Hazard reporting policy
PEER Construction is committed to the provision of a safe and healthy work environment for all employees, contractors, apprentices, and clients.
A hazard is defined as a situation or thing that has the potential to harm a person.
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to outline PEER Construction’s requirements for reporting hazards.
This policy:
- sets a standard for PEER Construction regarding WHS risks.
- aligns with the standard set by the Work Health and Safety Act and Regulations 2012 and the PEER Code of conduct and ethical policy.
Scope
This policy applies to all employees, and all activities carried out, at PEER Construction relating to the assessment of risks in:
- the introduction, supply, installation, commissioning, repair, disposal, demolition, relocation and/or modification of any plant, equipment, materials, substances or processes
- incident and accident investigation
- safety inspections
- risks to consumers, clients, employees and stakeholders
- risks to the business – internal and external
- any other activity, which requires the assessment of potentially hazardous situations.
The process of identification of all safety aspects and impacts of PEER Construction operations as described in this policy must be documented.
Reporting
It is important that all hazards, incidents and accidents are reported.
Hazard reporting
Employees must report all hazards, near misses, incidents, or injuries to their site supervisor or manager.
An email outlining the accident/incident and recommendations must be sent to management.
Supervisor
If the hazard can be remedied immediately, the manager should take appropriate action in consultation with the health and safety representative. If a hazard requires greater investigation and the sourcing of risk controls, the manager, or the reporting employee should record this and identify the proposed risk controls in consultation with the health and safety representative.
Hazards identified during formal inspections should be recorded.
The manager must report all notifiable incidents to SafeWork SA by phone and then in writing within 48 hours.
Near miss and incident reporting
All near miss/incidents should be recorded by the manager or the reporting employee. If a person has been injured the need for first aid should be assessed and appropriate action taken.
If the near miss/incident is serious, the manager should contact the WHS team for advice. The WHS team will advise if SafeWork SA needs to be notified of the incident.
The incident is deemed to be a Notifiable Incident and must be reported to SafeWork SA if it resulted in:
- the death of a person
- a person requiring medical treatment within 48 hours of exposure to a substance
- a person requiring immediate treatment for:
- the amputation of any body part
- a serious head injury
- a serious eye injury
- de-gloving or scalping
- electric shock
- a spinal injury
- the loss of a bodily function
- serious lacerations.
If the incident is notifiable, the site of the incident is to remain undisturbed until a SafeWork SA inspector arrives on site or gives permission for disturbance.
The head of department or unit manager must report all notifiable incidents to SafeWork SA by phone and then in writing within 48 hours.
The manager should undertake an incident investigation in consultation with the health and safety representative and record the findings, recommendations and report of the incident.
Complex investigations or investigations where there is uncertainty will be supported by the WHS team upon request of the manager or health and safety representative.
Injury reporting
The accident/incident report form must be completed for any incident, accident or near miss.
The completed form must be emailed to the supervisor/manager.
An email outlining the accident/incident and recommendations must be sent to management.
Equal Opportunity Act 1984
Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA)
Work Health and Safety Regulations 2012 (SA)
Environment Protection Act 1993
Hazard report form
Accident incident report form
Version 2.0 – Last updated 01/05/2023