Roles and responsibilities

You have the right and the responsibility to report safety and health concerns to your employer. A healthy reporting culture is an essential element of any safe and healthy workplace and every worker has a role to play.

How to report your safety concerns

If you have safety concerns, you should report them to your employer. Your employer has a responsibility to take your concerns seriously and investigate them.

If you don’t feel comfortable reporting your safety concerns to your employer, you can report your concerns to your site's safety and health representative.

What to do if your concerns are not taken seriously

If you don’t feel like your concerns have been taken seriously or are not satisfied with the outcome, you can report your concerns to Resources Safety and Health Queensland.

What to do if you have been threatened with reprisal for reporting safety and health concerns

If someone has taken action against you—or has threatened to take action against you—for reporting a safety and health concern, then you should immediately report that to Resources Safety and Health Queensland.

Reprisal is an offence under the following legislation:

• Section 275AA of the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999
• Section 254A of the Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999
• Section 708C of the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004
• Section 126A of the Explosives Act 1999

Under Queensland’s resources legislation, reprisal is when a person causes, or attempts or conspires to cause, detriment to another person because, or in the belief that, the other person has made a complaint, or in any other way has raised, a safety issue; or has contacted or given help to an official in relation to a safety issue.