Comply with School Administrative Requirements

Occupational Health and Safety

Occupational health and safety Introduction meeting School meeting room, West Coast Primary

Text alternative Jenny: Hi my name is Jenny and I am the Occupational Health and Safety Officer here at West Coast Primary. I would like to welcome Jo and Chris to your first meeting and induction on occupational health and safety. I would like to introduce you to Val Appleyard, our Principal at the school and Rochelle Swift, our critical incident officer and deputy principal also and this is Richard Redfield, our first aid officer. Richard: Val. Do you want to take minutes today? Val: Oh yes please Richard. We’ll rotate next month if you like. On our agenda this afternoon, we have the induction of the new education support staff into the school, by Jenny. At our next monthly meeting we will need to discuss issues that have been raised by the other staff over the past month. I will get the admin support to get a list of the equipment that needs to be fixed also. Ok, thanks Jenny. Jenny: Thanks Val. Firstly I just want to tell Jo and Chris that we have these policies and procedures files here at the school and you will see them in your teams where you are working in their offices, but we also have them here. Richard has a copy of the file where the first aid equipment is kept and Val also has a copy here in the admin area as well. Each classroom teacher will also have one. Now, with those policies and procedures, we have in there procedures on occupational health and safety – obviously, and Val, we have the evacuation procedure in there as well? Do you have a copy of these? Val: We have one of these in each classroom. Jenny: Great and we will get you to familiarise yourself with that because it is really important that you know where you are going in an emergency. Now the other thing that is in these files is also duty of care. Now Jo, you’re going to be working down in the kindy which will be really exciting so you will need to familiarise yourself with that policy but your teachers hold the duty of care primarily but you do need to know about the different aspects of working with children. Chris, you are working with Holly she has got additional needs and she tends to lash out a little bit and she can be a bit of an escape artist at times so you will need to keep your eyes and ears about you and Jo, you will also be doing some lifting down in the kindy so you will need to watch your back down there as well. So, if you just want to have a look at that… Now also, with looking at that, there is also the behaviour management policy in there and also we have the risk management policy as well. Also, I will get Richard to talk about the administration of medicines later and Rochelle and Val are going to talk about critical incident management later on in the meeting. Ok? Thanks Val.

1 Occupational Health and Safety

Val: Enough about policies Jenny you will scare them all off. [Laughter] I think you had better tell us about your roles and responsibilities as the OH&S rep and the role of the committee. Jenny: Ok thanks Val. Well really my role is about talking to the staff about their safety, health and their well being and it is also about looking at equipment – you know, the types of equipment that you use in your workplaces and also the equipment that the children might not using as well so if you see anything that is not working, then who you report it to and that sort of thing. So that is part of my role and I am also in charge of these once a month meeting and providing these yummy cakes. So please take one everyone. And the other thing I do is I talk to Val about organising drills in the school, particularly at the beginning of the year, we might do some drills…fire drills, and we have a lock down drill coming up. The teachers don’t really appreciate interruptions but it is really terrific to have the drills so that everyone knows what they are doing. Jo: Please let us know where we fit into the picture, like, if we see an incident happen or we see a hazard or something …who do we go to? Jenny: Good question Jo. Well firstly Jo, you go to your classroom teacher or your line manager. Val has probably already let you know who your line managers are at this stage and things that you may see happening on a day to day basis. You might think: Oh Gee we could do that a little bit better. Last year we had Elizabeth, one of our Ed Support workers. She had some physically impaired students and found it difficult, every time she went to the toilet, finding things. So she got a bucket organised with disinfectant, gloves, change of clothes so that the staff didn’t have to keep running around the school to find all these bits and pieces. So, these sorts of procedures make such a difference you know. And just on that, any small maintenance things that you see that need fixing, you can just report them to the admin area and Val or I will chase that up. Chris: What else does your role involve? And will you be coming around and checking all the equipment and doing things like that to see we’re ok? Jenny: Well I can do Chris. I would have to talk to Val first and the line managers or your team captains or whatever, and just make sure that they are informed first of all. Then I can come into your classrooms or your work areas and just check that the access areas are clear and that there is nothing preventing the entrances and exits and things like that. And I will also check the equipment regularly and make sure that they are in good working order and make sure that no one hurts themselves. So, last month, remember, I got Jerry to go round with me to all the stationary cupboards in the art rooms and we moved all the heavy boxes down lower for the staff because you know, when you are in a hurry you tend to grab things that are heavy from up above and so he did that with us because we’ve still got that workers comp case pending. Rochelle: I think you do a really great job Jenny but I really think we should let Chris and Jo know what why we are here today and what the role of this committee actually is.

