What Is a Notifiable Event? When Do I Need to Tell WorkSafe?
Something has happened at work. Now you're wondering: “Do I need to report this?”
It's a difficult position to be in.
Someone has been hurt. There has been a serious near miss. Something has gone badly wrong with equipment.
You are thinking about the person involved, what needs to happen next, and whether WorkSafe needs to be called. At that point, the last thing you need is a complicated explanation. You need to know what matters.
The first thing to understand is that not every workplace accident or injury is a notifiable event. A notifiable event is a serious work-related event that must be notified to the regulator. Under New Zealand's Health and Safety at Work framework, this includes a death, a notifiable injury or illness, or a notifiable incident.
For most small businesses, the important question is not simply “Was someone hurt?” It is “Was this a serious work-related event that meets the definition of a notifiable event?” Let's break that down.
1. Make Sure Everyone Is Safe First
Before you worry about paperwork, notifications or records, deal with the immediate situation.
Call 111 in an emergency.
Provide first aid.
Get medical help.
Stop further harm.
Make the area safe.
The notification process comes after the immediate risk to people has been dealt with. WorkSafe's guidance makes clear that preserving the site does not stop you taking action to help an injured person, remove a deceased person, make the site safe, or minimise the risk of further harm.
CompassBiz Quick Win
Put this simple order somewhere your team can see it:
Make people safe.
Get help.
Then deal with the incident.
When something serious happens, people do not always think clearly. Having a simple sequence to follow helps.
2. What Actually Counts as a Notifiable Event?
There are three main categories.
A. A death
A work-related death is a notifiable event. If someone has died as a result of work, WorkSafe says the event must be notified immediately by phone on 0800 030 040. In an emergency, phone 111 first.
B. A notifiable injury or illness
This is where things can become less obvious. A serious work-related injury or illness can be notifiable. WorkSafe's current guidance includes specified serious injuries such as amputation, serious head or eye injury, serious burns, spinal injury, loss of bodily function and serious lacerations, as well as certain serious infections and exposure-related illnesses.
WorkSafe also states that injuries or illnesses that require, or would usually require, a person to be admitted to hospital for immediate treatment are notifiable. “Admitted to hospital” means admitted as an inpatient; it does not simply mean being taken to an Emergency Department for outpatient treatment.
That distinction matters. A person going to hospital does not automatically make an injury notifiable. The circumstances and treatment required are important.
CompassBiz Quick Win
If you are unsure about an injury, do not try to decide based on how dramatic it looks. Ask: What treatment was actually required? Then use WorkSafe’s current Notify WorkSafe tool to help determine whether the injury or illness is notifiable.
C. A notifiable incident can happen even when nobody is hurt
This is the part that catches many small business owners out. A notifiable event does not always involve an injury.
A notifiable incident is an unplanned or uncontrolled work-related incident that exposes workers or others to a serious risk arising from immediate or imminent exposure to specified hazards.
Examples include an explosion, fire or serious substance release; a gas, steam or pressurised substance escape; a potentially lethal electric shock; a fall or release of plant, a substance or another thing from height; a serious structural collapse; the collapse or failure of an excavation or its shoring; or certain serious failures or malfunctions involving authorised plant.
The important point is this: someone does not have to be injured for an incident to be notifiable. A serious near miss can still require notification if it meets the definition of a notifiable incident.
CompassBiz Quick Win
The next time everyone says “That was close”, stop there for a moment. Ask: Could someone reasonably have been seriously hurt by what happened? If the answer might be yes, do not simply brush it off as a lucky escape. Check whether it meets the definition of a notifiable incident.
3. Not Every Accident Is Notifiable
This is just as important. Small workplace injuries happen. Someone gets a minor cut. Someone strains themselves. Someone needs a quick check at a medical centre. That does not automatically make it a notifiable event.
WorkSafe's definition is aimed at serious work-related events. For injuries, the specific thresholds matter. For incidents, the question is whether someone was exposed to a serious risk of harm, and whether the event arose from the conduct of the business or undertaking.
This is why “someone was injured” and “someone had a notifiable injury” are not necessarily the same thing.
4. What Do I Need to Do If It Is Notifiable?
This is where timing matters. A PCBU must make sure the regulator is notified as soon as possible after becoming aware that a notifiable event arising from the business or undertaking has happened. WorkSafe says notification must be made by the fastest way possible in the circumstances.
There is an important difference here from some older advice and templates still circulating online: you should not assume there is a seven-day window to notify WorkSafe. The duty is to notify as soon as possible.
