What incidents need to be reported for petroleum and geothermal energy operations?

For updated information relating to the information on this page go to Notify us of a serious injury/illness or dangerous incident

On 31 March 2022, the Work Health and Safety laws replaced the work health and safety elements of Petroleum Safety legislation.

Transitional arrangements may be in place for the compliance requirements on this page.

All health and safety notifications, forms and guidance for mining and petroleum has moved to the WorkSafe website

The information below has been left for historical compliance reference purposes

 

 

Legislative requirements

Under the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Resources Act 1967, Petroleum Pipelines Act 1969 and Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1982 and related regulations, a dangerous occurrence must be reported to the department.

A dangerous occurrence is defined in the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Resources (Management of Safety) Regulations 2010 to be an occurrence that:

  • did not cause, but could reasonably have been expected to cause:
    • the death of, or serious personal injury to, a person engaged in the operation or other protected person or;
  • a member of the workforce to be incapacitated from performing work for the period of 1 or more days
  • was, or resulted in, or could have potentially resulted in, any of the following:
    • a fire or explosion
    • the release of an amount of geothermal or hydrocarbon vapour that is likely to constitute a hazard
    • the release of an amount of petroleum liquid or geothermal fluid that is likely to constitute a hazard
    • an unplanned event that required the emergency response plan to be implemented
    • damage to safety-critical equipment
  • a reasonable operator would consider to require an immediate investigation.

What is a notifiable accident?

A notifiable accident on a petroleum operation or geothermal energy operation must be reported. This includes:

  • an accident that causes the death of, or serious personal injury to, any person
  • an accident that causes a member of the workforce to be incapacitated from performing work for a period
  • a dangerous occurrence.

To whom and where does this apply?

This applies to:

  • company employees
  • self-employed persons
  • contractors

who, through their injury, have:

  • lost time from work
  • been assigned to alternate or light duties
  • been put on restricted hours.

Injury types

A serious injury is considered to be a loss time injury (LTI) greater than 1 day. If a fatality has resulted from an injury it is classed as a serious injury. A minor injury is a reportable injury that is not classified as serious.

How are incidents reported?

Below are links to assist in how incidents are reported.