15. Safe work practices and
methods
Like all employees, supported employees
must use safe work practices and
methods.
As support staff, your role is to assist
supported employees to use safe work
practices and methods.
How do you achieve this?
16. Case study
Rona enjoys working on the assembly
line. However, she seems to repeatedly
forget the instructions you have given
her about safe lifting practices.
What are some techniques you would use
to help Rona work more safely?
17. Safety clothing and equipment
Like all employees, supported employees
must use safety clothing and equipment
(PPE).
As support staff, your role is to assist
supported employees to use safety
clothing and PPE.
How can you do this?
18. Case study
Daniel is required to wear ear-plugs when he
works near loud machinery. He is very good at
inserting the ear-plugs correctly, but you have
noticed that he sometimes arrives at work wearing
his ear-plugs. You suspect he is not removing
them when he finishes work.
How would you address this issue?
19. Misusing equipment
Like all employees, supported employees
must not interfere with or misuse
equipment.
As support staff, your role is to assist
supported employees not to interfere with
or misuse equipment.
How can you do this?
20. Case study
Nicola frequently leaves her gloves on the
conveyor belt. This causes problems on the
assembly line when they become caught.
What would you do to help solve this
problem?
21. Endangering others
Like all employees, supported employees
must not do anything that may be
dangerous to others.
As support staff, your role is to assist
supported employees not to do anything
that may be dangerous to others.
How can you achieve this?
22. Case study
Milan can’t reach to put the rolls of paper
towel away on the top shelf. Instead of getting
the safety step, he sometimes throws the rolls
up onto the shelf. Yesterday one rolled off and
hit Jane who was walking past carrying a tray
of glasses.
How would you address this issue?
23. Risk management
What are the challenges for you when
identifying OH&S risks for supported
employees in your organisation?
24. Handling dangerous goods
What are the issues you
need to address when
training supported
employees to handle
dangerous goods?
25. Manual handling
What are some
effective methods
for demonstrating
to supported
employees how to
lift correctly?
26. Movement
What are the rules
for our workplace?
Are there particular
issues with assisting
supported
employees to follow
them?
27. Soft tissue and overuse injuries
due to repetitive work
How is the risk of these type of injuries
identified in our organisation?
Are there particular issues we should
consider for supported employees?
28. Illegal drugs and alcohol
Are drugs and alcohol an issue when
working with supported employees?
29. Medication
What are the issues around medication
management for supported employees
in our workplace?
32. Identifying and reporting
hazards
There are several ways to identify hazards in
the workplace, including:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Inspections and audits
Hazard reports
Job analysis
Health monitoring data
Material safety data sheets
Workplace environment monitoring data
33. Emergencies
In the case of an accident or emergency,
it is important to know where the
emergency equipment is and what to do.
This resource is designed to assist managers and support staff provide a safe working environment for all employees in a Disability Employment Service. The resource is not intended to replace standard OH&S training and assumes this has been addressed by the organisation. This presentation is a supplement to assist managers and support staff consider the OH&S implications when working with supported employees.
The presentation includes:
considerations for creating a safe workplace
hints for demonstrating safe work practices
ideas to assist with hazard identification, emergencies and OH&S reporting requirements
The resource is divided into three sections to assist you with the presentation. It can be run as 1, 2 or 3 sessions depending on the time you have available and the particular issues you wish to address.
A trainer’s guide accompanies this resource and provides tips and strategies to support you and ensure your training session is successful.
An important aim of this resource is highlighting the OH&S core competencies used in most wage assessment tools including the Business Service Wage Assessment Tool (BSWAT) and throughout the resource we have linked OH&S issues raised to these assessment questions.
This section of the presentation assists managers and support staff recognise their responsibilities in terms of creating and maintaining a safe and healthy work environment for supported employees.
Assessment questions in relation to OH&S may relate to the ability of employees to:
follow safety instructions
set up and organise work the work station in accordance with OH&S standards
take appropriate action when they notice something is unsafe at work.
