Changes to Victorian COVID-19 notification requirements

Employers and self-employed people are now no longer required to notify WorkSafe if a COVID-19 positive worker attends their workplace under changes introduced by the state government.

The Occupational Health and Safety (COVID-19 Incident Notification) Revocation Regulations 2022 will revoke regulations that require WorkSafe to be notified if an employee, a contractor or a contractor’s employee receives a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis and attended the workplace within the infectious period.

The regulations requiring notifications commenced in 2020 and were renewed in July last year. As the management of COVID-19 has since changed significantly, notification requirements are no longer considered a necessary measure to manage the health and safety risks of COVID-19 in workplaces.

However, there are no changes to Victorian employers’ duty to take every reasonable step to protect workers from risks to both their physical and mental health, including managing risks associated with COVID-19, and to report notifiable incidents to WorkSafe.

This includes the contraction of COVID-19 at the workplace, where the person requires immediate in-patient care or dies as a result.

Workplaces must also still adhere to the COVID-19 notification requirements set by the Department of Health, where notice must be given to the department when five positive cases have attended the work premises within seven days.

WorkSafe can take action against workplaces that do not comply with their obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.