Jenny: Well the role of any occupational health and safety committee is really to keep the staff up to date with what’s happening, to make sure that the information is available to them, that’s why we have all these files, and so they are readily accessible and making sure that we keep the standards at the school at a really high level. If we need to we can always liaise with the Department, Val and I, just to make sure that everything is kept up to date. Actually sometimes it can be a really big job because we need to make sure that these policies and procedures are up to date. Actually, last month we had to send a couple of our education support workers off, didn’t we Val? Because we have got two children that have enrolled that have high physical needs and so they needed to go do a manual handling course. So Helen and Jill went off and they have done the manual handling course so that they can look after their backs when they are using the hoist. I think that hoist arrives next week doesn’t it Val?! Val: I think it does…hopefully! Jenny: And so, if the education support workers, like yourselves, if you feel there is anything you can contact WorkSafe – if you feel that there are things that we are not addressing in the work place. Rochelle: Jenny would it be ok if Val and I spoke briefly about our role as part of the critical incident? Jenny: Oh of course, sorry I was getting to you. Rochelle: In the case of a critical incident, you by that I mean a fire, flood, cyclone, bomb hoax, or someone being threatening towards staff or children that may threaten the safety of everyone at school, then we need to have strategies and responses in place. Val: We will have a lock down within the next couple of weeks so that the staff know what to do in those situations and the staff members, you will be told what to do by either Rochelle or me over the PA system and I’ll touch base with you Jenny just to organise that drill. I know how much you love organising Jenny. [Everyone laughs] Jenny: No worries Val. Chris: It all sounds a bit scary to me! Val: Yes it is! But it is better to be prepared than be sorry. Jo: If you are involved with something really stressful, and that goes with the demands of the job as well, can you get counselling? Jenny: Yeah. Sure you can Jo. All the Department workers have access to counselling through the employment assistance bureau. Val, you have got their number in your office haven’t you? Up on your wall there? Val: Yes I do. Jenny: So you are welcome to go and see Val if you ever need to and you need someone to talk to and you haven’t spoken to your line manager or to Val or myself.

Chris: That’s good to know. I know last year we had a kid with pretty aggressive sorts of behaviour and my stress levels were up through the roof. So, it’s good to know who to go to in that sort of case. Jenny: Oh definitely…definitely Val: Ah yes that’s right Jo but first of all it would be perfectly ok to discuss any difficulties you may be experiencing, with your line manager, or me, to see if we can help first. On that point, we also have procedures put in place for any grievances you may have like work place bullying or other conflicts you may be experiencing and we can also sit down with you and any other parties that might be involved and go through the resolution process with you. Rochelle: And Chris from that point of view, I hope you will both be very happy here working with both mainstream children and with children with special needs. But if you ever need to talk things over, remember we always have an open door here at West Coast Primary and that means any time you can come in. Any time. Chris: Thanks that’s good to remember. Jenny: Now, Richard I know you have been itching to tell us about your role as the schools first aid officer. Richard: Yes. I am at the school full time and my office is located next to Val’s. Basic first aid boxes are kept in each of the team blocks and there is also one in the sick bay up in the administration area. Next to the first aid box there are also accident incident report forms and obviously at the next meeting we will go through them in a bit more detail. Chris: Are we allowed to administer first aid to children ourselves? Richard: Small injuries like cuts and abrasions can be dealt with by you or other staff members. When you are on duty you will have a little duty bag, as well as an orange vest so that the kids can identify yourselves and bandaids and gloves and all that kind of stuff is in the little shoulder bag for you guys to use. Val: Yes and it is Richard’s job to make sure we have a good stock of ice packs as they have the ability to heal anything don’t they Richard? Richard: They certainly do. [All laugh] All other significant injuries are dealt with by myself or the admin team and if I am unavailable, it is very important to remember the basic rules while you are on playground duty though. Jo: Sorry to interrupt Richard, but, I didn’t know we would be on playground duty. Val: Ah yes Jo. You will be on the roster with the teaching staff because you are in the kindy and Chris is as well because he has a child with additional needs. You will have your morning tea after recess so that you don’t miss out on your morning cuppa. Rochelle: And don’t forget your hat either you two…No hat, no play! [All laugh] Chris: I suppose we have to wear sunnies and a long shirt as well hey? All: Well…

Richard: Also remember that you don’t give any medications to the children. All medications are to be taken to the front office, recorded and locked away for the protection of the kids, the other kids in the school. And they are to be administered by myself or a designated staff member. This also may include any Holly’s specific medication Chris. Val: If you want any more information on this I think Jo and Chris can look in the files that you have put together Richard. Richard: Good idea. All the details are in the policy and procedure files and they will be under the healthcare section. Rochelle: Ah, one other thought though, what about lice? All: Lice?! Richard: I thought that would get your attention! Rochelle: Yes we always have problems with head lice. I am not sure if you had a health nurse at your other schools but we usually refer the children to Kate and she does a quick check and she also checks for other health issues that we may have noticed. So she always checks with the parents first to make sure that it’s ok. Jenny: Well I think we have covered everything pretty thoroughly Jo and Chris? Hopefully you feel the same way. Is there anything that you have any questions or queries about? Chris: No I think you have done a really good job of outlining what we need to know and where we need to go to get help so I really appreciate it. It’s just nice to know who to come to and that you guys are here to support us. Jenny: Yeh great. No worries Chris Jo: Yes. Thanks very much Val: Alright then. This meeting is concluded at one fifteen. Thanks everyone and we will see you next month. Jenny: Thanks Val.