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Incident investigation
Last updated January 2026
Previously titled 'Incident reporting and investigation'
This chapter explains when you must investigate a workplace incident and how to carry out an investigation in your workplace.
What are your incident investigation obligations?
Under health and safety legislation in all jurisdictions, you are expected to investigate a notifiable incident as soon as possible.
Definition: Notifiable Incident
A notifiable incident is a serious injury or illness, or dangerous incident, about which you must notify your health and safety regulator.
A notifiable incident is a serious injury or illness, or dangerous incident, about which you must notify your health and safety regulator.
An investigation is necessary to identify the underlying cause of an incident, and to take steps to eliminate or minimise any identified risk of injury or illness. Not only will this help prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future, it will also enable you to comply with your duty of care.
Important: Serious incidents should always be investigated internally. However, in certain circumstances, it may also be necessary for an external third party to investigate the incident.
Tip: Not all incidents will require the same level of investigation. The more serious or complicated an incident is, the more detailed the investigation will need to be. Outline a process in your written procedures that can be used to determine which incidents require a more detailed investigation. However, it’s a good idea to investigate all incidents, even if they did not result in an injury or illness. This is particularly the case with a near miss, which may have resulted in a serious injury.