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WorkCover Hub

Workplace Injury Training and Materials for NSW Employers

When a worker gets hurt, your site should know what happens next.

The first 48 hours after a workplace injury shape how the rest of the claim goes. For employers, HR, WHS and site managers, WorkCover Hub runs toolbox talks and manager briefings built around your site, and publishes posters, checklists and wallet cards to print.

Or call (02) 7238 7379.  All organisations →

The NSW Process

What to Do When a Worker Reports an Injury

How the process runs in NSW, from the first conversation to the return to work. This is general information about the scheme, not legal advice; your insurer is the authority on your policy.

  1. The worker reports the injury

    Make sure they get the care they need first. Then write down what happened, when and where, while it is fresh, and who saw it. A calm, clear first conversation sets the tone for everything after it.

  2. Tell your insurer within 48 hours

    In NSW the employer notifies its workers compensation insurer within 48 hours. The insurer's details are on your policy documents.

  3. The worker sees a doctor

    The SIRA Certificate of Capacity is completed by the treating doctor the worker nominates; the first certificate comes from a medical practitioner. It sets out the worker's capacity for work, and it is the document everyone else works from.

  4. Provisional liability

    Once notified, the insurer can start provisional weekly payments within 7 days, for up to 12 weeks, unless it has a reasonable excuse, and can cover early medical costs while liability is decided in full.

  5. Suitable work and return to work

    The certificate sets the limits. Where it shows capacity for some work, NSW employers have an obligation to provide suitable work within those limits. As the certificate changes, the duties change with it.

Source: State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA), sira.nsw.gov.au. WorkCover Hub is not affiliated with SIRA or icare. The manager's checklist puts these steps on one page.

On Site

Toolbox Talks and Manager Briefings on Site

Nothing arrives on a template. Tell us about your crew, your roster and the work, and the session is shaped to fit.

Crews and supervisors

Toolbox talks built around your site schedule

A short talk at the start of a shift or at the pre-start meeting: what to do in the first hour after an injury, who to tell, and what the Certificate of Capacity is for. Pitched at the work your crew actually does, and run when it suits the roster, not the other way round.

Managers and leading hands

Manager briefings

For the people a worker tells first. How the notification works, what the insurer needs, how suitable duties follow the certificate, and how to keep the first conversation supportive and factual. Built around the manager's checklist so the steps stay on the wall after the session ends.

HR and WHS teams

Sessions for HR

A working session on how the NSW process runs from report to return to work: provisional liability, certificates, and what the treating team needs from the workplace. Run by our team, with a WorkCover doctor or physio where the topic needs one.

By Industry

Workplace Injuries in Your Industry

Every industry carries its own risks. These guides set out the injuries workers in each one most often call us about, and how a claim runs from there.

For Employers

Questions Employers Ask Us

If yours isn't here, call or write. Answering it is the point of this page.

For unions and public bodies: workers compensation training for union delegates and WorkCover briefings for government and PHNs.

Book a Session

Book a Toolbox Talk or Briefing

Tell us about your site, your crew and your roster, and we will come back to you to shape the session.

Tell us about your site

We read every enquiry. Handled under our privacy policy.

Put the First 48 Hours on the Wall Before You Need Them

Book a toolbox talk, order printed materials for your site, or call with the workplace injury question your team is stuck on.

Call (02) 7238 7379