Paparoa Street School
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At Paparoa Street School, recording and reporting injuries and illness (including accidents, near misses, and notifiable events) enables the poari matua to meet their primary duty of care and monitor worker health and workplace conditions. Accurate and timely recording and reporting allows the poari matua to identify patterns and improve health and safety systems, where needed (e.g. minimising risks, preventing other incidents). This ensures as far as is reasonably practicable the health and safety of workers and that the health and safety of others affected by kura operations is not put at risk (Health and Safety at Work Act 2015). This also helps the poari matua to ensure that the kura is a physically and emotionally safe place (Education and Training Act 2020).
The kura has processes in place for the poari matua to receive and consider information regarding injuries and illness (including accidents, near misses and 
notifiable events. Our recording and reporting processes apply to everyone at kura and kura-related activities and are in keeping with our privacy and records retention policies.
Record keeping
We record injuries or illness that require first aid treatment and/or contacting parents/caregivers and/or emergency contacts. We also record accidents, near misses, and notifiable events. We record relevant information as soon as possible after an incident.
All kaimahi are responsible for recording accidents, injuries, and illnesses they deal with in the first aid log or on our student management system (SMS). Parents/caregivers are contacted immediately to notify them of the incident and provide an immediate update on the physical condition of the ākonga, prior to kaimahi beginning gathering all the relevant information. The accident register is maintained by the kaitiaki taris and kept in the health room.
Reporting and investigating
Relevant kaimahi are informed about injuries and illness (including accidents and near misses) as part of our response to managing an incident. See Managing Injuries and Illness.
The tumuaki and poari matua are informed as soon as possible of notifiable events and serious incidents (including incidents that may result in media attention or need legal action).
If an incident requires police involvement, we communicate with the police about appropriate actions. In the event of death, we notify the police (Coroners Act 2006).
If an infectious disease requires notification, we follow our school policy. See Infectious Diseases.
Reporting to WorkSafe
As required by the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, the poari matua (as the PCBU) notifies WorkSafe as soon as possible after they become aware of a notifiable event arising from kura operations (s 56). We preserve the site where the notifiable event occurred (s 55) and keep a record of the notifiable event (s 57).
At Paparoa Street School, reporting to WorkSafe is delegated to the tumuaki, who ensures the kaihono is also informed. If the tumuaki was involved in the event, reporting to WorkSafe becomes the responsibility of the kaihono.
If multiple PCBUs are involved, we communicate with them to decide who will notify WorkSafe. Only one PCBU needs to notify WorkSafe, but all PCBUs are responsible for ensuring a notification is made. To notify WorkSafe, we follow the WorkSafe notification process – see Notify WorkSafe. We phone WorkSafe on 0800 030 040 (24/7) if the event is a death.
We take all reasonable steps to preserve the site where the notifiable event occurred until we receive notification from WorkSafe that normal work can resume. The only exceptions to this requirement is helping an injured person, removing a deceased person, making the site safe to avoid further injury, or following police or WorkSafe directions.
After notifying WorkSafe, we follow any instructions from them which could include:
We keep records of the notifiable event for at least five years from the date WorkSafe was notified.
Investigations
It may be appropriate for the kura to debrief and investigate an incident to establish if actions are required to improve kura health and safety. Investigations are undertaken with sensitivity to those involved and in keeping with privacy requirements. The poari matua nominates a person or committee to lead each investigation, and outcomes are reported to the poari matua. We may also report collated data about incidents to the poari matua to allow them to review trends, investigate further if needed, and respond in a timely way to reduce the likelihood of incidents happening again.
If WorkSafe, the Ministry of Health, or the police are involved, we follow their lead and advice regarding investigations.
Release history: Term 3 2025, Term 3 2022, Term 2 2022, Term 4 2020
