influenza
    • Psittacosis.

COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

Notification of a COVID-19 virus case is required if:

  • it can be reliably attributed to a workplace exposure; and either
    • the person is required to have treatment as an in-patient in hospital; or
    • death.

Dangerous incidents

A dangerous incident means an incident in relation to a workplace that exposes a worker, or any other person, to a serious risk to a person's health or safety emanating from an immediate or imminent exposure to:

  • uncontrolled escape, spillage or leakage of a substance
  • uncontrolled implosion, explosion or fire
  • uncontrolled escape of gas, steam or a pressurised substance
  • electric shock
  • fall or release from a height of any plant, substance or thing
  • collapse, overturning, failure or malfunction of, or damage to, any plant that requires authorisation for use in accordance with the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2012 (SA)
  • collapse or partial collapse of a structure
  • collapse or failure of an excavation or any shoring supporting an excavation
  • inrush of water, mud or gas in workings, an underground excavation or tunnel
  • interruption of the main system of ventilation in an underground excavation or tunnel
  • unplanned loss of control of heavy earthmoving machinery, including brake or steering failure, at a mine
  • any other event prescribed by the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2012 (SA).