Incident and Hazard Reporting Procedure

Purpose. This procedure explains how injuries, incidents, near misses, hazards and environmental incidents are reported, recorded, investigated and closed at Ironbark Engineering.

1.What must be reported

Every injury, no matter how minor, every incident that caused or could have caused injury or damage, every near miss, every hazard that cannot be fixed on the spot and every spill or environmental release must be reported. Reporting a near miss is as important as reporting an injury because it gives the company the chance to fix the cause before someone is hurt.

2.Immediate actions

The first priority is the welfare of anyone injured: provide first aid, call emergency services if needed and make the area safe. The supervisor must be told immediately. Where the incident involves plant, the plant must be isolated and left undisturbed until the Quality and Safety Manager has released the scene, unless it must be moved to help an injured person.

• Attend to the injured person and call emergency services if required
• Make the area safe and isolate plant involved
• Notify the supervisor immediately and the Quality and Safety Manager within the hour
• Preserve the scene for serious incidents until released

3.Recording

The worker or the supervisor must complete the incident and hazard report form and enter the event in the WHS incident register before the end of the shift. The register entry must state the site, the type of event, a factual description, the immediate action taken and the people involved. Photographs must be attached where they help explain what happened.

4.Notifiable incidents

A death, a serious injury or illness, or a dangerous incident such as an uncontrolled release, a structural collapse or a crane overturn is notifiable to the regulator. The Quality and Safety Manager must notify WorkSafe Victoria or Workplace Health and Safety Queensland immediately by the fastest means and must keep the site undisturbed as required by the regulator.

5.Investigation

Injuries, notifiable incidents and high potential near misses will be investigated within five working days by the Quality and Safety Manager with the supervisor and a worker representative. The investigation must identify the direct causes and the underlying system causes and must result in corrective actions with owners and due dates entered in the register.

6.Close-out and learning

An incident is closed only when the corrective actions are verified as complete. Lessons from incidents will be shared at the next toolbox talk at every site and repeat incidents will be reviewed at the monthly management review.