Reporting Hazards & Incidents

Health & safety Hazards

A health and safety hazard is a source of potential harm or a situation with the potential to cause harm to people, property or the environment.

Hazards identified within the School's buildings should be reported online.  If the hazard requires immediate attention inform the Officer-in-Charge of the laboratory or the Laboratory Manager (for hazards in Willis Annexe) or the School Manager (for hazards in the Tutorial Building) before submitting the online report.

Hazards identified in areas outside of the normal control of the School, such as internal footpaths or roadways, should be reported to FM Assist.

Health & Safety Incidents

A health and safety incident is any unplanned event which occurs in the course of UNSW work which could result in:

  • Occupational illnesses;
  • Uncontrolled fire and explosion;
  • Physical injuries;
  • Equipment plant or property damage;
  • Dangerous occurrences which could have, but did not injure any person;
  • Exposure to hazardous substances or circumstances;
  • Minor injuries;
  • Any other incident that could put employees or plant at risk.

All incidents involving personal injury and/or damage to property must be reported online as soon as possible and not greater than 24 hours after the incident. The report should be completed with the help of the Officer-in-Charge of the laboratory or the Laboratory Manager (for incidents in Willis Annexe) or the School Manager (for incidents in the Tutorial Building). The incident will be evaluated by the School Health & Safety Committee to ensure that appropriate controls have been instigated.

As well as reporting the incident online, it is also important that the following people are immediately informed:

Completing a hazard and incident report

All hazards and incidents can be reported online via myUNSW.  It enables the tracking of corrective actions as well as providing feedback to the person who reported the hazard or incident. Information regarding this system is available in the Guide to Reporting Hazards and Incidents.  To access the system, log into myUNSW, click on the My Staff/Student Profile tab then Report/Manage OHS&E Issues (next to the H2O icon).

If access to myUNSW is unavailable due to problems with the network, the paper form OHS001 Hazard & Incident Reporting Form is available on the Health & Safety Unit website. This form must be submitted to the responsible supervisor and copies sent to the Health & Safety Unit, the School Health & Safety Committee Chairperson and the Faculty Health & Safety Co-ordinator. This form can also be used by those who do not have access to myUNSW, such as visitors and contractors, who want to submit a report.

Note that those who have access to myUNSW can submit a report on behalf of another staff member, visitor or contractor.