Risk Management & OHS Presentation for Schools. September 2014

Transcription

1 Risk Management & OHS Presentation for Schools September 2014

2 What is Occupational Health & Safety (OHS)? OHS can be defined as: Providing a safe working environment Promoting and maintaining workers physical, mental and social wellbeing Protecting workers from factors that pose a risk to their health. All about making sure that people are safe, health and happy at work. 2

3 What is Occupational Health & Safety (OHS)? 3

4 Responsibilities of employers (schools) All schools are required by law to take reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of their workers and everyone in the workplace. Employers duty of care means they must provide: A place of work that is safe and without risk to health. Adequate facilities for the welfare of workers. Appropriate tools, equipment and materials. Safe systems or methods of work. Any instruction and training necessary for workers to work without risk to their health and safety and that of others around them. 4

5 Responsibilities of employers (schools) Employers are responsible for identifying, assessing and controlling workplace hazards and risks. Employers must also consult with workers and students, regarding changes in work practices and when introducing new policies, plant and equipment or materials into the workplace. 5

6 Responsibilities of workers In OHS law, a worker is anybody who carriers out work for a person or organisation (including unpaid work). All workers are required by law to take reasonable care to ensure safety and health at work. They have a duty of care to take reasonable steps not to cause harm and to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of others. 6

7 Examples of worker responsibilities Follow the principles of good housekeeping, i.e. including keeping classrooms, floors and access routes clean and tidy, as well as storing equipment and materials properly. Ensure that potential dangers are handled properly, e.g. don t leave cleaning products where students might access them. Take reasonable steps to prevent incidents, e.g. clean up a liquid spill to avoid the risk to somebody else slipping on it. Report any hazards that you see, e.g. inform somebody if you notice that an electrical cord is damaged and has wires exposed. 7

8 Responsibilities of officers (principals & business managers) Officers are individuals within an organisation who have a significant role in decision making and have a strong influence in the way the organisation manages its OHS issues. Officers share the same duty of care that all workers have, but they have an additional obligation to exercise due diligence to ensure that the organisation also complies with its OHS obligations. 8

9 Example 1 Teacher Mr Smith is a drama teacher and he regularly assists other staff and students prepare for the annual school concert by decorating the school hall. The morning of the concert he arrived early to assist in the preparations, when he noticed that one of the decorations had fallen off the wall. While he was waiting for helpers to arrive, he decided to try and reattach the decoration to the wall himself. Mr Smith used a ladder and unfortunately lost his balance. Mr Smith fell to the ground, breaking his wrist and injuring his shoulder. 9

10 Example 1 Teacher Mr Smith/s injury caused him severe pain and he has never fully recovered from the incident. Mr Smith missed the school concert, was absent for the following two terms and had to rely on his family s assistance for several months. Although Mr Smith s intentions were good, his actions led to preventable injuries to himself, inconvenience to his family and avoidable costs to the school. A safer approach for Mr Smith would have been to immediately move the fallen decoration to avoid danger and wait until others arrived so they could assist with the replacing of the decoration. 10

11 Example 1 Teacher 11 Victorian WorkCover Authority -

12 Legal considerations & Non compliance with OHS law 12

13 Examples of breaches of OHS laws A diocese was fined $19,125 plus costs after a 15 year old school student sustained burn injuries to his hands, legs, face and left ear when, during assembly of a portable gas camping stove, a gas canister released gas that ignited. The diocese failed to provide adequate training and information to students, adequate supervision of students, and adequate training and information to supervisors. 13

14 Examples of breaches of OHS laws A college was fined $80,000 following the death of a five year old boy who was crushed by a gate. The Court found the college had not properly maintained the gate. 14

15 Examples of breaches of OHS laws A company in Victoria was fined $300,000 for not ensuring adequate training and protective equipment and poor work practices after a 26 year old employee died changing a light bulb while carrying out maintenance on display signage in April

16 The tragic case of Brodie Panlock The case of Brodie Panlock's workplace bullying received widespread national attention and ultimately resulted in new legislation known as Brodie's Law being introduced in Victoria. 16

17 The tragic case of Brodie Panlock As a result of this case, Victoria enacted laws making serious bullying a criminal offence with jail terms of up to 10 years. 17

18 Areas of risk that can impact on a School Water Damage Burglary/ Theft Fraud Cyclone/ Storm Liability Issues Work Health & Safety Education Risks Fire/ Arson 18

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20 Keeping Your Parish Safe Forum

21 Keeping Your Parish Safe Forum

22 Keeping Your Parish Safe Forum

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26 Areas of common hazards and risks in Schools Slips and trips Manual handling Volunteer management Contractor management Emergency Management Cash handling Working bees/fetes Fire Asbestos Stress / Occupational Violence /Workplace Bullying Motor vehicles / driver fatigue Working in isolation Fall from heights Hazardous chemicals /dangerous goods Working with children 26

27 What can you do to manage hazards in your school environment? Common physical injuries from carrying out everyday manual tasks and work activities, include: Eyestrain from extended periods looking at a monitor. Muscle fatigue from repetitive tasks such as typing. Maintenance related tasks shifting furniture, sports equipment, etc. 27

28 Your working environment Ergonomics Office safety Setting up your chair Adjusting your chair Setting up your desk Setting up your monitor Setting up your keyboard and mouse Laptops and mobile devices Hazards of laptop use Laptop purchasing tips Setting your work area Standing at a whiteboard Reading documents 28

29 What are hazardous manual tasks? A hazardous manual task requires a person to lift, lower, push, pull, carry or otherwise move, hold or restrain any person, animal or thing involving one or more of the following: repetitive or sustained force high or sudden force repetitive movement sustained or awkward posture exposure to vibration Manual tasks account for over 40% of all workers compensation claims in Australia each year. Most of these injuries are preventable. 29

