Something nearly went very wrong on site, nobody got hurt, and now someone's asking whether the business has to notify the regulator. It depends on how serious the risk was, and getting it wrong is a bigger problem than the phone call.
The short answer
A near miss doesn't have to be reported to your WHS regulator just because it happened. It has to be reported immediately if it counts as a "dangerous incident", even if nobody was hurt.
Under the model WHS laws, a dangerous incident is one that immediately or imminently exposes someone to a serious risk to their health or safety. Safe Work Australia's notification handbook gives the example of a worker who narrowly avoids a high voltage electric shock. No injury, still notifiable.
What counts as a dangerous incident
Safe Work Australia's handbook lists the types. They include:
- an uncontrolled escape, spillage or leakage of a substance
- an uncontrolled fire, explosion or electric shock
- an uncontrolled escape of gas, steam or a pressurised substance
- something falling or being released from a height
- the collapse, overturning or failure of plant that needs to be authorised for use, such as some cranes
- the collapse or failure of an excavation or its shoring
The test is the risk someone was exposed to, not how it turned out.
Real examples, both ways
Likely notifiable
- A bundle of steel slips off a crane and lands a metre from a labourer.
- A trench wall collapses while the crew is on smoko.
- An apprentice gets a shock from a lead that was meant to be isolated.
- A gas line is hit during excavation and gas escapes.
Usually not notifiable, but still worth writing up
- Someone trips on a lead and catches themselves.
- A forklift and a worker on foot meet at a blind corner, and both stop in time.
- A ladder slips on a wet floor while nobody's on it.
If you're not sure which side something falls on, ring your regulator and ask. They'd rather take the call.
The rules changed in 2025, but not everywhere yet
Safe Work Australia's handbook says the model WHS laws were updated in 2025, adding new types of notifiable incident, including serious falls and some mobile plant incidents. These only apply once your state or territory adopts them, so check with your regulator which version you're working under.
Who reports it
Workers report a near miss to their supervisor or safety officer, the same as any other incident. If it's notifiable, the legal duty to tell the regulator sits with the business, not the person who saw it. On a big site, that's usually the safety officer doing it for the company. If you're a sole trader or run a small crew, it's you.
How the business reports one
Notifiable incidents have to be reported straight away.
- New South Wales: call SafeWork NSW on 13 10 50, any time.
- Victoria: Victoria has its own OHS laws. Call WorkSafe on 13 23 60, then send written notice within 48 hours.
- Other states and territories: check your WHS regulator.
Leave the area as it is until the regulator says otherwise, except to help someone, make it safe or stop it getting worse. Safe Work Australia's handbook says to keep a record of each notifiable incident for at least five years.
What to write down, notifiable or not
A near miss report is only useful if someone can act on it later. Get down:
- the date, time and exact spot, not just "the yard"
- what was happening, in order
- who was there, and who saw it
- photos, taken before anything's moved
- what was done straight away
- what needs fixing, who's doing it and by when
Our free incident report template has a near miss option, and the root cause analysis template helps you work out why it happened.
Why near misses are worth the paperwork
A near miss is the cheapest lesson you'll ever get. The same loose load, missing barrier or unisolated lead that nearly hurt someone today will still be there tomorrow. Write it up, find out why it happened, and fix it before it turns into an injury report.
Where digital forms help
Near misses only get reported if it's quick. If it means finding a clipboard and a pen at knock-off, it won't happen. With Shadow Forms, your crew logs it on their phone with photos in a couple of minutes. With signal, it lands on the office dashboard straight away. Without signal, it's saved on the phone and sends as soon as they're back in range. You can spot the same near miss turning up on three different sites before it becomes a claim.
We build forms software, not safety advice. The above is a plain-English summary of what the regulators publish, and the links go to them. For your own site and your own incident, check with your state regulator or someone qualified.
Want your own near miss form on your crew's phones? Start a 14-day free trial, no credit card needed, and we'll set it up with you.
