Preserving a NSW notifiable incident site: what can move?

If a notifiable workplace incident has occurred in New South Wales, the person with management or control of the workplace must, so far as reasonably practicable, ensure that the incident site is not disturbed until an inspector arrives or an inspector directs an earlier release. That is the core rule in section 39 of the NSW Work Health and Safety Act 2011. It does not prevent action to help an injured person, remove a deceased person, make the site safe or prevent a further notifiable incident, assist a police investigation, or act with an inspector's or regulator's permission. The immediate job is to protect people, notify the regulator when required, control the scene, and keep a clear record of what was moved and why.

This guide addresses NSW site preservation after a notifiable incident. It is not a generic Australian incident reporting article, a substitute for emergency response or a definition of every notifiable event. First aid and emergency services come first. SafeWork NSW's incident guidance is the current operational reference. Other states and territories use their own legislation and regulators. Mines and other specialist operations may have different rules or exclusions; do not assume this page governs them without checking the applicable regime.

First decide whether the notification and preservation duties may apply

The NSW WHS Act identifies a notifiable incident by reference to a work-related death, serious injury or illness, or dangerous incident as defined by the Act. A person can wrongly assume that only an injury requiring an ambulance matters. Some dangerous incidents are notifiable even when no one is injured. Conversely, not every first-aid event triggers statutory notification. The decision should be made against the current definitions and facts, promptly and by someone able to escalate uncertainty. SafeWork NSW's notifiable-incident guidance describes the categories and notification process.

The NSW WHS Act 2011, section 38, requires the PCBU to ensure the regulator is notified immediately after becoming aware that a notifiable incident has occurred. Section 39 puts the preservation duty on the person with management or control of the workplace. These may be the same organisation on a simple site, but not necessarily on a multi-employer project. Assign people to both tasks. Do not assume a principal contractor's call silently discharges every other PCBU's potential notification duty without confirming who is responsible and that the regulator received the required notice.

If classification is uncertain but the facts suggest a potentially notifiable event, escalate quickly to the designated decision maker and contact SafeWork NSW for guidance. Do not move equipment simply to avoid disruption while waiting for an internal meeting. At the same time, do not delay rescue, first aid or work needed to remove an immediate danger merely because the site could become an investigation scene. The statutory exceptions exist for exactly those urgent needs.

Secure the scene without worsening the emergency

Start with life safety: summon emergency services, provide first aid within competence, control continuing hazards and prevent other people entering danger. Then create a workable boundary around the relevant area. It might include the plant, substances, structure or thing associated with the incident, not just the point where a person fell or a vehicle stopped. Section 39(2) makes that wider scope explicit. A forklift collision may implicate the vehicle, load, route and controls. A fall may implicate the edge protection, anchor, ladder or scaffold. The boundary should follow the facts rather than an arbitrary tape circle.

Identify a scene controller and log who enters. Do not use an untrained person to make a technical safe-isolation decision. If electrical energy, moving plant, unstable material or a hazardous atmosphere remains, qualified responders should address that risk. A preservation duty does not require leaving a live hazard in place to injure someone else. The action needed to make the area safe should be the minimum effective action, with its timing and reason documented. This is a practical evidence discipline, not a rule that responders must photograph a hazard before acting.

Move bystanders, suspend affected operations and tell workers not to reset equipment, clean up or discard relevant items. Preserve digital evidence too, where possible: CCTV, access logs, plant telematics, work orders, pre-start checks, SWMS, permits and messages can be overwritten by routine retention cycles. Copying or safeguarding those records does not mean altering the physical scene. Protect personal and medical information under the organisation's access controls.

Example: a worker is trapped by plant

An excavator shifts and traps a worker's leg. The crew must secure the machine and free the person using a safe rescue approach; section 39 does not ban action to assist an injured person or to make the site safe. If a machine component has to be cut or moved, record what was done, who ordered it, when, and how the scene looked afterwards. Once the immediate danger is controlled, stop unnecessary movement and leave the remaining relevant equipment and area undisturbed. The example is a decision sequence, not technical rescue instruction.

What movements are permitted before inspector release?

Section 39(3) identifies five categories of action that the preservation duty does not prevent:

1. Assisting an injured person.
2. Removing a deceased person.
3. Action essential to make the site safe or minimise the risk of a further notifiable incident.
4. Action associated with a police investigation.
5. Action for which an inspector or the regulator has given permission.

These are not an invitation to resume ordinary operations. A broad clean-up, equipment repair, material disposal or production restart should not be treated as “making safe” merely because it is convenient. Ask whether the specific action is necessary to address an actual risk, whether a narrower action would do, and whether it can wait for a direction. Where a regulator or inspector grants permission, record who gave it, when, by what channel and its scope. Avoid paraphrasing a limited permission as general release of the whole workplace.

The section says the site should remain undisturbed until an inspector arrives or an earlier time directed by an inspector. SafeWork NSW's public guidance similarly tells duty holders not to disturb it until an inspector arrives or gives direction. If an inspector decides not to attend, seek and document the instruction about what can be released. A call to a general colleague, insurer or client is not the same as direction from the regulator. If police are involved, coordinate the two investigations without assuming one agency's direction automatically resolves the other's requirements.

Example: a fallen load blocks a live access route

A crane load falls and blocks the only route for emergency vehicles to reach another part of the site. The site controller may need to move part of it to make the area safe and prevent another serious event, but should consider the minimum movement necessary. Record the original location if it can be done safely, note the lift or movement performed, and protect the remaining rigging and equipment. Notify SafeWork NSW promptly and explain the necessary change. That is different from clearing the entire site for the next shift before an inspector's direction.