This section of the presentation provides:
background information about OH&S responsibilities for managers and support staff
opportunities to discuss and develop strategies suitable for your workplace
The section begins with a series of slides providing an overview of OH&S responsibilities. This is followed by a number of slides that should be used as discussion starters. The key points of discussion should be around achieving a safer and healthier workplace for supported employees and any issues related to our duty to provide a safe and healthy workplace.
It may be useful to have an OH&S specialist present to contribute to this session. They could reinforce the legislative compliance requirements for communication, care and consultation.
Discuss each of the points on the slide in relation to working in a Disability Employment Service
For example
Are there particular communication needs for supported employees that result from the effects of their disability?
How do these impact on providing a safe and healthy workplace?
Are there particular duty of care issues for support staff working with employees with an intellectual disability?
What is the consultation mechanism in your workplace?
What are the roles of support staff and supported employees?
What are the employer’s responsibilities for consultation?
This slide raises issues about the OH&S responsibilities of support staff in a disability employment service. Use it as a discussion starter or a point from which to discuss your service’s expectations.
Wage assessment tools may include an assessment question that relates to the ability of employees to maintain machinery to recommended safety standards. How is this achieved in your workplace?
If you are working with a group of experienced employees, discuss successful strategies. If participants are new to the sector, provide some examples of good practice.
This slide raises issues about the OH&S responsibilities of support staff in a disability employment service. Use it as a discussion starter or a point from which to discuss your service’s expectations.
Wage assessment tools may include an assessment question that relates to the ability of employees to know what a hazard is. How is this achieved in your workplace?
If you are working with a group of experienced employees, discuss successful strategies. If participants are new to the sector, provide some examples of good practice.
This slide raises issues about the OH&S responsibilities of support staff in a disability employment service. Use it as a discussion starter or a point from which to discuss your service’s expectations.
If you are working with a group of experienced employees, discuss successful strategies. If participants are new to the sector, provide some examples of good practice.
This slide raises issues about the OH&S responsibilities of support staff in a disability employment service. Use it as a discussion starter or a point from which to discuss your service’s expectations.
If you are working with a group of experienced employees, discuss successful strategies. If participants are new to the sector, provide some examples of good practice.
This discussion will be of particular importance for businesses which require employees to be involved with food handling.
Be prepared to discuss workplace requirements and provide suggestions/strategies for ensuring good practice.
Discussion topics could include
hand washing
covering hair and beards
illness such as colds, hay fever and gastric viruses.
This slide raises issues about the OH&S responsibilities of support staff in a disability employment service. Use it as a discussion starter or a point from which to discuss your service’s expectations.
If you are working with a group of experienced employees, discuss successful strategies. If participants are new to the sector, provide some examples of good practice.
This slide raises issues about the OH&S responsibilities of support staff in a disability employment service. Use it as a discussion starter or a point from which to discuss your service’s expectations.
If you are working with a group of experienced employees, discuss successful strategies. If participants are new to the sector, provide some examples of good practice.
This slide raises issues about the OH&S responsibilities of support staff in a disability employment service. Use it as a discussion starter or a point from which to discuss your service’s expectations.
If you are working with a group of experienced employees, discuss successful strategies. If participants are new to the sector, provide some examples of good practice.
This slide raises issues about your OH&S responsibilities as support staff within a disability employment service. Use this slide as a discussion starter or a point from which to discuss your service’s expectations.
If you are working with a group of experienced employees, discuss successful strategies. If participants are new to the sector, provide some examples of good practice.
This slide raises issues about the OH&S responsibilities of support staff in a disability employment service. Use it as a discussion starter or a point from which to discuss your service’s expectations.
Wage assessment tools may include an assessment question that relates to the ability of employees to know what to do if they or someone else hurts themselves at work. How is this achieved in your workplace?
If you are working with a group of experienced employees, discuss successful strategies. If participants are new to the sector, provide some examples of good practice.
