Preventing further accidents
Did you know?
A safety audit involves checking policies, equipment, staff training and the general environment.
Now that you have seen the story behind each of the accidents involving our staff, you can see how easy it is for accidents to happen. In a busy centre like Cybertots, it would probably be impossible to stop accidents from ever happening, but we do have a responsibility to try and avoid accidents from occurring by taking preventative measures.
When new staff join the team, what can experienced staff do to help ensure a safe working environment?
They could show them the relevant Cybertots safety policies, or point out health and safety risks as they encounter them in the course of their work.
Conducting a safety audit
Ryan has suggested that Cybertots undertake a safety audit. A safety audit involves checking all aspects of the centre, including policies, equipment, staff training and the general environment. It has been over 12 months since Ryan did the last audit, so it's definitely time for another one.
To help Ryan perform the audit, he is going to use the Cybertots Safety Audit Checklist. This checklist has been developed specifically by Cybertots staff, based on their state's OHS regulations. The checklist helps staff make sure they check all the important areas relating to Occupational Health and Safety at Cybertots.
If the audit identifies any areas where there are risks or hazards, Ryan can take the checklist to Alison and find solutions that will improve the safety of the centre, the children and the staff.
What strategies do you already use to identify hazards and reduce risks in your day, whether you are at work, school, college, or at home? Now think of some of the preventative measures that can be taken to reduce the number of accidents in a workplace environment or TAFE. Write down five examples in your notebook.
The safety audit took Ryan about 2 hours, but it was worthwhile. He has identified a few issues that need to be addressed.
Below is a list of the issues that Ryan identified during the audit:
- access to chemicals (in laundry) to be more secure – locks needed for cupboards
- some playground equipment requires minor maintenance
- first aid training required for new staff
- evacuation and emergency procedures need to be placed in a prominent place for staff to see.
As you can see, Ryan has a few things to discuss with Alison. They will need to arrange for a maintenance person to attend to the playground equipment, and get some locks on the laundry cupboards. First aid training will be a priority – Ryan will have to ask Alison to arrange that since it comes out of the centre's budget.
The hierarchy of control
The hierarchy of control is a list of control measures, in order of priority, which can be used to eliminate or minimise exposure to a hazard or risk. This is something that Ryan would refer to regularly in his OHS role. You can read the
Manual Handling Overview to find out more about this, and about other ways to reduce risk of injury.
Different workplaces use different tools to help them to minimise risks or hazards. Explore one of these tools by clicking on the Hazard Grid (Word 81Kb) and completing the activity. This can be printed and kept in your notebook.