Notify SafeWork NSW and document the contact

SafeWork NSW states that incidents can be notified 24 hours a day, seven days a week by telephone on 13 10 50. The notification duty concerns the regulator, not just an internal incident log. Record the time the PCBU became aware, who made the call, the number or channel used, the case or acknowledgement reference, the information supplied and any direction given. If the facts change, update the regulator as appropriate. Do not delay the first contact until an internal report is polished.

Keep the notification and evidence records distinct from the investigation conclusion. Early facts may be incomplete. State what is known, what is being checked and what emergency action was taken; avoid writing an unsupported root-cause verdict while the scene is still being secured. Section 38 includes a separate requirement to keep a record of each notifiable incident for at least five years from the day notice is given to the regulator. Other legal, insurance or litigation holds may require more. The five-year period is for the notifiable-incident record, not a promise that every operational record on the site has the same retention rule.

Regulator notification is not the only communication. Emergency services, affected workers, families, the principal contractor, insurer and other relevant parties may need contact through different processes. SafeWork NSW's public page also discusses insurer notification. Keep those channels coordinated, but do not claim that telling an insurer or client substitutes for notifying the WHS regulator.

Maintain a scene-change and evidence log

A concise log should let an inspector reconstruct the period between the incident and arrival or release. Record:

• date, time and location of the event and when decision makers learned of it;
• immediate emergency response and the reason for any permitted movement;
• who controlled the scene and the boundary used;
• each person entering and any relevant equipment or material removed;
• plant isolation, emergency repairs or hazard controls, with times and responsible people;
• available photographs or diagrams taken without creating a new risk;
• regulator contact, acknowledgement and directions;
• preserved documents and digital records, including who secured them; and
• when and on whose authority the site or each area was released.

This is an evidence checklist, not a statutory form prescribed by section 39. Do not edit a photo, wipe an equipment log or write a retrospective entry as though it was contemporaneous. If a correction is needed, add a dated correction that preserves the original. Keep medical and witness information on a restricted basis. A scene log supports both compliance and later learning, but it does not authorize an internal investigator to disturb the site before the lawful release point.

On a construction project, collect relevant SWMS versions, inductions, permits, plant inspection and maintenance history, subcontractor details and shift rosters. Preserve the version in force at the time rather than overwriting it with a corrected document. A separate action plan can then capture corrective measures after investigation. Be careful not to conflate preserving the evidence with proving the old method was safe.

Assign responsibilities on a multi-employer site

The PCBU notification duty and workplace-controller preservation duty may sit with different parties. A principal contractor can control the site while an employer directs the affected worker and a plant hire company holds equipment records. Name who will call SafeWork NSW, who can stop work, who secures the scene, who interfaces with police and who preserves each category of record. Agreeing this in a project emergency plan helps, but a plan should not be used to deny a duty that the Act places on a particular person.

Do not let competing investigations destroy evidence. An insurer may want photographs or an equipment examination. A client may want the site reopened. The employer may need to contact witnesses. Sequence those activities around rescue, notification and preservation, and seek the inspector's direction when physical access or alteration is uncertain. Keep a single incident reference so later records can be found without broadcasting sensitive details to every contractor on site.

If an incident happens outside ordinary hours, the response still needs an empowered contact. A weekend foreperson should know who can make the regulator notification, who can establish a scene boundary, and how to reach an executive or specialist. SafeWork NSW's 24/7 reporting route is useful only if the organisation can act when the event occurs.

Common failures

• Cleaning before notification. Routine restoration can disturb plant, materials or marks that matter to the investigation.
• Freezing a dangerous site. The rule expressly allows necessary rescue and safety action; protect people first.
• Preserving only the injury point. Relevant plant, substances or structures are part of the statutory site concept.
• Assuming a client or insurer call is enough. The WHS regulator has a separate notification process.
• Treating silence as release. Record an inspector's direction or arrival and what was actually permitted.
• Losing digital evidence. Video and machine data may overwrite before an investigation reaches them.
• Writing a confident cause too early. Capture facts, changes and uncertainty before conclusions.
• Sharing the incident file too widely. Restrict medical, witness and personnel information appropriately.

Practical sequence for the first hour

1. Provide first aid and call emergency services; control immediate continuing danger.
2. Stop affected work and secure a boundary around the relevant site, plant and materials.
3. Escalate whether the event is notifiable under current NSW law.
4. Notify SafeWork NSW immediately once a notifiable incident is known; log the contact and any direction.
5. Preserve the physical site except for permitted rescue, safety, police or expressly authorised action.
6. Record any necessary change and safeguard digital and document evidence.
7. Coordinate with other PCBUs and the workplace controller.
8. Do not release or resume the affected area without the appropriate inspector direction or arrival and a separate safety assessment.

These are organisational steps, not technical emergency-response instructions. The exact sequence may overlap in a real emergency: lifesaving action and notification can occur in parallel. No document can make a damaged structure, energised plant or hazardous atmosphere safe by declaration.

Complys' Australian incident-reporting software page is a relevant place to evaluate how incident records and follow-up actions can be organised. The live page itself says making the regulator notification remains the business's responsibility. This guide makes no claim that Complys reports incidents to SafeWork NSW, decides notifiability, authorises disturbance or preserves physical evidence. The next step is to identify your site's actual preservation lead and test whether the emergency contact, regulator number and evidence-access arrangements would work on a weekend shift.

Primary sources

• NSW Work Health and Safety Act 2011, especially sections 35–39; confirm the current version at publication.
• SafeWork NSW, when an incident occurs.
• SafeWork NSW, notifiable incidents.

For the related Complys product, see Incident Reporting Software. This guide is general information, not legal advice; verify current requirements against the official sources linked above.