Find the root cause, fix it, and stop it happening again
Investigating incidents — including near misses — is how you find why something went wrong and stop it happening again. Focus on root causes and system fixes, not blame. And remember: if the incident is a notifiable event, you must preserve the site and notify WorkSafe first.
Investigation is how you turn an incident into a lesson — finding the real causes so you can stop the same thing harming someone else.
The HSWA does not prescribe a set investigation process for most workplaces, but it does require you to manage risks so far as is reasonably practicable and to keep improving — and you cannot do that without understanding what is going wrong. Near misses matter just as much as injuries: they are the same event without the harm, and investigating them lets you fix the problem before it hurts someone.
If the incident is a notifiable event, your legal obligations to notify and preserve come before your investigation.
You must notify WorkSafe as soon as possible and preserve the site until it is released — you can only disturb the scene to help an injured person or make it safe. Your own investigation runs alongside this, and should not disturb the scene while it is preserved. See our notifiable events guide for exactly what counts and how to notify.
A good investigation follows a clear sequence from making the scene safe through to verified fixes.
The immediate cause is what happened; the root cause is why the system allowed it to happen. Effective investigation digs for the second.
Techniques like asking “why?” repeatedly (the “5 Whys”) help you move past “the worker made a mistake” to the underlying issue — a missing control, an unrealistic schedule, a gap in training, a procedure that was never practical. A no-blame approach is not about avoiding accountability; it is about getting honest information. If people fear punishment, they stop reporting, and you lose the very data you need to prevent the next incident.
An investigation only earns its keep when the fixes happen and are written down.
Turn each root cause into a corrective action with a named owner and a due date, update your hazard register and risk assessments to reflect what you learned, and check later that the fix worked. Keep the record — it shows a regulator (and your own future self) that you investigated, learned and acted.
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The HSWA does not set a specific investigation process for most workplaces, but it requires you to manage risks so far as is reasonably practicable and to improve over time. Investigating incidents, including near misses, is how you do that and is treated as good practice. Some regulations do require investigation for particular high-risk work.
Yes. A near miss is the same event as an injury, just without the harm. Investigating near misses lets you find and fix the cause before someone is actually hurt, which is exactly the point of a proactive system.
The immediate cause is the obvious thing that happened (for example, a worker slipped). The root cause is the underlying system reason that allowed it (for example, no procedure for cleaning up spills, or no time allowed to do so). Fixing only the immediate cause usually means the incident repeats.
No. Notifying WorkSafe is a separate legal duty that applies to notifiable events, and it comes first, along with preserving the site. Your investigation is your own process to find causes and prevent recurrence, and it runs alongside the notification, not instead of it.
Someone competent and, ideally, not directly involved in the incident, so the review is objective. Involve the workers affected and your Health and Safety Representative. For serious or complex events, you may need specialist help.