30 Example 2 Volunteer Mei was volunteering at a School fete, working behind a food stall. The stall had been set up without ergonomics in mind. Drinks were located behind Mei, some foods were on a high shelf above her head, while paper bags and napkins were underneath a counter. As a result, Mei spent a lot of time stretching up, bending down and twisting around when serving customers. In addition, many items on the high shelf were out of Mei s reach, so she had to climb onto a nearby chair in order to retrieve them. What could be done to control the potential risks involved with Mei s activities? 30

31 Example 2 Volunteer Mei recognised the potential dangers in this situation and addressed the potential risks by: Asking for some help in redesigning the set up of the stall. Setting up a new table with foods and drinks within easy reach. Not placing items at a height that cannot be reached easily. Think about how you manage the School kitchen/facility area. Could this be managed better? 31

32 Example 2 Solution 32 Victorian WorkCover Authority - OfficeWise A guide to Health & Safety

33 33 Preventing workplace incidents

34 What is a near miss? A near-miss occurs when an unplanned and undesired event takes place, but nobody is injured and there is no damage to equipment. 34

35 What is an incident? Any occurrence, including near-miss situations, which has the potential to cause personal injury, disease or death, or property damage. 35

36 What is a notifiable incident? The Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 sets out certain types of workplace incidents that need to be notified to regulators. Only the most serious safety incidents are intended to be notifiable and they trigger requirements to preserve the incident site pending further direction from the regulator. The employer is required to notify WorkSafe Victoria of the following: Death, serious injury or illness Dangerous incident exposes a worker to a serious risk to health and safety Serious injury or illness requires immediate in-patient hospital medical treatment or within 48 hours of exposure to a harmful substance 36

37 Example 3 What is a near miss? Pedro was leaving school and entering the car park when a parent sped past the school entrance. Pedro fell backwards, narrowly escaping injury. What might have happened: Pedro could have been hit and seriously injured. Safety solution: The school reacted to the near-miss by implementing a 10km/h speed limit in the car park and installing speed bumps to slow traffic around the school entrance. 37

38 38 Example 3 Solution

39 Example notifiable incident A school student employed as a casual general hand as part of the school's employment program was asked to clean the gutters on the roof of one of the school's buildings. While cleaning, he stepped onto a skylight which broke, causing him to fall 5 metres to the hallway below. The school failed to report this incident to WorkCover, which was only notified via an anonymous tip. It was fined $70,850 for failing to report the incident or provide proper supervision for its student employees. 39

40 Example 4 School admin assistant Mrs Fitzpatrick was walking down a flight of stairs in the school office with a tray of drinks when she slipped on some coffee spilt earlier in the day. There is anti-slip tread at the edge of the steps, but this comes away as Mrs Fitzpatrick slides on it. She falls down some of the steps. What are the possible outcomes of this incident? 40

41 Example 4 School admin assistant 1. Mrs Fitzpatrick suffers a near-miss She is a little shaken and surprised, but not injured. She immediately returns to work or at least goes back to get some more drinks. 2. Mrs Fitzpatrick suffers a minor injury She sustains a mild strain to her left ankle and a bruise on her right arm as a result of the fall. The injury restricts the movement in her foot for a few days but does not prevent her from doing her job. She did not seek treatment 3. Mrs Fitzpatrick suffers a major injury (notifiable incident) She breaks her left leg in the fall, needs to go to hospital, and is then off work for several weeks while she recovers. 4. Mrs Fitzpatrick dies (notifiable incident) She strikes her head on the edge of a step and suffers major injuries. Despite being rushed to hospital, Mrs Fitzpatrick never recovers. 41

42 Example 4 School admin assistant In truth, no one person was entirely responsible for Mrs Fitzpatrick's incident. Someone was responsible for the direct causes of the incident (e.g. spilt coffee). Other factors were responsible for the indirect causes (e.g. time pressures that stopped people from cleaning up the spill, or the employer failing to develop a workplace safety culture). As we've noted, successful prevention of incidents like this requires a thorough consideration of the indirect causes as well as the direct causes. 42

43 43 Example 4 Solution

44 Example 5 Student At around 9am on 1 st Feb 2014, a student tripped over a loose paver on the steps to the entrance to the school. First aid treatment was given on site for the cuts and bruises sustained by the student. The student was then taken to a doctor by their parent for further treatment to identify any further injuries. The doctor confirmed he had sprained his wrist and forearm and grazed his hand and two fingers. He returned to school 3 days later. The paver had been loose for some time but had still been in place on the steps. When the student walked over it, it gave way and broke into pieces which caused him to lose his footing and fall forwards onto the floor. 44

45 Example 5 Student What actions can be taken to prevent this from re-occurring? Immediate action? Short term action? Permanent action? 45

46 46 Example 5 Student

47 47 Resources available for Schools

48 Useful Resources HB:266, Guide for managing risk in not-for-profit organisations Catholic Education Office Victoria WorkCover Authority Safe Work Australia Department of Education Victoria Peak bodies Australian Camps Association Volunteering Australia Royal Life Saving Society of Australia Anaphylaxis Australia 48

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50 risksupport Helpdesk Provision of advice to clients on a number of topics usually by phone or . Phone: riskmanagement@ccinsurance.org.au Web: 50

51 In Conclusion Risk Management in the workplace: Is to protect the health, safety and welfare of all at the workplace Is not an add on to your business; must be part of the business. Must be considered in all aspects of a businesses operations Is everyone s responsibility 51

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