Notifiable incidents. Phone the regulator immediately. Preserve the site.
Under WHS Act ss 35-37, three categories of incident trigger immediate phone notification to the WHS regulator: death, serious injury or illness, and dangerous incident. Written notification follows within 48 hours. The site stays preserved until the inspector authorises disturbance. Below is each category + the four-step workflow + state regulator hotlines.
Why this lives on XIntelliSync, not on a SafeWork training portal
Notifiable incident reporting under WHS Act sections 35-37 is a PCBU duty that triggers on Day 0 awareness — phone the regulator immediately, then submit a 48-hour written notification, then preserve the site under the disturbance-exception rules. None of that runs on XIntelliSync. What XIntelliSync DOES: automated-safety-compliance-tracking records incident-tracking events in your audit log per APP 11 reasonable security. The phone notification to SafeWork, the regulator-specific written notification, the site-preservation log, and the post-incident investigation all stay your PCBU duty. The article below is the three notifiable categories, the four-step notification workflow, and the regulator hotline numbers per state.
Three notifiable categories
Hit any one — phone the regulator immediately.
Death of a person at work
WHS Act s 35
Includes worker, contractor, visitor, or member of the public — any death arising out of or in the course of work activity, however the death physically occurred. Notify immediately by phone. Site preservation mandatory until inspector authorises disturbance. Coronial investigation will follow.
Serious injury or illness
WHS Act s 36
Includes: immediate inpatient hospital treatment for any reason; amputation of any part of body; serious head injury; serious eye injury; serious burn; de-gloving or scalping; spinal injury; loss of bodily function; serious lacerations; loss of consciousness; exposure to a substance that requires medical treatment within 48 hours.
Dangerous incident
WHS Act s 37
An incident that exposes a worker or any other person to serious risk to health or safety from immediate or imminent exposure to: uncontrolled escape, spillage or leakage of substance; uncontrolled implosion, explosion or fire; uncontrolled escape of gas or steam; uncontrolled escape of pressurised substance; electric shock above thresholds; fall or release from height of plant, substance or thing; collapse, overturning, failure or malfunction of plant; collapse or partial collapse of structure; collapse or failure of an excavation; inrush of water, mud or gas; interruption of main supply of breathing air for divers.
The four-step notification workflow
Phone → Preserve → Write → Investigate.
Step 1
Immediate phone notification
As soon as you become aware of the notifiable incident, phone the WHS regulator in your state. NSW 13 10 50 · VIC 13 23 60 · QLD 1300 362 128 · WA 1300 307 877 · SA 1800 777 209 · TAS 1300 366 322 · ACT (02) 6207 3000 · NT 1800 019 115. The phone notification triggers the regulator's response — written notification follows.
Step 2
Preserve the site
Do not disturb the incident site (with limited exceptions: protecting health/safety, helping injured persons, taking essential action against further harm, complying with police instruction). The PCBU must take all reasonably practicable steps to preserve. Inspector authorises disturbance — until then, lock down + photograph + document.
Step 3
Written notification within 48 hours
Submit a written incident notification (regulator-specific form) within 48 hours of the phone notification. Include: PCBU details, incident description, persons involved, injuries / damage, immediate actions taken, witness contact details. Most states have an online form.
Step 4
Investigation + improvement
Investigate root cause + implement corrective actions. Update risk assessments. Re-train workers as needed. Document the investigation outcome + corrective action plan in the WHS Register. Inspector may attend the site, conduct interviews, issue improvement / prohibition / infringement notices.
Where to notify
State WHS regulator hotlines + online forms.
SafeWork NSW — safework.nsw.gov.au incident notification
NSW notification online form. Hotline 13 10 50 (24/7 for fatalities). Most-trafficked notification gateway in Australia.
WorkSafe Victoria — worksafe.vic.gov.au notify incident
VIC notification online form. Hotline 13 23 60 (24/7). Combined WHS + workers comp regulator.
WorkSafe Queensland — worksafe.qld.gov.au incident notification
QLD notification online form. Hotline 1300 362 128 (24/7).
