Hazards
As a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU), you have a responsibility to manage risks at your workplace. The Act requires you to do this by identifying hazards and implementing appropriate controls for any matters that you have direct control of. For those outside your control you should notify DHA.
You are also obligated to have procedures in place to report workplace incidents within the required time frames.
Project reporting
Reporting of WHS information for DHA projects is an important process which enables DHA to identify areas of concern across the country that we may be able to influence. It also shows to DHA that you are actively looking for and addressing hazards on your site. As such, there is a requirement to provide DHA with a completed WHS monthly report.
We also ask for other information in these reports that are indicators of positive WHS performance, such as the number of “Tool Box Talks” held on site.
Incidents
What incidents do I need to report?
DHA have an obligation to report to our Regulator (Comcare) if a notifiable incident has occurred on our projects. For this reason, we need to be notified immediately. The following incidents need to be reported to DHA immediately when you become aware of the incident:
- Notifiable Incidents as defined Section 35 of the WHS Act 2011
- Any other incident involving an injury requiring treatment at a hospital or medical practice.
For information on what is notifiable, check your state or territory regulators website.
How do I report an incident?
If the incident is a Reportable Incident under the applicable state or territory legislation, you must report it to your local regulator and DHA. All other incidents and near-misses can be reported as part of the project reporting process.
Reportable Incidents
Where there is a Reportable Incident, you must ensure the incident is reported to DHA immediately.
Step 1
Contact us on 139 DHA (139 342) to report the incident or near-miss.
You must provide the following information:
- what occurred
- details about any injured persons and how they were medically treated or details about the incident where there was no injury
- if you have reported the incident to your local regulator
- the root cause and contributing factors to the incident
- control measures to be implemented to prevent a re-occurrence
- a progress update on the control measure implementation.
If you do not have all of the above information immediately, still report the incident immediately.
Following the reporting of the incident, DHA will check that:
- injured worker(s) has been treated and taken care of
- the site is preserved until both the local regulator and Comcare have given authorisation to disturb the site
- the relevant Authorities have been notified (by you)
- there is an agreed timeframe for completion of the contractor investigation
Please note, a DHA team may investigate the incident.
Step 2
Complete the Contractor Incident Report form [PDF] and return to the whs@dha.gov.au via email as soon as possible.