This document summarizes common safety risks and injuries in school environments and provides recommendations to control those risks. It addresses risks from COVID-19, manual handling, work-related stress, slips, trips and falls. Recommendations include maintaining cleanliness, proper lifting techniques, ergonomic workstations, hazard reporting processes, safety training, and controlling risks from floors, stairs, housekeeping, human factors and the environment. The goal is to consult staff and implement systematic approaches to safety issues.

1. SCHOOL SAFETY POLICY

2. General and Safety Guideline @ Aldersgate College Campus
A. COVID 19 Safety Protocol ( refer to Guideline on Workplace Prevention and Control of COVID 19 for further detail.)
 Each employee of AC should have their respective Health Guard QR Code to be used for attendance monitoring as well as for
their health status.
 All employees are required to wear their face mask at all times inside the campus and are requested to maintain social
distancing.
 Wash areas are provided in strategic areas for hand washing and sanitation.
 Student and visitors other than immediate family members of employees are not allowed to enter the campus.
 In cases of medical issues or emergencies coordinate with your respective superiors and/ the school nurse for corresponding
medical advise. Likewise, for mental health issues, the Office of the Guidance Counsellor is ready to assist.

3. B. Office and Classroom Safety
 Maintain cleanliness. Practice 5S ( sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain )
 Put off lighting units and unplug electrical appliances before leaving your respective classroom or offices.
 For offices and classroom with ACUs, turn on your units a least 30 minutes with open doors or windows
before actually using the room to flush out unwanted dusts or viruses, and turn off these unit/s at least 30
minutes before leaving the room to save energy.
 When using new electrical appliances particularly those that consume large amount of electric energy,
consult or coordinate with GSO personnel for proper guidance. Avoid “octopus connection”.

4. C. Personnel Safety
Report near misses.
Report objects, things, activity/ies, or even employee/s
behavior that you deemed may be a hazard to person or
property.

5. OHS in School Premises
The most common types of injuries and illnesses in schools can be summarised
as psychological injuries and illnesses, and injuries resulting from manual
handling and slips, trips and falls.
Providing information and training to staff about the risks that are present in
the school environment and the measures that are being implemented to
control them is an essential part of the systematic approach

6. Injuries associated with manual handling
Injuries associated with manual handling means using the body to exert force to handle, support or restrain any object, including
people. It includes lifting, pushing, pulling, holding, lowering, throwing, carrying, typing, cleaning and using tools. The term is not
limited to handling heavy objects. Stacking photocopying paper on a shelf, carrying a laptop computer, moving sporting
equipment, assisting or restraining a student with special needs, moving maintenance equipment in the school grounds and even
using a keyboard are all examples of manual handling. In the school environment, manual handling may lead to injury when it
involves:
• repetitive or sustained application of force, awkward postures or movements
• tasks that people would find difficult due to the degree of force required and
• manual handling of unstable objects that are difficult to grasp or hold.
Some types of injuries and outcomes that can result from hazardous manual handling are:
• muscle sprains and strains
• back injuries
• soft-tissue injuries to the wrists, arms, shoulders, neck or legs
• abdominal hernias, and
• chronic pain.

7. Common tasks in schools that involve hazardous manual handling and some effective
ways of controlling the risk of injury.
Likelihood of injury resulting from moving
heavy/large/ awkward equipment, teaching tools or
materials such as televisions, other audiovisual
equipment, class sets, chairs, tables and building
materials..
 equipment is permanently available in each room or area
where it is needed
 equipment is stored permanently on suitable trolleys close to
where it is required, and it is easy to move the trolleys to the
classroom, maintenance workshop, etc (smooth flooring, no
steps or steep ramps)
 equipment is suitably mounted and restrained on the trolleys
 smaller size and weight equipment and materials are
purchased.
Likelihood of injury resulting from handling heavy or
awkward equipment such as sporting equipment
and air conditioners, and hitching and unhitching
trailers.
 the need to move equipment frequently is eliminated through planning
and timetabling
 alternatives to heavy or awkward equipment are used
 there is adequate storage, with the heavy and more frequently handled
items stored between knee and shoulder height
 equipment can be transported without applying high force (for example
using trolleys and cages with castors selected for the terrain)
 trailers are fitted with suitable jockey wheels and suitable chocks are
provided
 small trolleys are provided for transporting laptop computers and books to
classrooms
 staff are trained to avoid risks (for example in loading laptops into car
boots).
Risk Example of Risk Control

8. Common tasks in schools that involve hazardous manual handling and some effective ways of
controlling the risk of injury.
Likelihood of injury resulting from hanging
objects/displays/projects at a height in buildings
and classrooms.
 pulley systems are in place to hang objects or
displays
 display boards for lightweight objects are easily
accessible, and work is displayed within the staff
member’s arm reach
 staff use a suitable stepladder to hang objects
and displays.
Likelihood of injury resulting from computer-based
or written tasks which are done continuously for
more than 30 minutes or a total of two hours in the
day (for example preparation of learning modules)
 suitable adjustable chairs are provided for all
workstations where computer or written work is
done
 suitable desks are provided at each workstation
 screens are clear and free of glare
 the workplace design encourages staff to move
by locating printers at a distance from the
workstations
 where laptop computers are being used, a height
adjuster for the keyboard, mouse and monitor is