WorkSafe WA — commerce.wa.gov.au/worksafe notification
WA notification online form. Hotline 1300 307 877 (24/7). Mining-sector notifications go to the separate Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety.
SafeWork SA — safework.sa.gov.au notify injury
SA notification online form. Hotline 1800 777 209 (24/7).
Safe Work Australia — Incident Notification Fact Sheet
National policy body's authoritative fact sheet covering ss 35-37 categories, the notification workflow, and contact details for every state regulator hotline. Use as the cross-jurisdiction reference.
All 22+ industries served
Most-likely notifiable incident scenario per industry.
Every industry has a characteristic incident pattern. Construction loses workers to falls from height. Healthcare loses workers to needlestick injury + patient assault. Mining loses workers to plant entrapment + underground incidents. Use the matrix below to build your incident-response runbook.
Construction
Likely notifiable incident — Fall from height >2m is the highest-frequency notifiable incident. Plant tip-over, struck-by-falling-object, electrocution from underground service strike all require immediate notification to the WHS regulator.
Healthcare
Likely notifiable incident — Needlestick injury with bloodborne-pathogen exposure is notifiable as serious injury. Patient assault on staff (resulting in hospitalisation) requires regulator notification within 48 hours.
Hospitality
Likely notifiable incident — Burn requiring hospital treatment, fall causing fracture, deep laceration requiring surgery — all notifiable as serious injuries. Glycol leak in commercial fridge as dangerous incident.
Retail
Likely notifiable incident — Armed robbery is dangerous incident requiring immediate notification. Stock-fall injury from high shelves notifiable if hospitalisation required. Customer-on-staff assault notifiable if serious injury.
Professional Services / Consulting
Likely notifiable incident — Workplace stress claim resulting in extended absence is notifiable in some jurisdictions. Travel-related incident (vehicle accident on client visit) covered under workers comp scheme.
Digital / Tech / SaaS
Likely notifiable incident — Serious mental-health claim resulting in extended absence is notifiable in NSW + Vic. RSI claim if requiring surgery. Remote-work injury (home office) treated as workplace incident if employee can prove work-related causation.
Finance / Mortgage Brokers
Likely notifiable incident — Armed robbery incident at branch requires immediate notification. Serious psychological injury claim from customer-aggression exposure notifiable in NSW + Vic.
Legal
Likely notifiable incident — Serious psychological injury claim from sexual harassment, bullying, or vicarious trauma is notifiable in most jurisdictions. Threatening behaviour from clients in family-law matters notifiable as occupational violence.
Childcare / Early Learning
Likely notifiable incident — Serious injury to a child in care is notifiable to ACECQA + state regulator (separate from WHS regulator). Educator injury from child aggression is notifiable as occupational violence.
Education / RTOs
Likely notifiable incident — Student-on-teacher assault causing serious injury is notifiable as occupational violence. Excursion incident causing student or staff hospitalisation requires regulator notification.
Manufacturing
Likely notifiable incident — Plant entrapment + amputation are notifiable as serious injuries. Hazardous chemical spill above threshold is dangerous incident. Confirmed hearing loss claim notifiable to comp authority.
Transport / Logistics
Likely notifiable incident — Heavy vehicle accident causing serious injury is notifiable to both WHS regulator + NHVR. Fatigue-related incident triggers Chain of Responsibility investigation across the supply chain.
Mining / Resources
Likely notifiable incident — Underground incident, plant entrapment, blasting incident, confined-space fatality — all notifiable to mining safety regulator immediately + WHS regulator within 48 hours.
Agriculture / Primary Production
Likely notifiable incident — Tractor rollover + quad bike incident causing serious injury are notifiable. Pesticide exposure requiring hospitalisation. Livestock-related serious injury (kick, crush) notifiable.
Fitness / Health Clubs
Likely notifiable incident — Equipment failure causing member or staff serious injury is notifiable. Member cardiac event during exercise requires emergency response per documented procedure (separate from WHS notification).
