Notifiable Events - What Should You Do?

Tuesday August 2, 2016 14:33

Under the old health & safety act, we had become accustomed to the term “Serious Harm” and what we should do when one of these occurred.

With the new Health & Safety at Work Act this has changed to “Notifiable Events”.  There are a range events which are notifiable under the new act, if they occur at work; these may include:

• A death – a person killed as a result of work
• A notifiable injury – serious head, eye or spinal injury, serious burns or lacerations, skin separation, any injury requiring admission to hospital for immediate treatment, or if medical treatment is required within 48 hours of exposure to a substance and lastly amputations requiring treatment other than First Aid.
• A notifiable illness – a person made unwell as a result of work
• A notifiable incident – people’s health & safety is seriously threatened or endangered as a result of a work situation

Only serious events are intended to be notified.

These events trigger requirements to preserve the site, notify the regulator and keep records.

The notifiable incident, illness, injury or death must arise out of the conduct of the business or undertaking. It could be due to the condition of the work site, the way the work activity is organised, or the way equipment or substances are used.

Notifiable events may occur inside or outside the actual work site.

WorkSafe NZ have published a Fact Sheet on Notifiable Events, it is a good idea to have a printed copy available to use as a reference.  You can print this by following the link: http://www.business.govt.nz/worksafe/information-guidance/all-guidance-items/hswa-fact-sheets/what-events-need-to-be-notified/notifiable-event.pdf

 Watch Securo’s 4 Minute Video

Securo has a 4 minute video on Notifiable Injuries / Illnesses.  This can be accessed via the home page of the Securo website www.securo.co.nz or on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2CjfK74OYQ .  The video is designed to be a quick reference to assist should something go wrong.

The video has 3 key points:

1. Gives examples of what are Notifiable Injuries or Illnesses
2. Gives you 5 steps to follow in the event of one of these occurring
   1. Plus 3 additional steps to consider
3. Outlines an incident review process

If you like this video, use it to show to workers to assist their understanding, or save the link to your mobile so that it is always available.  We hope you find this video useful.