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$10 million undertaking issued against Education Directorate in ACT under the WHS act ACT 2011

In a recent case, WorkSafe ACT WorkSafe alleged that the Education Directorate had not done all that was reasonably practicable to ensure the health and safety of staff because it had:

· applied inconsistent or inadequate controls to workplace hazards associated with student behaviour

· failed to adequately adjust controls following incidents or changes in circumstances

failed to provide adequate training to staff in the application of identified controls

Work Safety commissioner Greg Jones has said that an enforceable undertaking on the ACT education directorate, alleging the government had breached its legislated responsibilities by not doing all that was "reasonably practical" to ensure the safety of its staff.

The investigation focussed on three schools deemed to the most at risk between 2016 and 2018, Mr Jones said the problem was systemic in a directorate where existing workplace violence policies were neither flexible nor fully implemented.

The number of Canberra public school students involved in physical assaults also surged from 233 in 2012 to more than 2000 in 2017. kids

At school 1, a staff member working in the kindergarten suffered multiple injuries from students identified as having disabilities, complex needs and challenging behaviours. There were a number of injuries on multiple occasions

At school 2, a kindergarten teacher was hospitalised after they were kicked by a student who had been involved in multiple violent incidents throughout the year. Staff were bitten, scratched, punched and kicked. One of the staff members was pregnant at the time and was struck on her abdomen.

At school 3, the incidents involved a high school student who was identified as having challenging behaviours that presented an extreme risk staff and to others.

A working group was formed among stakeholders (including school staff, Education Directorate staff and the union) and new policies dealing with occupational violence were developed.

The Education Directorate also signed an undertaking that included the committing:

· approximately $7.67 million to developing the Occupational Violence Safety Management System program, a significant proportion related to the development of sensory spaces in schools for staff to support students with complex needs, and professional learning to support schools in creating sensory spaces

· a further $2.225 million to training and communications initiatives

· another $100,000 to strategies to deliver community benefits by working with parent associations to raise awareness about occupational violence in the education sector.

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/worksafe-launches-action-against-act-government-over-school-assaults-20181015-p509rk.html

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-15/act-directorate-inadequately-handled-violence-against-teachers/10378280

http://www.mondaq.com/australia/x/760396/Education/A+recent+10+million+

undertaking+puts+the+spotlight+back+on+violence+in+schools

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