Reporting, Incidents and Ongoing Safety
Reporting hazards, injuries and near misses, escalating concerns, and keeping safety improving over time.
Last reviewed September 2026 · Part of Manual Handling Training for Aged Care Workers
Key learning points
- Know what to report and why near misses matter
- Escalate concerns effectively
- Understand the role of refresher and workplace-specific practical training
- Summarise the key principles of the course
- Report clearly and promptly, and know when you may stop unsafe work
What to report
- Hazards — anything that could cause harm, before it does
- Injuries and discomfort, including early symptoms such as ache or tingling
- Near misses — the incident that almost happened
- Faulty, missing or unsuitable equipment
- Changes in a person's mobility, weight-bearing ability or behaviour
- Changes in care needs that affect how a task is performed
- Unsafe environments — clutter, wet floors, poor lighting, blocked access
- Staffing arrangements that make a required procedure impossible
Near misses are free information
A near miss tells the organisation exactly where the next injury will occur, at no cost. Reporting early discomfort matters too — musculoskeletal injuries usually give warning signs before they become serious.
How to report
Use your organisation's reporting form or system, not only a verbal mention or a text message. Report as soon as practicable, before you leave the shift.
A useful report includes
- What happened or nearly happened, and the task you were doing
- Where, when and who was involved
- The equipment, including any identifying number
- What you did to make the person and area safe
- What you think is needed, such as a repair or a care plan review
What happens after a report
A report should start a review of the task and its controls, not a search for someone to blame. Controls should be reviewed after an incident, when one is not working, and when the task, person, equipment or environment changes. If several staff report discomfort after showering the same resident, look at the equipment, layout, method and staffing, not their lifting technique.
In Victoria, regulation 28 of the OHS Regulations 2017 requires an employer to review its manual handling controls when a musculoskeletal disorder is reported, after a notifiable incident involving hazardous manual handling, and when a health and safety representative asks. An early report starts that review.
Changes in a person's mobility
You are often the first to notice that a person is weaker, drowsier or more reluctant to stand. That change only reaches the care plan if you tell the registered nurse, supervisor or coordinator and record it. Until the plan is reviewed, keep the person safe and do not repeat a method that no longer fits.
Escalating concerns
- Speak with your supervisor or registered nurse first where practical
- Escalate further if the risk is not addressed, using your workplace escalation pathway
- Health and safety representatives and safety committees exist to support this
- The Aged Care Code of Conduct requires workers to raise safety concerns promptly, and the Aged Care Act 2024 includes protections for workers who report concerns about care
Stopping unsafe work
Under the model WHS laws, a worker may cease or refuse to carry out work if they have a reasonable concern that it would expose them to a serious risk from an immediate or imminent exposure to a hazard. They must tell the employer as soon as practicable and remain available for suitable alternative work. Victoria's OHS Act works differently, so follow your employer's procedure there. Keep the person safe while you stop.
Keeping skills current
- This course is general education; workplace procedures, practical training and supervision must support it
- Refreshers keep knowledge current; WorkSafe Victoria's guidance is at least annually and whenever equipment, work processes or conditions change
- Ask for practical training when the equipment, your workplace or a person's method changes
- Incident data should drive improvements, not blame, and your observations are part of that
Key takeaways
The central principles of this course
- Identify risks before starting the task
- Do not rely solely on physical technique
- Use appropriate controls, as high in the hierarchy as reasonably practicable
- Use equipment correctly, and only when trained and authorised
- Follow workplace procedures and individual care plans
- Communicate with the person receiving care
- Stop when conditions change
- Ask for assistance
- Report hazards, injuries, near misses and equipment faults
Putting it into practice
Practical scenario
Scenario: the sling loop
As the hoist takes up the slack, you see a sling loop has only half caught on the spreader bar. You stop before the resident leaves the bed. A colleague says, 'No harm done, just re-hook it.'
What should you do?
Reveal the explanation
Settle the resident. Check the sling's type, size and condition, and tag out anything faulty. Report the near miss that shift, so the cause, such as a worn sling or an unfamiliar model, is fixed before someone is hurt.
Practical scenario
Scenario: the ache that keeps coming back
For two weeks your shoulder has ached after morning showers in one bathroom, where you reach across the shower chair. It settles on days off, so you have not mentioned it.
What should you do?
Reveal the explanation
Report it now through your workplace system, describing the task as well as the pain. The task can then be reviewed, perhaps with a hand-held shower or a different chair, before an injury develops. Swapping tasks quietly or waiting leaves the risk for the next person.
Practical scenario
Scenario: a change at a client's home
On a home visit, the family has pushed the client's bed against the wall and laid a rug in the bathroom doorway. He is more reluctant to stand than last week.
What should you do?
Reveal the explanation
Do what you safely can and do not improvise a transfer; a wash at the basin may replace the shower. Ring your coordinator and record the bed, the rug and his reluctance in your employer's system, not only by text, saying what is needed, such as an occupational therapy or care plan review.
Knowledge check
These questions are for your own learning. They are not part of the final assessment.
1. Why should near misses be reported?
Near misses reveal risk without harm and are one of the most useful sources of prevention information.
2. You notice mild but persistent shoulder ache after a repeated task. What is the appropriate action?
Early symptoms are warning signs. Reporting early allows the task to be reassessed before an injury develops.
3. Which statement about this online training is correct?
This is non-accredited general training. Workplace-specific practical instruction, supervision and procedures remain essential.