Not-for-Profit
Likely notifiable incident — Volunteer serious injury is notifiable in same way as employee injury. Service-user-on-volunteer assault notifiable as occupational violence in disability + community-services contexts.
Events / Conferences
Likely notifiable incident — Crowd crush incident, temporary-structure collapse, working-at-height fall are all notifiable as serious incidents requiring immediate notification.
Creative / Photography / Production
Likely notifiable incident — Falls from rigging, electrical incidents on set, drone-related injury — all notifiable as serious incidents. Production-site evacuation incident notifiable as dangerous incident.
Marketing / Advertising Agencies
Likely notifiable incident — Serious mental-health claim resulting in extended absence is notifiable in NSW + Vic under psychosocial duty. RSI claim requiring surgery notifiable.
HR / Recruitment
Likely notifiable incident — Serious psychological injury claim from sexual harassment exposure or vicarious trauma is notifiable in most jurisdictions. Threatening behaviour from candidates / employers notifiable as occupational violence.
Insurance Brokers / Underwriters
Likely notifiable incident — Serious psychological injury from customer aggression or vicarious trauma is notifiable. Threatening behaviour from disputed-claim customer notifiable as occupational violence.
Real Estate / Property Management
Likely notifiable incident — Agent assault during property inspection or showing is notifiable as occupational violence. Vehicle accident causing serious injury covered under workers comp + WHS notification.
FAQs
Notifiable incident reporting — answered.
What counts as "immediate inpatient hospital treatment"?
Admission to hospital as a patient receiving treatment — not just an emergency department visit. The patient is admitted, stays overnight or longer, and receives treatment as an admitted patient. Outpatient or emergency-department-only treatment without admission does NOT trigger this category. If in doubt — notify; under-notification is the more costly mistake.
What if the injured person refuses hospital treatment?
Notification is triggered by the FACT that the injury REQUIRED immediate inpatient treatment, not by whether the person actually accepted treatment. If a reasonable assessment indicates the injury required immediate inpatient treatment — notify. The worker's refusal does not eliminate the duty.
Does the 48-hour written notification clock start from incident or from awareness?
From immediate phone notification. Specifically: phone notification is triggered "as soon as you become aware" — the written notification follows within 48 hours of the phone notification (most jurisdictions). If the incident is discovered late (e.g. delayed reporting from a remote site), the clock starts from awareness.
When can I disturb the site?
Five exceptions: (a) to protect the health and safety of any person, (b) to aid an injured person, (c) to take essential action to make the site safe or prevent a further notifiable incident, (d) at the direction of an inspector or police, (e) for the purposes of removing a deceased person. Outside these exceptions, the site stays preserved. Document every disturbance with photos + reason + person who authorised.
What is an inspector likely to do after notification?
Depends on severity. For minor dangerous incidents — possibly a phone follow-up + paper-trail review. For serious injuries — likely a site inspection within days. For deaths — immediate site attendance, coronial coordination, multi-week investigation. Inspectors have powers to enter, interview workers, take samples, seize documents, issue improvement notices (require fix within timeframe), prohibition notices (immediate cease activity), and infringement notices (on-the-spot fines).
What is the penalty for failing to notify?
Across jurisdictions: individuals up to ~$10,000-$30,000, body corporates up to ~$50,000-$150,000 for failing to notify a notifiable incident under the WHS Act. NSW, QLD, WA also carry the industrial manslaughter offence overlay (up to 25 years imprisonment) for category-1 reckless conduct resulting in death. Do not delay notification — even an honest assessment delay can be evidence in a category-2 prosecution.
How does XIntelliSync support the notification workflow?
XIntelliSync's automated-safety-compliance-tracking agent records incident-tracking entries in your audit log. The actual incident report template (regulator-specific), the phone notification to the WHS authority, the site-preservation log (photos, witness details, immediate actions), and the written 48-hour notification to SafeWork all stay your obligation — XIntelliSync is the audit-log layer for the safety-tracking event, not the regulator-notification agent and not your safety-management system.
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