Is there a legal retention period for daily site reports? There is no one Australian statutory retention period for an ordinary daily site report. The answer changes if the record is a notifiable-incident record, SWMS, management plan or a contract document.
Start by identifying the record
An ordinary diary, daily report or site note is not automatically a statutory WHS record. A contract, project procedure or insurer may require it to be kept, but the period comes from that document. Do not turn the often-repeated “seven-year rule” into a universal legal rule.
This is general information, not legal advice. Check the law, contract and project requirements that apply to your work.
WHS records have their own rules
How long must notifiable-incident records be kept?
Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth), a PCBU must keep a record of each notifiable incident for at least five years from notice to the regulator. State and territory rules must still be checked.
Victoria, for example, says a copy of a notifiable-incident notice must be kept for five years.
That rule is for the notifiable-incident record. It is not a blanket retention period for every diary entry, inspection note or ordinary project report.
For high-risk construction work, the Commonwealth model Regulations require a safe work method statement to be kept until the work is completed, and for two years after a related notifiable incident. A WHS management plan has a different rule: keep it until the project is complete, and for two years after a related notifiable incident. Victoria's regulator describes different duration requirements for its SWMS and coordination-plan framework.
Contract and project records
Contracts can set a reporting format, notice process, custody arrangement or retention period. They can also sit alongside principal-contractor procedures, insurer requirements and directions issued once a dispute is on foot. Read the records clause and any project document that applies; no standard construction-contract assumption answers every job.
Do contracts set a longer period?
They can. Check the actual contract, insurer requirements and any dispute or legal-hold direction rather than relying on a generic seven-year rule.
Check the jurisdiction before setting a schedule
New South Wales and Queensland publish their current WHS Act and Regulation on their legislation sites. The ACT, Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory each have their own current legislation. Western Australia has its own WHS Act 2020 framework. Victoria remains under its Occupational Health and Safety framework. Use the official source for the place where the work is being done before adopting a retention schedule.
Digital storage may be practical, but it does not settle the legal question. Keep records accessible for the applicable period, control access appropriately, and confirm that the contract or project rules do not prescribe a format or repository.
Sources and further reading
- Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth)
- Commonwealth model WHS Regulations
- New South Wales WHS Act; Regulation
- Queensland WHS Act; Regulation
- ACT WHS Act
- Tasmania WHS Act; Regulations
- South Australia WHS Act; Regulations
- Northern Territory WHS Act; Regulations
- Western Australia WHS Act 2020
- WorkSafe Victoria: notifiable incidents; SWMS