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Occupational Health and Safety

10 min read

First created 4 May 2012
Last reviewed 19 May 2020
Review cycle Annual
Approver Senior Leadership Team
Owner Projects Manager
Stakeholders Staff, volunteers, contractors, parents
Child Safety National Principles 2, 8

Overview #

Rehoboth Christian College takes its responsibility to ensure the safety of all persons entering its campuses very seriously. This Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Policy has been developed in conjunction with the relevant authorities and legislation. All staff are required to operate within the parameters of this policy and report issues that may result in injury or loss of life.

The College recognises that its community is valuable and is committed to providing a workplace that is safe and healthy for all who enter. As such, the College strives to provide a safe and productive environment.

In the unfortunate circumstance that an employee or student is injured, the College will facilitate their return to work or studies at the earliest possible time.

Attachments and References #

This policy should be read in conjunction with the following documents:

  1. Risk Management Policy
  2. Contractors Policy
  3. Emergency Management Plan
  4. Student Sickness, Injury, Medical Disability, and Medicine Administration Policy
  5. Occupational Health and Safety Act 1984
  6. Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 1996
  7. Australian and New Zealand Standard Risk Management Principles and Guidelines AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009

Definitions #

  1. Accident means an unplanned or unforeseen event that results in injury or illness to a person. This may also involve damage to property, plant, equipment, and/or the environment. An Accident is not an Emergency and not a Critical Incident, but is reportable on the Incident and Hazard Report.
  2. Emergency means any event, whether sudden or developing over time, that endangers or destroys, or threatens to endanger or destroy, human life, property, financial security, organisational reputation, or the environment. An Emergency may require a significant response from one or more of the statutory services. An Emergency is not an Accident or Incident and is a Critical Incident.
  3. Hazard means a situation or object that has the potential to cause injury or illness. Hazards are reportable on the maintenance ticketing system where they do not pose an immediate danger.
  4. Incident means a low-level local problem or event with no serious impact. While the College’s senior staff and governing body may not be involved in the resolution, they would nevertheless become aware through College reporting (e.g. on matters of student level of care and/or OHS). Records are maintained in an Incident Register. Under this definition, an Incident is not an Emergency and not a Critical Incident, but is reportable on the Incident and Hazard Report.
  5. Near-Miss means an unplanned event where there is no injury, illness, or damage to people, plant, equipment, or the environment, but where there was a potential for some damage to have resulted. These events should be reported as a potential Hazard.
  6. Critical Incident means an event in which there is a high likelihood of traumatic effects or evoking unusual or unexpectedly strong emotional reactions which have the potential to interfere with the ability of an individual, group, or school to function either at the time of the event or later. Such events must be reported to the Department of Education and the Board.

OHS Committee #

The College will ensure that an Occupational Health and Safety Committee (OHS Committee) is maintained with the following scope and limitations:

Purpose
  1. The OHS Committee stands in place of an appointed OHS officer.
  2. The main purpose of the OHS Committee is to provide oversight and review of OHS matters arising at the College in a consultative forum, with particular reference to the requirements of the Occupational Health Safety and Welfare Act 1986.
  3. The OHS Committee has the right to inspect and investigate any OHS issue arising at the College.
Functions
  1. Facilitate cooperation between the employer and employees in initiating, developing, carrying out and monitoring measures designed to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of stakeholders;
  2. Assist in the resolution of issues relating to OHS that arise;
  3. Assist in the development, review, and distribution of OHS practices, procedures, and policies to stakeholders;
  4. Consult with the employer on any proposed changes to OHS practices, procedures, and policies;
  5. Keep under review and assist with:
    1. rehabilitation of students or staff who suffer an Accident or Incident;
    2. students or staff who suffer from any form of disability; and 
    3. return of students or staff to the College following an Accident or Incident.
  6. Establish subcommittees as might be necessary to provide advice or to assist the OHS Committee in the performance of its functions; and
  7. Such other functions as are prescribed or agreed upon by the employer and the OHS Committee.
Membership
  1. The OHS Committee will consist of a minimum of six representative members and the College Compliance Officer and a:
    1. management representative;
    2. Wilson Campus facilities and maintenance representative;
    3. Kenwick Campus facilities and maintenance representative;
    4. Wilson primary School representative;
    5. Kenwick Primary School representative; and
    6. Kenwick Secondary School representative.
  2. The College supports the formation and active involvement of the OHS Committee in its workplace. In recognition of the important role this group has, and the value the forum provides as a joint management/employee consultative process, at all times employee representatives will hold a majority of the seats over management representatives.
  3. Committee members cease to be members if they:
    1. resign from the Committee
    2. fail to attend three consecutive meetings without providing apologies to the Chairperson;
    3. resign from their employment;
    4. breach confidentiality; or
    5. breach the Code of Conduct.
Committee Offices

The OHS Committee must appoint the following offices:

  1. Chairperson: The Chairperson will be elected by the Committee for twelve months and is responsible for:
    1. scheduling meetings
    2. approving the agenda for Committee meetings;
    3. guiding the meeting according to the agenda;
    4. ensuring all discussion items end with a decision, action, or definite outcome; and 
    5. review and approval of draft minutes before distribution.
  2. Secretary: The Compliance Officer will take on the role of Secretary and is responsible for:
    1. preparing the agenda for Committee meetings and ensuring all necessary documents requiring discussion or comment are attached;
    2. distributing the agenda one week before the meeting;
    3. taking notes of proceedings and preparing minutes of meetings;
    4. distributing the minutes to all OHS Committee members one week after the meeting and be made available to all staff; and 
    5. providing administrative support to OHS Committee members in the execution of their functions and responsibilities.
Meetings
  1. The OHS Committee will meet at least once per term.
  2. A quorum consisting of half the total membership must be present before a meeting can proceed. The quorum must be comprised of at least two employee representatives and one management representative. Committee members may nominate a proxy to attend on their behalf. The name(s) of proxies must be provided to the Chairperson before the meeting.
  3. Internal or external persons may be invited to attend meetings at the request of the Chairperson on behalf of the Committee to provide advice and assistance where necessary. These persons have no voting rights and may be requested to leave the meeting at any time by the Chairperson.
  4. Decisions at meetings will be made by a formal motion being passed and a vote will be determined by a simple majority.
  5. A special or extraordinary meeting may be called by half the Committee members or the employer.
Access to the Board

