Below is the definition of Serious Harm from Schedule 1 of the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992

Serious harm means death, or harm of a kind or description declared by the Governor-General by Order in Council to be serious for the purposes of the Act; and "seriously harmed" has a corresponding meaning.

Until such an Order in Council is made, the following types of harm are defined in Schedule 1 as "serious harm" for the purposes of the Act:

1. Any of the following conditions that amounts to or results in permanent loss of bodily function, or temporary severe loss of bodily function: respiratory disease, noise-induced hearing loss, neurological disease, cancer, dermatological disease, communicable disease, musculoskeletal disease, illness caused by exposure to infected material, decompression sickness, poisoning, vision impairment, chemical or hot-metal burn of eye, penetrating wound of eye, bone fracture, laceration, crushing.
    
2. Amputation of body part.
    
3. Burns requiring referral to a specialist registered medical practitioner or specialist outpatient clinic.
    
4. Loss of consciousness from lack of oxygen.
    
5. Loss of consciousness, or acute illness requiring treatment by a registered medical practitioner, from absorption, inhalation or ingestion of any substance.
    
6. Any harm that causes the person harmed to be hospitalised for a period of 48 hours or more commencing within 7 days of the harm's occurrence.

The definition of serious harm is relevant to employers' duties to manage hazards, notification requirements, employees' rights to refuse to do dangerous work, and inspectors' powers to issue prohibition notices.