Curriculum Activity Risk Assessment (CARA) Safety is achieved through effective risk management

Curriculum Activity Risk Assessment (CARA) The safety and well-being of students, staff and visitors to schools is paramount. Principals are legislatively responsible for the safety and well-being of all persons under their direction in accordance with the Work Health and Safety legislation. DETE provides a range of procedures and guidelines to assist its schools to meet health and safety obligations. Assessing and managing the risks associated with curriculum activities is part of routine planning and classroom practice.

Risk management is a systematic process that involves the following 4 steps: o identifying the hazards o assessing the risks o identifying and implementing controls to reduce risks o monitoring and reviewing these controls. The degree of risk management required for an activity depends on the hazards and level of risk involved in the activity. The higher the risk, the more that needs to be done to manage that risk.

CARA guidelines assist staff to assess risks, minimise risks, and conduct curriculum activities as safely as possible. They aim to help staff think about possible risks associated with an activity. They are not exhaustive. In any situation, other hazards and risks may be present. There are currently 129 CARA guidelines covering activities ranging from rugby to food handling, use of kilns, science experiments, gardening with hand tools, and welding.

CARAs are not compulsory. Schools may choose to adopt alternative risk management approaches. Principals have overall responsibility for ensuring safety in curriculum activities. However, most state schools use the CARA guidelines as a major component of their risk management strategy. CARAs may be used by an individual teacher, a group of teachers developing a unit of work together, or a whole secondary department developing its curriculum.

Amendments to CARAs The department has streamlined the CARA process for state schools. EQ teachers now have the option to prepare risk assessments in OneSchool in conjunction with much tighter activity-specific guidelines. The guidelines have been reformatted and reduced to remove repetition. Suggested control measures have not generally changed. All guidelines are available at the new location

For those who do not wish to, or cannot use OneSchool, a generic template is available on the Department’s website. This can be used for any curriculum activity whether or not a guideline exists. All high risk activities should be approved by the principal or head of program prior to the activity being undertaken. For extreme risk activities, it is recommended that alternatives be considered. If none exists, the Principal’s approval must be sought prior to the activity occurring. The previous CARA guidelines and templates will be removed from the department’s website later this year.

CARA guidelines are reviewed regularly in consultation with teachers, industry groups and associations, who advise on new and changing hazards, risks and control measures. Throughout the remainder of 2013, guidelines relating to water activities will be a key focus for review. Revised guidelines and updates will be published at If you have suggestions or feedback on particular activities, please