Principals must share OH&S information

BOB LIPSCOMBE advises principals of their occupational health and safety obligations.

Federation is concerned that a significant number of principals are still unaware of the requirements under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation 2001 to provide teachers and other employees in their schools and colleges with all relevant information that may be needed for the protection of the employee's own health and safety and the protection of the health and safety of others for whom they have responsibility. This includes relevant information which under different circumstances might be covered by privacy legislation. On occasions this may mean that medical information or information held by school counsellors must be disclosed to teachers. Principals need to be aware that failure to provide relevant information to all teachers whose occupational health and safety (OH&S) may be affected or who have responsibilities for others whose OH&S may be affected may expose both the Department and themselves to penalties under the legislation. This is especially so if the failure to provide such information led to subsequent injury to teachers or others.

Principals should also be aware of the obligation imposed upon the employer, under the legislation, that conducting risk assessments and developing risk management plans also requires consultation with staff, including the disclosure of all relevant information to teachers who may be affected or who have responsibilities for others who may be affected.

Numerous Department of Education and Training (DET) memoranda and other documents distributed to principals now reflect the obligations imposed on DET under the OH&S legislation. Principals should make every reasonable effort to implement these. On those occasions where full implementation is difficult or not reasonable because of lack of skill and expertise, release days, time, resources, appropriate personnel and so on, principals should not hesitate to inform their School Education Director or Regional Director in writing of the need for support to ensure compliance. If support is provided from outside the workplace it is important to remember the obligation to consult with employees and provide relevant information remains. If difficulty is experienced in obtaining such support and any resources needed to implement risk management plans, or the addressing of OH&S concerns more generally, the local Federation Organiser should be contacted.

Always remember that appropriate resources to implement risk management plans remain the responsibility of DET and in many cases where Federation members (including principals) at the workplace have taken a united stand, additional resources such as release time, additional staff or specialist support have been provided.

Probably the most important of the DET documents dealing with these matters is Legal Issues Bulletin 40: Collection, Use and Disclosure of Information about Students with a History of Violence, issued by the DET last year and available from the DET intranet. It clearly sets out many of these responsibilities and should be understood by principals, Federation Representatives and others with OH&S responsibilities. Another important document is the DET's Suspension and Expulsion of School Students Procedures. Not only does it require the long suspension for physical violence that "results in pain or injury, or which seriously interferes with the safety and well being of other students and staff" (section 6.3.2), but it also requires a risk assessment before the return of a student suspended for an incident involving violence or weapons (section 7.3.10). This, of course, must be done in consultation with staff who may be affected by the student's behaviour.

Bob Lipscombe is the Senior Vice President.

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May 2007 contents