Page 2662 - Week 07 - Thursday, 1 August 2019
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4) The Education Directorate’s strong reporting culture through the introduction of electronic incident reporting in mid-2015 and the subsequent development and implementation of the Occupational Violence Management Policy and related Management Plan has led to the increase in incidents being reported.
The increase in the number of occupational violence incidents being reported is related to greater encouragement for staff to report. It is important to note that with the increased level of reporting there has not been a commensurate increase in the severity of injuries that resulted in staff taking time off work.
The following data set provides a breakdown of the number of incidents2 by category by Lost Time Injuries (LTI) reported.
(Available at the Chamber Support Office).
_________________________
2 The term incident refers to the number of individual reports about an event. There may be multiple reports on the one event.
5) Since the rollout of electronic incident reporting in mid-2015 and the reporting of incidents being emphasised, Occupational Violence incidents have seen an increase each year. While there was an initial increase in 2015 for bullying and harassment and mental stress incidents, there have not been significant increases in the years following.
These trends have been noted as they became apparent in recent years and the Education Directorate continually tracks and monitors these trends through regular reporting.
6 & 7) The Education Directorate has had a strong focus on occupational violence over recent years and has introduced a number of initiatives to promote the reporting of these incidents, including engaging external parties. Examples include:
• Created a joint Australian Education Union/Education Directorate working group, formed on 30 August 2016, to progress a program of agreed work. Products from this collaboration included an Occupational Violence Management Policy and Plan, support documents and products for use in schools and classrooms throughout the ACT Public School system.
• In November 2016, the Director-General hosted three workshops where the key risks and treatments associated with occupational violence in schools were explored and mapped. The Director-General also wrote to Principals and all staff regarding work health and safety responsibilities and obligations under the relevant Act.
• The Education Directorate implemented team teach training, which used positive and protective personal safety skills to minimise risk to all involved. Between 2016 and 2018, 2678 staff participated in training.
• In December 2016, the Education Directorate formalised its Occupational Violence Safety Management System project. This program of work included training for all principals, delivered in December 2016 by the former WorkSafe ACT Commissioner Mark McCabe. The training focused on work health and safety and due diligence.
• The Director-General held teleconferences with principals on work health and safety and due diligence on 7 December 2016.
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