This section is designed to assist managers and support staff develop strategies and skills to assist supported employees meet their OH&S obligations. An integral part of the supervisory role that support staff have is to ensure supported employees are performing their work safely. This requires the demonstration of safe work practices, often on a regular basis. The emphasis for this section should be on developing techniques for providing clear, effective demonstrations and then checking that transfer of learning has occurred.
Open the session with a discussion about the issues involved with demonstrating safe work practices to supported employees with an intellectual disability. It may be useful to have a copy of Work Talk available for participants.
Provide some background about the types of disabilities your supported employees have, including information about preferred communication practices and learning styles that are effective.
Other discussion starters could be:
What are some successful techniques that you have seen or used for demonstrating safe working practices and methods? How could they be used in your workplace?
Describe a successful demonstration. How did you know it had been successful? How would you need to adapt this technique when working with employees with particular types of disability?
What are the demonstration techniques that work well for supported employees with an intellectual disability (or psychiatric disability, or sensory impairment etc)?
If you are working with a group of experienced employees, discuss successful strategies. If participants are new to the sector, provide some examples of good practice.
Be prepared to provide information about preferred practices in your organisation
Discuss the issues identified in the case study or insert a more relevant story for discussion.
The focus of the discussion should be on the identification of strategies to help supported employees work safely.
Other discussion starters could be:
What are some successful techniques that you have observed or used for demonstrating safe working practices and methods? How could they be used in your workplace?
Describe a successful demonstration. How did you know it had been successful? How would you need to adapt this technique when working with employees with particular types of disability?
What are the demonstration techniques that work well for supported employees with an intellectual disability (or psychiatric disability, or sensory impairment etc)?
An assessment question in relation to OH&S in wage assessment tools may relate to identifying and using/wearing protective clothing or equipment appropriately . How is this achieved in your workplace ?
If you are working with a group of experienced employees, discuss successful strategies. If participants are new to the sector, provide some examples of good practice.
Discuss the issues identified in the case study or insert a more relevant story for discussion.
The focus of the discussion should be on the identification of strategies to help supported employees work safely.
Other discussion starters could be:
What are some successful techniques that you have observed or used for demonstrating safe working practices and methods? How could they be used in your workplace?
Describe a successful demonstration. How did you know it had been successful? How would you need to adapt this technique when working with employees with particular types of disability?
What are the demonstration techniques that work well for supported employees with an intellectual disability (or psychiatric disability, or sensory impairment etc)?
If you are working with a group of experienced employees, discuss successful strategies. If participants are new to the sector, provide some examples of good practice.
Discuss the issues identified in the case study or insert a more relevant story for discussion.
The focus of the discussion should be on the identification of strategies to help supported employees work safely.
Other discussion starters could be:
What are some successful techniques that you have observed or used for demonstrating safe working practices and methods? How could they be used in your workplace?
Describe a successful demonstration. How did you know it had been successful? How would you need to adapt this technique when working with employees with particular types of disability?
What are the demonstration techniques that work well for supported employees with an intellectual disability (or psychiatric disability, or sensory impairment etc)?
If you are working with a group of experienced employees, discuss successful strategies. If participants are new to the sector, provide some examples of good practice.
Discuss the issues identified in the case study or insert a more relevant story for discussion.
The focus of the discussion should be on the identification of strategies to help supported employees work safely.
Discuss the issues involved with risk identification and supported employees with an intellectual disability.
Include information about your organisation’s requirements.
Gather information from participants about their ‘good practice’ experiences.
You may wish to use this section as a problem solving session. Ask participants to describe issues they have had to address and use the group to offer alternatives.
Discuss the issues involved with dangerous goods training and supported employees.
Include information about your organisation’s requirements.
Gather information from participants about their ‘good practice’ experiences.
You may wish to use this section as a problem solving session. Ask participants to describe issues they have had to address and use the group to offer alternatives
Demonstrate and/or discuss how management and support staff should demonstrate correct lifting techniques for:
individuals
teams.
Include information about your organisation’s requirements.
