Most farmers know they need to report a serious workplace injury. Far fewer know that they're also required to keep an ongoing written record of every workplace injury, illness, and near miss on their property, including the minor ones nobody thinks to write down.
That record is called an incident register. And yes, it's a legal requirement.
What is an incident register?
An incident register, sometimes called a register of injuries, is a running log of every work-related incident that happens on your farm. Think of it like a logbook. Every time someone gets hurt, falls ill from something work-related, or has a close call that could have been serious, it goes in the register.
The register is an ongoing document you add to over time. It is not the same as an incident report (which is the detailed account you write up for each individual event). You need both.
Incident Register
The running log. One document that gets a new entry every time something happens on your farm. Kept indefinitely, updated as you go.
Incident Report
The detailed account of one specific incident. What happened, who was involved, what caused it, what treatment was given. One report per event.
Is it actually required by law?
Yes. Under Australian WHS (Work Health and Safety) regulations, anyone who runs a business or employs workers, including farm operators, is required to keep a register of workplace injuries and illnesses.
The legislation refers to farm operators as PCBUs, which stands for "Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking." It's a broad legal term that covers sole traders, partnerships, family farms, and companies. If you run a farm and employ anyone, full-time, part-time, casual, or a contractor, and the requirement applies to you.
This is not optional. Penalties apply for failing to maintain a register.
Important: You are required to record incidents regardless of whether the injured person makes a workers' compensation claim. The register exists for your records, not just for insurance purposes.
What needs to go in it?
At a minimum, each entry in your incident register should capture:
- Date and time of the incident
- Full name of the person involved
- Their job or role on the farm
- Where on the property it happened
- A brief description of what happened
- The nature of the injury or illness
- What first aid or medical treatment was given
- Whether time off work was required, and if so, how long
Near misses, where nobody was hurt but someone could have been, should also be recorded. These often point to hazards that haven't been properly dealt with, and they're one of the most useful things in a register for preventing the next, more serious event.
How long do you need to keep it?
A minimum of five years from the date each record was created.
For more serious incidents, deaths, serious injuries, or dangerous incidents that you were required to report to your WHS regulator, you must also keep copies of any related risk assessments and safe work documents for at least two years after the incident.
What happens if you don't have one?
Penalties apply. If your farm is investigated following an incident and you can't produce a register, that's a problem on top of whatever else is being looked at.
Beyond the legal risk, not keeping records makes it harder to spot patterns. If the same type of incident keeps appearing, a register helps you see it. Without one, you're flying blind.
Agriculture is Australia's most dangerous industry. In 2024, 74 farm workers died in workplace incidents, the highest annual total in two decades. The industry records 10 serious injury claims per million hours worked, compared to an all-industry average of 6.8. Injuries in agriculture cost approximately $355 million per year. Proper record keeping is one of the foundations of a farm that takes safety seriously. Source: Safe Work Australia, AgHealth Australia.
Why most farms don't have one
The most common reason is simple: nobody told them it was required.
WHS compliance doesn't come up at agricultural college. Nobody hands you a register when you take on your first employee. Most of the documentation available is written for office environments, not farms, and a lot of it is so full of legal jargon that it's hard to know what actually applies to you.
The result is a lot of farms operating without the records they're legally required to have, not out of carelessness, but because the system hasn't made it easy.
The bottom line
If you run a farm and employ anyone, you need an incident register. It doesn't have to be complicated. It just has to exist, be kept up to date, and be held on file for at least five years. Not sure what else you might be missing? The Headland Check covers your full compliance picture in under 5 minutes.
The register we've built for Headland is designed specifically for farming businesses. Plain English,, straightforward to fill in, and structured to meet your legal obligations.