Department-wide
This procedure outlines a process to ensure that health and safety risks are identified and controlled when conducting home visits. The process includes the requirements for how to plan, conduct and review a home visit.
A home visit includes the attendance of a department employee at the home of a student, their parent, an employee or another member of the school/local community. These visits may be necessary for educational, welfare, engagement or regulatory obligations. For non-regulatory purposes all alternatives are to be exhausted prior to a home visit being conducted. Examples of home visits include when employees:
A risk management approach is integral to this procedure and is used to identify and minimise health and safety risks associated with conducting home visits. The associated Home visit risk management plan template may be used to support identification and management of risks when conducting home visits.
Some business units may have local risk management templates or assessments. These units may choose to use these templates; however, must ensure that they include reasonable measures to address each of the process steps addressed in this procedure, in particular; hazard identification, risk assessment, determination of controls, a communication strategy and approval and review processes. A home visit is not to be undertaken if it has been identified or assessed that there is a high or extreme risk to employee safety.
It is recommended that any staff conducting home visits are to have appropriate experience and training and are classified as AO3 equivalent or above.
Principals, managers or supervisors (or delegate e.g. deputy principal):
Employees:
Employee:
Employee contact person
Term
Definition
Blue Card
A Blue Card is a plasticised card, issued to a person who is the holder of a current positive notice by Blue Card Service in the Department of Justice and Attorney and is valid for three years from the date of issue. A Blue Card displays the following information about the Blue Card holder:
Child
A person under the age of 18 years.
The Department employee who is available for the employee(s) conducting home visit to contact as part of the established communication plan. The contact person must be informed of the elements of the communication plan including:
Control measure
Actions implemented to eliminate or minimise a risk as far as is reasonably practicable. Control measures should be regularly reviewed to ensure their effectiveness.
Exemption Card
An Exemption Card is a plasticised card, issued to a registered teacher, Police Officer or Registered Health Practitioner allowing them to undertake child-related services that are not part of their normal employment, such as private tutoring of a child, work in a child care centre, volunteering at a children’s sporting club, participating in a homestay or reading program or supervising after hours school care.
Extreme risk activity
An activity that is inherently dangerous. There is a high chance of a serious incident occurring that would result in a highly debilitating injury.
Hazard
An object or situation that has the potential to harm a person, the environment or cause damage to property. Hazards in relation to home visits include, but are not limited to, harm, injury, disease, illness, loss or damage.
Hierarchy of control
The hierarchy of control is a risk management process in which the ways of controlling risks are ranked from the highest level of protection and reliability to the lowest.
The hierarchy of control is as follows (from highest level of protection to the lowest):
High risk activity
An activity where there is a likely chance of a significant incident resulting in injury or illness requiring medical treatment.
Home visit
A home visit includes the attendance of a department employee at the home of a student, their parent, an employee or another member of the school/local community
Home visits by Department employees may be due to regulatory and non-regulatory requirements. Limited examples include:
Regulatory:
Non-regulatory:
Home visit risk management plan
The Home visit risk management plan demonstrates and documents the risk management approach undertaken for home visits.
A Home visit risk management plan may be conducted for multiple home visits e.g. demonstrating how home visits for regulatory purposes will be conducted by a whole work group
OR
A home visit risk management plan may be undertaken for an individual home visit to a student home.
A template is provided which can be modified by the work group.
Low risk activity
An activity that has little chance of an incident occurring which would result in harm, injury, disease, illness or damage.
Medium risk activity
An activity that has some chance of an incident occurring which would result in an injury requiring first aid.
Reasonably practicable
The things that could be done at a particular time to ensure that HSW risk is reduced to an acceptable level.
Deciding what is ‘reasonably practicable’ to protect people from harm requires consideration and assessment of all relevant matters, including:
Risk
The possibility that harm (death, injury or illness) might occur when exposed to a hazard.
For example, the hazard is an uneven pathway. The risk is the likelihood that a person will slip/trip/fall because the uneven pathway forms a trip hazard.
Risk assessment
Risk assessment is a term used to describe the overall process or method to:
Risk management
A systematic approach used to ensure workplace health, safety and wellbeing. It is a structured decision making process using four steps:
The objective is to eliminate or minimise the risk of harm which people may be exposed to at a workplace or from work activities.
This can be documented using the Home visit risk management plans. Approval is always required prior to the activity being undertaken.
Student
A student is any person, regardless of age, who attends a state educational institution, established under ss. 13, 14 or 15 of the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 (Qld)
Training
Training may be required to support employees to safely undertake a home visit. Training should be determined by considering the risks identified and the skills/experience of the employee. Appropriate training may include internally or externally provided training.
Previous seven years shown. Minor version updates not included.
Nil
Organisational Safety and Wellbeing Unit Contact: 07 3513 6562 For information about Workplace Health, Safety and Wellbeing, contact the Regional Health and Safety Consultant from your closest regional office.
Uncontrolled copy. Refer to the Department of Education Policy and Procedure Register to ensure you have the most current version of this document.
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