Injury or illness
Consider both notifiable serious harm and mining reportable medical-treatment cases.
INCIDENT FIRST ACTIONS
Protect people. Escalate. Record.
Use the mine’s emergency plan and authorised responders. This guide supports escalation; it does not determine notification status for you.
- 01
Protect people
Raise the alarm and obtain urgent help. Follow site emergency directions and act within your competence. Avoid exposing additional people.
- 02
Preserve the site
For a notifiable incident, the person managing or controlling the workplace must preserve the site so far as reasonably practicable until an inspector arrives or directs earlier release. Exceptions allow assistance to injured people, removing a deceased person, essential safety action, police investigation and authorised action.
WHS Act s. 39
- 03
Assess and notify promptly
Assess notifiable status first. The PCBU must ensure immediate notification under s. 38. If not notifiable, assess the additional mining reportable categories. The mine operator must notify reportable incidents as soon as possible after awareness, in the approved written form.
WHS Act ss. 35–38 · Mines Regulations r. 5 and r. 675V
- 04
Confirm notifications
A contractor PCBU must also notify the mine operator as required. Multiple duty holders should confirm that regulator notification actually occurred; internal reporting alone is not regulator notification.
r. 675X · WHS Act s. 38
- 05
Record and learn
Keep times, factual observations, notification references, regulator directions, control changes and action owners. Investigate with competent people and follow authorised restart arrangements.
RECOGNISE & ESCALATE
Events that need careful assessment.
Mobile plant or vehicle
Loss of control, unintended movement or inability to stop can engage mining reporting duties.
Ground or structural event
Assess collapse, subsidence, seismic events and damage affecting safe operation.
Electrical event
Escalate shock and high-voltage contact; use authorised electrical responders.
Blast or explosives event
Assess unintended detonation, abnormal ignition and flyrock beyond the safety zone or near people.
Air quality or underground emergency
Assess toxic exposure, ventilation interruption, inrush and escape-route loss.
Fire, smoke or uncontrolled explosion
Raise the alarm and follow site evacuation or withdrawal directions. Escalate to the emergency controller; fire-fighting is for the planned, trained response.
Escalate to: Site emergency controller / SSE; Electrical Supervisor if electrical involvement is suspected.
Notification assessment
Assess dangerous-incident criteria for uncontrolled fire or explosion, plus any serious injury, illness or mining reportable event. No injury does not automatically mean no notification.
WHS Act s. 37(b) · Mines Regulations r. 43 and Part 10.2 Division 5
Confined-space emergency
Raise the alarm from outside and initiate the established rescue arrangements. Prevent unplanned entry; the standby person must not enter to attempt rescue.
Escalate to: Standby person, designated supervisor and the trained emergency/rescue team.
Notification assessment
Assess the actual harm and dangerous event, including hazardous atmosphere, substance exposure or other relevant criteria. Retain the applicable permit and incident evidence under site requirements.
Mines Regulations Part 4.3, including rr. 74–77 · WHS Act ss. 36–37
Fall, suspended person, lifting failure or dropped object
Raise the alarm, keep others clear and use the planned rescue response. Do not improvise access, lifting or recovery while the area remains unsafe.
Escalate to: Designated supervisor, emergency controller and competent lifting/height-response personnel.
Notification assessment
Assess serious harm and dangerous-incident criteria, including falling objects and relevant crane or registered-plant failure. Preserve the scene where required.
WHS Act s. 37(f)–(g) · Mines Regulations r. 80
Inrush, inundation or unplanned immersion
Raise the alarm and follow designated withdrawal or evacuation directions. Keep people away from affected areas and engage the site emergency response.
Escalate to: SSE / emergency controller; the relevant Quarry or Underground Manager and specialists identified by the plan.
Notification assessment
Assess underground inrush against dangerous-incident criteria and unplanned immersion against mining reportable criteria, as well as any injury or illness.
WHS Act s. 37(j) · Mines Regulations r. 5 and r. 631A
Psychosocial harm, threats, violence or harassment
Address immediate safety and support needs, using emergency services for immediate danger. Use the designated confidential reporting route; record factual essentials and avoid unnecessary graphic or medical detail in shared records.
Escalate to: Appropriate site leader / designated confidential contact and support services; police or emergency responders where required.
Notification assessment
Assess serious injury or illness and applicable mining-reporting duties. Follow WorkSafe’s mining gendered-violence guidance where relevant. A complaint pathway and a statutory incident notification are distinct processes; seek WorkSafe advice if uncertain.
Mines Regulations rr. 55A–55D · WHS Act ss. 35–38
Cyclone, bushfire, flood or other severe-weather threat
Follow the mine’s documented trigger, communication, withdrawal, muster and re-entry arrangements. Escalate deteriorating conditions through the site command structure.
Escalate to: SSE / Exploration Manager and designated emergency controller.
Notification assessment
A weather warning alone is not automatically a notifiable incident. Assess actual harm or dangerous/reportable events separately and follow emergency-service directions.
Mines Regulations r. 43 and Part 10.2 Division 5
Twelve common categories for escalation, not an exhaustive list of legal incident definitions or an automated notification decision. The circumstances, seriousness and exposure determine the required reporting and response.
WorkSafe incident reporting
Use the current regulator instructions and record confirmation that notification occurred.
1800 678 198SOURCES
Check the duty holder and timeframe.
- WorkSafe: reporting concerns and incidents
- WorkSafe: reportable incident in mining
- WorkSafe: preserving the site of a notifiable incident
- WorkSafe: Incident notification interpretive guideline
Current legislation prevails over older guidance. Source check 2026-10-05; professional review remains pending.
NEXT STEP
Record what happened while it is fresh.
A diary entry with the time, the people, the scene and the notification made is the record you will be asked for later.