Everyone has a duty of care to make sure their workplaces are safe. However, the primary duty of care, to ensure the health and safety of all workers, accrues to the person conducting the business or undertaking (PCBU).

The PCBU has the primary duty under the WHS Act to manage risks associated with exposure to hazards arising from work that could result in physical or psychological harm. The duty is to ensure the health and safety of workers and other people at the workplace so far as is reasonably practicable, including “excessive workloads or […] unreasonable time pressures with a potential for harm in terms of human injury or ill health, damage to property, damage to the environment or a combination of these”.

The incident reporting system in the NSW public health system is called the Incident Management System (IMS+). Since 2005, the IMS+ has been used to notify and manage incidents from across NSW public health facilities. Members should notify in the incident management system on the same day or as soon as practicable.

Your Manager/Supervisor has a duty of care and a mandatory requirement to ensure your safety in every workplace, every single day. You also have a duty of care requirement to notify all incidents, near misses and hazards as soon as practicable to ensure your own and others’ health and safety. Do not underestimate the importance of notifying WHS incidents, near misses or hazards in your workplace.

If at any stage you are bullied, intimidated, threatened or coerced into not completing a relevant incident, near miss or hazard through the NSW Health IMS+ System, please contact your local HSU Organiser or 1300 478 679 for assistance.

Know someone who hasn’t yet joined the HSU? Tell them to take the plunge today! We can only defend your rights with a strong union membership. New members can join at www.hsu.asn.au/join or call 1300 478 679.