Managing Workplace Injuries

Where an employee is injured at work, the business should take all reasonable steps to assist that employee to recover from their injury and to remain at work, or to make a safe and suitable return to work at the earliest opportunity.

An employee can make a workers' compensation claim if they sustain any injury or illness that occurs out of or in the course of their work - employment must be a significant contributing factor to the development of the claimed injury or condition. If the employee has not incurred any medical costs or lost time from work associated with the injury, they may not need to make a claim for compensation.

However, an employee should always report the incident related to the injury to their Manager and complete an incident form. This allows for corrective actions to take place to reduce the risk of such an injury happening again and for the recording of whether first aid and medical treatment were administered.

Some injuries, illnesses dangerous incidents that happen at work and even death (called ‘notifiable incidents’) must be reported to the relevant WHS regulator by law. It is important to note that reporting a notifiable incident is not just relevant for an employee but must also happen if the incident relates to a contractor or a member of the public.