How Serious Story Notifications Work
When you use the Tell Your Story feature in PeopleSafe it asks questions about what happened as part of the story. What you say in the story, is used to alert you if it looks like it might be serious, and to make sure you take action faster. In some cases you will need to notify WorkSafe straight away.
This article explains what serious story notifications are and what will trigger them.
The full details of what is a notifiable event can be found in the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA).
What are Serious Story Notifications ?
These are the notifications that are triggered when the details of a safety story show something serious has happened. At the end of the Tell Your Story Process an On Screen message is displayed on the Completion/End screen giving information about what to do.
There are two types of serious story notifications, email and TXT message. They both have different requirements and can both be turned off in a person's profile (but this is NOT recommended).
- Once a story is put in PeopleSafe, by default an email with the Subject: Urgent Email is sent to users with PeopleSafe Coordinator security clearance and anyone with a Manage Users security clearance.
- PeopleSafe will also send these notifications to any email address set out in the details in your settings under 'Our Organisation'. (for example if a board member wanted to be alerted)
TXT Message
- A TXT message will be sent to all users with PeopleSafe Coordinator security clearance and anyone with a Manage Users security clearance, provided they have added a mobile phone number into the TXT Alert phone number in their User Profile
What triggers a Serious Story Notification?
1. Trigger: If 'How Important do you think it is?' was reported as either 'Pretty serious' or 'Big deal'.
Your serious story alert will say: "The person telling this story thought it was really important and might be something you need to look at straight away."
2. Trigger: If the Story overall reported 'Did any of these things happen?
Your serious story alert will say: "It looks like it might be a serious harm injury. If it is you’ll need to secure the scene (don’t move anything) and notify WorkSafe NZ about it straight away."
3. Trigger: If injuries of any person involved in a Story were reported as 'Serious injury" or "Fatality'.
Your serious story alert will say: "This injury has been described as serious and not just medical treatment."
4. Trigger: If any amount (greater than zero) of 'Time off needed?' was reported.
Your serious story alert will say: "Someone needed time off because of an injury."
5. Trigger: If any 'Treatment' reported included Hospitalisation'.
Your serious story alert will say: "An injury resulted in someone being admitted to hospital."
6. Trigger: If reported that 'Are Restricted Work or Light Duties Needed'.
Your serious story alert will say: "The injury was so bad the person can’t do their normal job fully for a while."
7. Trigger: If the 'Hours worked since they arrived at work' is over 8 hours for the Injured Person. '
Your serious story alert will say: "The person that was injured had been working for more than 8 hours when it happened"
8. Trigger: If any person injured was not a staff member.
Your Serious Story Alert Says: "Someone that wasn’t one of your staff was injured on your site or because of the work you do."
9. Trigger: If Damage was reported where "What will it cost to put it right" was estimated at $5,000 or more.
Your serious story alert will say: "The damage caused by this story is estimated at over $5,000."