Phillip Crisp and Eva Crisp Mandatory risk assessments for Secondary and Primary School science experiments: Let RiskAssess help you! Phillip Crisp and Eva Crisp

CURRENT LAW Occupational Health & Safety Act 2004 Persons who control or manage matters that give rise or may give rise to risks to health or safety are responsible for eliminating or reducing those risks so far as is reasonably practicable Part 1, Section 4, Paragraph 2 Current law expires in 2017

NEW VIC LAW? Work Health & Safety Act . . . a duty . . . to eliminate/minimise risks to health and safety as far as is reasonably practicable. . . . taking into account and weighing up all relevant matters including: (a) the likelihood of the hazard or the risk concerned occurring; and (b) the degree of harm that might result from the hazard or the risk . . . . Part 2, Sections 17 and 18

all relevant matters includes facilities available behaviour of the class students with special needs students with allergies, etc (NOT book “risk assessment”, tick sheet, etc) likelihood degree of harm consideration requires proper risk assessment using a risk matrix e.g. Aust/ISO Standard on Risk Management

Safety requirements in the Australian Curriculum for Science PRIMARY Years 3-4 Safely use appropriate materials, tools or equipment . . . (C) Discussing safety rules for equipment and procedures (E) (Students) discuss ways to safely use equipment . . (A) Years 5-6 Use equipment and materials safely, identifying potential risks (C) Discussing possible hazards involved in conducting investigations and how these risks can be reduced (E) (Students) describe potential safety risks when planning methods (A) C = Content description E = Elaboration A = Achievement standard

Safety requirements in the Australian Curriculum for Science SECONDARY Years 4-12 Students to take increasingly active role in consideration of risk and safety Years 9 &10 Assess risk (C) . . . identify potential hazards of chemicals and biological materials . . . (E) Years 11 & 12 Conducting risk assessments (I) C = Content description E = Elaboration I = Inquiry skill

You should: risks Before: Establish the context identify assess control risks Before: Establish the context After: Monitor and review Always: Consult and communicate

Risk identification • history of “accidents” and “near-accidents” at school at similar schools • brainstorming, preferably with colleagues • databases of possible risks

Risk assessment To assess the severity of a risk, you need to consider: • the consequences of the event, and • the chance that it will occur (likelihood) AU ISO 31000:2009 “Risk management” HB 436:2013 “Risk management guidelines”

personal protective equipment Risk control Hierarchy of options: elimination substitution isolation engineering administration personal protective equipment

Assess risks ≥Medium risk level Low risk level Add control measures DO EXPERIMENT Inherent level of risk = risk level without any control measures besides “routine procedures” Residual level of risk = risk level with control measures in place

Advantages of risk assessments • reduced frequency of injuries to students to school staff • promotes a more enquiring attitude to safety • reduced costs for paperwork, litigation and payouts • compliance with the law • compliance with the Australian Curriculum

Advantages of a formalised system • proper consideration of risks and control measures • standardisation • storage of records for legal purposes • useful for new/inexperienced staff • limits spur-of-the-moment experiments

RiskAssess Secondary schools Primary schools “Student RiskAssess” “Primary RiskAssess” “RiskAssess” for Staff for Students for Staff Started 2008 to meet Law (>1400 schools) Started 2013 to meet Aust Curriculum (>250 schools) Started 2016 to meet Aust Curriculum (>120 schools) Secondary schools Primary schools

Logic • initial assessment of inherent risk if low, go to end of form if medium or more, record control measures (if high or extreme, third reviewer required) • cross-checking by reviewer, if needed • experiment scheduling to save time/allow review • inexpensive ($200 + GST per campus per year)

Details • access from school/home • nothing to install on computer • minimal data entry • unlimited number of users • complements Safety Data Sheets • continuing input from school staff • multiple backups of data & backup server • support and advice

Electronic devices all supported • computers • laptops • iPads (and other tablets) • smart phones (iPhones, Android, etc)

Summary of benefits • safer classrooms • meets logical/legal requirements of curriculum • reduced costs • uses newest digital technologies • helps training of students • happy teachers!