Comcare - Australian Goverment
Comcare - Australian Goverment
Putting you first at the centre of what we do. Keeping you healthy and safe at work. Supporting you when you are harmed at work. Ensuring your scheme works and is sustainable.
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Incident notification - Definition of terms

Use the following definitions as a guide when deciding when to notify Comcare of a work-related incident.

Term

Definition

Work-related

the incident arose out of:

  • the conduct of the employer's undertaking, or
  • work performed by an employee in connection with the employer's undertaking

Notifiable death

the work-related death of any person including a member of the public, a contractor or an employee

Serious personal injury

an injury to or disease in a person caused in the course of work for which the person needed:

  • emergency treatment by a registered medical practitioner (including psychologist), or
  • treatment in a hospital as a casualty, without being admitted to the hospital, or
  • admission to a hospital

(Safety Arrangements Regulations, r. 2)

Incapacity

a work-related incapacity that leaves an employee unable to work:

  • in the case of an employee who performs work in shifts - 30 or more successive shifts workable by the employee, and
  • in any other case - 30 or more successive working days

(Safety Arrangements Regulations, r. 36A)

Dangerous occurence

an occurence at a workplace that resulted from operations that arose from the undertaking conducted by an employer; and could have caused (but did not cause) the:

  • death or serious personal injury to any person, or
  • total incapacity or any employee for 30 or more consecutive shifts or days

(OHS Act, s. 5(1) and Safety Arrangements Regulations, r. 3)

Workplace
  • any Commonwealth premises (premises owned or occupied by the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth Authority), or
  • any non-Commonwealth licensee premises (premises owned or occupied by the non-Commonwealth licensee)

in which Commonwealth or non-Commonwealth licensee employees, contractors or Commonwealth Authority employees work.

It does not include any part of premises that is primarily used as a private dwelling (OHS Act, s. 5)

Premises

Includes any place (whether enclosed or built or not), including a place under ground or under water, and includes:

  • a building, aircraft, vehicle or vessel
  • any structure whether fixed or moveable (such as a tent), and whether on land, on a water bed or floating on water and
  • a part of a premises

(OHS Act, s. 5)

Employer

 In relation to incident notification, a supervisor can be considered to be the employer and the timeframes for incident notification may begin when the supervisor becomes aware there has been a notifiable incident.