Gather information from participants about their ‘good practice’ experiences.
An assessment question in relation to OH&S in wage assessment tools may relate to the ability of employees to perform manual handling tasks to recommended safety standards. How is this achieved in your workplace?
You may wish to use this section as a problem solving session. Ask participants to describe issues they have had to address and use the group to offer alternatives.
Customise this slide according to your workplace. For example if you have outdoor work teams include photographs of team members at one of their worksites. For internal sites you may want to discuss how to enforce safe behaviour for marked walkways, and clear access and aisle ways
An assessment question in relation to OH&S in wage assessment tools may relate to the ability of employees to use appropriate methods to move objects in the workplace. How is this achieved in your workplace?
The discussion should cover work area movement rules and how these can be best demonstrated and enforced when working with employees with an intellectual disability (eg not walking in front of moving machinery, ensuring equipment is away from work access areas).
Discuss how management and support staff should arrange rotation of tasks to avoid soft tissue and repetition strain injury.
Discuss the issues involved with soft tissue and repetition strain and supported employees with an intellectual disability (eg reticence about reporting pain, not associating pain with the activity they are undertaking).
Include information about your organisation’s requirements.
Gather information from participants about their ‘good practice’ experiences.
You may wish to use this section as a problem solving session. Ask participants to describe issues they have had to address and use the group to offer alternatives
Include information about your organisation’s requirements for:
privacy
referrals
management
Discuss who and how management and support staff should notify of issues.
Gather information from participants about their ‘good practice’ experiences.
You may wish to use this section as a problem solving session. Ask participants to describe issues they have had to address and use the group to offer alternatives
Include information about your organisation’s requirements for:
privacy
referrals
management
Discuss who and how management and support staff should notify of issues.
Gather information from participants about their ‘good practice’ experiences.
You may wish to use this section as a problem solving session. Ask participants to describe issues they have had to address and use the group to offer alternatives
Discuss the possible hazards in your workplace and the issues involved with hazard identification and working with people with an intellectual disability. Discuss how managers and support staff can involve supported employees with a disability in identifying hazards. You may wish to use this part of the session to develop strategies or action plans for individuals or teams.
A hazard is anything that has the potential to cause injury or illness.
Hazards in the workplace can include:
Physical - examples:Chemical - examples:
* noise and vibration* dangerous goods and chemicals
* temperature and humidity* poor ventilation, which can cause* poor ventilation problems with dust, fumes, vapours,
* poor lightinggases and liquids.
* untidiness
Environmental - examples: Human behaviour - examples:
* condition and design of * boredom equipment and furniture * distraction
* occupational overuse * interpersonal interactions injuries such as incorrect * aggression lifting. * communication problems
Discuss your organisation’s audit and inspection requirements.
Invite HR or management to the session to explain how this is carried out and how supported employees are involved.
How does your workplace identify and manage risks/workplace hazards.
Each workplace will have procedures for reporting hazards, accidents etc such as the completion of an accident book, audit report etc.
These documents provide not only a description of what happened, but an official log which can be used to maintain accurate records.
Details of where these documents are kept and who controls them could be highlighted during the presentation.
Discuss workplace emergency responses, roles and responsibilities for managers and support staff.
You may wish to include a discussion around potential response behaviours of supported employees with an intellectual disability.
An assessment question in relation to OH&S in wage assessment tool may relates to the ability of employees to take appropriate action if the fire alarm goes off. How is this achieved in your workplace?
Customise this slide according to workplace procedures particularly the requirements when reporting information from an employee with an intellectual disability. For example, the completion of an accident book, or accident/incident form.
An assessment question in relation to OH&S in wage assessment tools may relate to the ability of employees to know why it is important to follow evacuation procedures. How is this achieved in your workplace?
Discuss notification of near misses, minor injuries, damage to property but not people and potential behavioural changes such as medication changes that may mean a supported employee will be drowsy.
Details of where information is kept, and who controls it should be highlighted.
