Chapter 13. Incident Management

Supporting Documents for this Chapter:

• Public and Products Liability Incident Reportsign-in required (sign-in required)

• WHS Employment Assistance Program Incident Reportsign-in required (sign-in required)

• WHS Incidents and Insurance Readers Guide - Providerssign-in required (sign-in required)

Participants may be involved in incidents while accessing or traveling to the Services. This Chapter identifies how and when incidents need to be reported to the Department and outlines the scope of the insurance policies taken out by the Department to cover Participants accessing the Services.

The Provider must Notify the Department as soon as possible, and on the same day, of any incident involving the Services, including direct travel to and from the Services, for example:

• any accident, injury or death occurring during or because of the Services, including in relation to Personnel, Participants, or members of the public

• any incident or near miss which relates to a WHS issue

• any incident that may negatively impact upon the Department or bring the Provider or the Services into disrepute.

The Provider must ensure that Personnel and Participants:

• understand their obligations to report incidents and near misses

• have access to reporting mechanisms.

If a Participant involved in an incident is accessing services from an Other Program Provider, the Provider must also notify the Other Program Provider of the incident.

The Provider must Notify the Department of any incident that may result in a liability claim by completing the Public and Products Liability Incident Report and submitting it to the department, regardless of whether a claim is being made at the time.

• Documentary evidence — The Provider must retain copies of Public and Products Liability Incident Reports.

The Provider must manage incidents involving Participants demonstrating challenging behaviour in accordance with Part A Guidelines: Servicing Participants with Challenging Behaviours Chaptersign-in required (sign-in required).

The Provider must Notify the Department as soon as possible and on the same day of any WHS incident or near miss involving the Services by completing the WHS Employment Assistance Program Incident Report and submitting it to the Department (and if relevant, a Participant's Other Program Provider) in accordance with the WHS Incidents and Insurance Readers Guide - Providers and the Communication Protocol.

The Provider must manage critical WHS incidents in accordance with the WHS Incidents and Insurance Readers Guide - Providers and the Communication Protocol. This will include the Provider notifying the Department via telephone as soon as possible and within one hour of the Critical WHS Incident, in addition to providing written Notification to the Department. A Critical WHS Incident has the same definition as a Notifiable Incident under the WHS Act and means an incident that results in the death of a person, a serious injury or illness of a person, or a dangerous incident.

A dangerous incident is an incident that exposes a person to a serious risk to health or safety due to an immediate or imminent exposure to electric shock, spillage or leakage of a substance, uncontrolled implosion, explosion, or fire.

Examples of Critical WHS incidents include:

• injuries requiring immediate treatment as an in-patient in a hospital

• a serious head or eye injury

• a serious burn

• a spinal injury, or

• an amputation of any part of the body

• Documentary evidence — The Provider must retain copies of WHS Employment Assistance Program Incident Reports.

The Provider must support affected individuals and manage WHS incidents in accordance with the WHS Incidents and Insurance Readers Guide – Providers.

For Participants who are serviced by an Other Program Provider, the Provider should work with the relevant Other Program Provider to support the affected Participant after a WHS incident.

The insurance policies purchased by the Department for Participants cover them while they access Small Business Training or a Workshop. These insurance policies are intended to cover Participants in the event of an incident that the Provider's insurance fails to cover.

Where a Participant submits a valid claim for insurance following an incident that occurred due to the Participant's participation in Small Business Training or a Workshop and there is a dispute over whether the Provider's insurance or the Department's insurance should cover the Participant, the Provider's insurance take precedence over the Department's insurance in addressing the claim.

The Department's insurance policies are detailed in the WHS Incidents and Insurance Readers Guide – Providers, and copies of the insurance policies are available on the Provider Portal.

• Documentary evidence — The Provider must retain copies of the insurance policies relied upon by the Provider to be compliant with the requirements for additional insurance.