For a death resulting from work, WorkSafe specifically says to notify immediately by phone on 0800 030 040. For other notifications, use WorkSafe's current Notify WorkSafe process.
CompassBiz Quick Win
Save WorkSafe’s notification page in your business records now, while everything is calm. Do not wait until someone is injured to work out where to go.
5. You May Need to Preserve the Site
If a notifiable event happens at a workplace you manage or control, reasonable steps must be taken to preserve the site until an Inspector authorises otherwise.
In practical terms, that generally means not moving the equipment involved, not altering the work set-up, not cleaning up the scene just to get back to normal, and stopping work that could interfere with the site of the event.
There are important exceptions. You can take action to help an injured person, remove a deceased person, make the site safe, or minimise the risk of a further notifiable event. Police, the regulator or an Inspector can also authorise actions.
The purpose is not to punish the business. It is to allow the circumstances of the event to be properly understood.
CompassBiz Conversation Starter
Ask your team: “If something serious happened here tomorrow, would everyone know what we should leave alone?” It is worth discussing before you need the answer.
6. What Happens After You Notify WorkSafe?
Notification does not automatically mean you have done something wrong. WorkSafe reviews notifications and decides what response is appropriate. That may include an investigation or an assisted review of the business's health and safety system. In some cases, WorkSafe may decide that no further action is required.
The important thing is to cooperate and be honest about what happened. Your job is not to guess what WorkSafe wants to hear. Your job is to deal with the event properly, provide the information requested, and learn from what happened.
7. Keep the Records
A notifiable event must be recorded. WorkSafe states that PCBUs must keep records of notifiable events for at least five years from the date the regulator was notified about the event.
That record should form part of your broader Health & Safety system. It should not disappear into someone's inbox and never be seen again.
There is value in looking back: What happened? Why did it happen? What controls were in place? What could be changed? What have we done since?
Although HSWA does not generally require every PCBU to investigate a notifiable event, WorkSafe identifies investigating what happened and making changes to prevent it happening again as good practice.
CompassBiz Quick Win
After a serious event has been dealt with, ask one simple question: “What can we change so this is less likely to happen again?” You do not need to solve everything in one meeting. Start with what you can learn.
8. What If You're Not Sure?
This is probably the biggest practical question of all. Sometimes the facts are obvious. Sometimes they are not.
Maybe someone went to hospital, but was not admitted. Maybe there was a serious near miss, but nobody was injured. Maybe the event happened somewhere other than your usual workplace. Maybe you're unsure whether the event was actually connected to the business.
Those are exactly the situations where guessing is not a good strategy.
WorkSafe provides its Notify WorkSafe tool to help PCBUs determine whether an injury, illness or incident meets the definition of a notifiable event.
And when the situation is serious or unclear, getting appropriate professional advice is sensible.
CompassBiz can help you understand your Health & Safety processes and put practical systems in place, but we are not a substitute for WorkSafe or specialist legal advice on a specific incident.
Take Five
Before you move on, take a minute to think about these questions:
· Would everyone in our business know what to do if a serious incident happened tomorrow?
· Do we know where to notify WorkSafe?
· Does someone know who is responsible for managing the response?
· Would we know what part of the site or equipment should be preserved?
· Do we have a clear way to record and learn from serious incidents?
If any answer is “I'm not sure”, that is useful information. You now know what needs attention.
The Bottom Line
A notifiable event is not simply “someone got hurt at work”. It is a serious work-related event that meets specific criteria.
It can involve a death, a serious work-related injury or illness, or a serious incident that puts someone at serious risk even if nobody is injured.
If one happens, the response matters:
Make people safe.
Preserve the site where required.
Notify the regulator as soon as possible.
Keep the records.
Learn from what happened.
Most importantly, do not let fear or confusion stop you from taking the right steps. WorkSafe's guidance exists for exactly this reason.
And for a small business owner, having a simple plan before something happens can make a very stressful situation much easier to manage.
Good Health & Safety isn't about knowing every answer in advance. It's about knowing what to do next.
Need a Practical Health & Safety System?
A serious incident is the last time you want to discover that your Health & Safety system is missing important pieces.
CompassBiz helps owner-operated New Zealand businesses build practical Health & Safety systems, procedures and records that are designed to be used in real life.
Not paperwork for paperwork's sake.
Clear systems that help you know what to do when it matters.
Further information
For the current official requirements and notification process, use WorkSafe New Zealand’s current guidance:
What events need to be notified?
