Community Child Care: Rattler 62

HOME | Staff | Training | Rattler | Broadside

Community Child Care Co-operative Ltd (NSW) is a not-for-profit organisation and a member of National Management Agencies Alliance Quality Management, Quality Care.

Community Child Care gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance of:

Working safely in children's services

The Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2001, were introduced on 1 September 2001, replacing the previous Act and Regulations which had been in operation since 1983. As outlined in the October 2001 issue of Broadside, the Regulations require all workplaces to implement a systematic risk management process for the control of hazards and to establish a consultative process with the employer. WorkCover NSW manages the state's workplace safety, injury management and worker's compensation systems, and provides an informative website, www.workcover.nsw.gov.au which is easy to access and use.

A copy of the Act and Regulations can be downloaded from the site, but users should be aware that the complete Regulations document is 304 pages and will take some time to download. Alternatively, the Act can be purchased through the Government Information Services on (02) 9743 7200. The full or summarised Regulations can also be obtained through the WorkCover Client Contact Centre on 131 050 - the first copy is free and additional copies are $22, including postage.

To implement a systematic risk management process, the website outlines the method through the link - 'frequently asked questions' and then through to 'risk management'. Risk management involves identifying, assessing, controlling and/or eliminating health or safety risks. The Regulations also place a considerable emphasis on employers establishing consultative arrangements with employees. Generally, the director or authorised supervisor of a children's service acts on the behalf of the management committee or owner, regarding occupational health and safety issues. However, WorkCover clearly outlines that the 'obligations for risk management remain the responsibility of the employer regardless of any delegation or contracting arrangements that may be made in carrying out the risk management process'.

The Act is based on the principle of duty of care and implementing this principle means planning for the prevention of workplace accidents, injuries and illnesses.

There is a general obligation on all employees within children's services to take care of others and to cooperate with employers in matters of health and safety. The website outlines the principles of Duty of Care and the specific legislation that covers it and also contains extensive publications that will assist the employer and employees to better understand workplace health and safety issues.

Information about National Occupational Health and Safety standards and codes of practice can be obtained through the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission's website, www.nohsc.gov.au

National standards are documents which prescribe preventive action to avert occupational deaths, injuries and diseases, while national codes of practice are documents prepared for the purpose of advising employers and employees of acceptable ways of achieving declared national standards.

Manual handling is a national standard that is particularly relevant to children's services and the website describes risks associated with this procedure, such as awkward body postures, poorly designed equipment and unsafe work practices.

For services considering a 'sun safe' policy, the Cancer Council of NSW's website, www.nswcc.org.au through the link 'schools and childcare', has the SunSmart Early Childhood Resource Kit, designed to assist all types of early childhood services to implement their sun protection policies and practices. The kit has colourful and creative ideas to be shared with children to help them understand sun safety.

Finally, there have been requests from children's services about the availability of OHS signs which will help their risk management program. Community Child Care cannot endorse any commercial companies, but a section of the Yellow Pages directory is devoted to signs dealing with safety. Some companies have websites enabling browsing through a range of signs, and online ordering systems.

Annie Mizon is a Project Officer at Community Child Care.

Site programmed and maintained by ARMEDIA