The OHS Committee will have direct access to the Board should it be deemed necessary in the following circumstances:

  1. CEO does not give a response within a reasonable timeframe;
  2. CEO fails to rectify an agreed matter;
  3. OHS Committee is not satisfied with the CEO’s response and a dispute arises regarding the importance or urgency of a matter.
OHS Representative

It is the role of school representatives to represent their area of the College in OHS matters, inform staff in their area of OHS matters, and ensure that Accidents, Incidents, and Hazards are properly reported.

Management Representative

The management representative will be selected from the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and will be present at every meeting of the OHS Committee. Their role is to represent the SLT, bring issues of concern to the SLT, and make the CEO aware of matters that should be referred to the Board.

Maintenance Representatives – Kenwick and Wilson

The role of the maintenance representatives is to review the maintenance registers for Hazards that the OHS Committee should review and to refer any matters from the OHS Committee back to maintenance teams.

Risk Management #

The College maintains a Risk Management System comprising of a Risk Management Policy and Framework. The purpose of the system is to ensure all workplace hazards have been appropriately identified, assessed, and controlled.

Safe Work Practices #

The College will carry out appropriate training of employees in the specific task which is the subject of the Safe Work Practices (SWP).

  1. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS): All hazardous substances in the school will be recorded in the Chemical Register and will have their MSDS information catalogued in folders. This information will be kept both at the location of the hazardous substance (e.g., the Science Block) and in a master folder in the main administration building.
  2. Electrical testing and tagging: Testing and tagging will be carried out on all electrical equipment on an annual basis and be performed by a qualified person.
  3. Hazardous substances: The handling, transport, storage, and use of hazardous materials will be carried out according to legislation on the handling and movement of hazardous materials. Specifically, the following applies:
    1. Flammable substances are required to be stored in a purpose-built flammable storage cabinet;
    2. Chemical and cleaning products should be out of the reach of children and stored in a locked cabinet.
  4. Facilities and maintenance practices: In addition to the monitoring of OHS by the OHS Committee, several systematic monitoring processes are in place to ensure the College environment remains safe. The Facilities Manager will oversee these regular checks and services and notify the OHS Committee of any significant concerns. These inspections occur as outlined in the Rehoboth Christian College Maintenance Program for each campus. Classroom audit checks are to be performed and maintained by each respective teacher and kept on file in the classroom.
  5. Working from heights:
    Working at any height above the ground has an inherent risk that can cause serious injury. Only properly trained and authorised persons will carry out work at the College where there is danger of a fall of greater than 2 metres.
  6. Contractors:
    Contractors are responsible for:
    1. ensuring their safety plan and safe work method statements for the work to be undertaken is lodged with the College before the commencement of any work and complied with for the duration of the assignment;
    2. adhering to the safe work practices and any other health and safety requirements of the College;
    3. ensuring they comply with all relevant OHS legislation and regulations;
    4. the immediate provision of information regarding any accident, incident, or dangerous occurrence they become aware of during their assignment to the College.

      Contractors should refer to the College’s Contractors Policy under separate cover for more information.
  7. Plant and equipment:
    It is the responsibility of both the employee and the supervisor to ensure that all plant and equipment is fit for its intended task.
    1. No plant or equipment shall be operated without the relevant work cover licence or other registered licenses, unless under the supervision of a competent person using a current logbook, or an appropriate internal assessment has been made and documented where no statutory licensing is required. It is the responsibility of the operator to ensure that all pre-start checks have been performed and documented for all equipment with this requirement.
    2. Fire hydrants/reels, playground equipment, PPE, defibrillators, and related equipment will be regularly checked according to prescribed schedules.

Reporting and Recording #

  1. All Accident, Incident, and Near-Miss events will be reported so that they may be analysed and the risks of future Hazards or repeat events are mitigated. All such reports will be submitted using the College’s Incident and Hazard Report and maintained in an Incident Register.
  2. Hazards may be reported as a maintenance issue on the appropriate register unless they are the cause of an Accident or Incident, in which case they must be reported as per point 1 of the Safe Work Practices section. Facilities and maintenance staff will work to correct the hazard or, where this is not possible, refer the Hazard to the OHS Committee for consideration.
  3. Where a Critical Incident has occurred, this must be reported to the Department of Education using the appropriate form. Refer to the Emergency Management Plan for more information.

Staff Induction on OHS Matters #

The College will establish its OHS standards and procedures as a component of its induction process for new staff. No previous training or competencies are required by staff. The procedures for induction are as follows:

  1. All new employees will have an induction before commencing any duties with Rehoboth Christian College.
  2. It is the responsibility of the College’s Senior Leadership Team to ensure the induction has taken place.
  3. The induction will only be performed by employees of Rehoboth Christian College deemed competent to do so by the Senior Leadership Team.
  4. A handbook containing the same information as that given at induction will be provided to all at the end of their induction session (typically included as part of the Staff Manual).
  5. A register of all staff who have attended induction, and those who receive a copy of the induction handbook, will be signed by the inductee at the end of the induction. The register will be maintained by each School.