9. Likelihood of injury resulting from sitting on
damaged chairs.
 all damaged chairs are immediately removed,
tagged and replaced or fixed.
Likelihood of injury resulting from moving and
storing boxes (for example in archives or general
storage rooms).
 double handling is eliminated by ensuring safe
access and direct delivery of items
 only boxes and cartons with lower weights are
moved and stored
 trolleys are provided and readily available
 storage and shelving systems are installed

10. Likelihood of injury arising from hazardous ways of
handling and accessing materials in classrooms,
technology areas, staff rooms, storage areas,
maintenance sheds, facilities sheds, etc.
 just in time purchasing procedures are used to
minimise demands on storage areas
 trolleys are used where practical
 items that are heavy or commonly accessed are
stored at waist height
 storage areas are designed to reduce turns and
distances that need to be crossed
 regular storage audits are undertaken to ensure
materials that are not needed are removed to free
up space for safer access
 adequate storage is provided and used

11. Injuries and illnesses resulting from work related stress, violence, harassment and bullying
Risks to psychological and physical health can result
from work-related stress, violence, harassment and
bullying.
Some of the risk factors in the school environment
that may lead to harm include:
 lack of control over workload and work demands (such
as pressure to work long hours and timetabling issues)
 challenging behaviour of students, parents or
colleagues
 bullying and workplace violence
 poor leadership skills
 poor communication
 lack of clarity around roles, processes and procedures
 perceptions that processes, such as promotion
processes,
 are not procedurally fair
 concerns about career development, social status and
pay, and
 conflicting demands of home and school.
The injuries, illnesses and other impacts that can
result include:
 psychological distress
 emotional exhaustion
 physical health symptoms
 taking frequent sick leave
 a sense of low morale and a low level of
engagement with work
 deteriorating work performance, and
 an intention to resign from work.
It is important to focus attention on the risk factors that can
actually be addressed at the school level. If there are issues
that cannot be raised or dealt with at the school level, they
should be referred for resolution to the appropriate level of
management outside the school.
A key to tackling work-related stress, violence, harassment
and bullying and associated health outcomes is
consultation and open communication.

12. The way work is managed  allocating duties to staff members on the basis of
their skills and interests
 making sure there is a clear and effective process
for replacing teachers on sick leave, professional
development, etc (eg giving adequate notice of
extras,)
 ensuring that the school timetable gives teachers
a spread of teaching periods, yard duty and non-
student contact time across the working week
 involving staff in decisions about their work and
giving them opportunities to have as much input
and control
 ensuring there are adequate meetings at
appropriate levels (all staff, year levels, mini-
schools, etc) so that there is good communication
within teams.
Risk of injury/illness arising from Examples of risk control

13. Inadequate information, instruction or training.  having a formal induction process for all staff,
including CRTs (substitute teachers) and school
service officers, as well as volunteers
 giving staff members information about the
school’s OHS procedures (including processes for
reporting hazards and incidents, who to go to
about an OHS issue and who the HSRs are) and
the roles of the leadership team members
responsible for OHS, HSRs and staff
 giving staff members, parents and students clear
information about the school’s expectation,
including enrolment, discipline and transfer
procedures
 providing relevant OHS training, instructions,
information and supervision.

14. Injuries resulting from slips, trips and fall
Injuries resulting from slips, trips and falls Slips, trips and falls in the school environment can result in a
wide range of injuries, including:
 fractures of the forearm and wrist from breaking a fall,
 falling on uneven ground, slipping on wet floors or being knocked over
 muscle stress from kneeling, slipping on wet floors,
 tripping on uneven ground or damaged flooring
 traumatic joint or muscle injury from falling during
 physical activity, slipping on wet or uneven surfaces,
 or tripping over objects.

15. Flooring Unsuitable, slippery, dirty, not correctly fitted, not maintained, changes of level
that are not highlighted.
Stairs Low visibility, no suitable handrail, steps of uneven height, steps of varying width,
poorly maintained covering or surfaces.
Roofs Retrieving balls from roofs.
Housekeeping No suitable walkway through work areas, such as staff rooms, maintenance sheds or storage
areas, trailing wires, obstructions, untidy floors around work stations, inadequate storage
space, not enough rubbish bins.
Human factors Wearing inappropriate footwear, students and staff rushing about, carrying large
objects, becoming distracted while walking (for example using a mobile phone).
Environment Light on a shiny floor causing glare, too little light, rainwater or condensation
getting onto flooring, spills.
Cleaning Damp floors after cleaning, trailing wires from a vacuum cleaner or buffing
machine.