2 December 2019

Policy Review Report - Health and Safety

Section of Operations Policy Being Reviewed:

Health and Safety

Students and staff shall have a safe physical and emotional learning environment. Therefore, the principal shall not fail to:

• • Take all reasonable steps to protect students, staff and visitors to the school from unsafe or unhealthy conditions

  • Ensure there is zero tolerance to bullying

  • Ensure there are effective processes in place for dealing with bullying

  • Comply with the provisions of the  Health and Safety at Work Act 2015

  • Provide a smoke free environment

  • Ensure a risk analysis management system (RAMS) is carried out where and when appropriate

  • Seek approval for all overnight stays/camps attesting first to their compliance with the Risk Analysis Management requirement above

  • Consult with the community every two years regarding the health programme being delivered to students

  • Provide privacy of personal documentation held at the school

  • Advise the board chair of any emergency situations as soon as possible

Section by Section Review

 "...the principal shall not fail to:...

• • Take all reasonable steps to protect students, staff and visitors to the school from unsafe or unhealthy conditions"

Interpretation

• • • I interpret this to mean that the board expects me to ensure all legal requirements with regard to the health and safety of students, staff and visitors are complied with, and that there is a commonsense approach embraced by all staff members that ensures that students are healthy and safe.

    • Note that the health and safety of staff is also covered in the Personnel section of the Operations Policy.

Data to Verify that this Interpretation has been Fulfilled

• • • There is a comprehensive Health and Safety section in the online staff Handbook.

    • These procedures were reviewed with staff in Term 2 and Term 4 of this year.

    • There were no areas of concern.

Trial Evacuations and Lockdowns

• • • Trial Evacuation and Lockdown practices are carried out every term. 

    • We are required to notify Fire and Emergency New Zealand of a Trial Evacuation every 6 months. The Term 2 and Term 4 Trial Evacuations have been reported.

 "...the principal shall not fail to:...

• • Ensure there is zero tolerance to bullying 

  • Ensure there are effective processes in place for dealing with bullying

Interpretation

• • • I interpret this to mean that the board expects me to ensure that bullying is not tolerated in the school, and that in the event that there is an incident of bullying the procedures are followed so that the bullying does not continue and the negative effects are minimised.

Data to Verify that this Interpretation has been Fulfilled

• • • Bullying does happen, and is certainly dealt with, usually by the Principal

    • Since March 2014 staff have recorded behaviour incidents, including bullying, using an online Incident Report form.

      • The data from these forms is collated in the Incident Report Spreadsheet. 

      • The spreadsheet is monitored by the principal.

      • Follow up and/or interventions are recorded on the spreadsheet.

 "...the principal shall not fail to:...

• • Comply with the provisions of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015

Interpretation

• • • I interpret this to mean that the board expects me to ensure that the board,  as a responsible employer, meets all of its legal requirements under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015

Data to Verify that this Interpretation has been Fulfilled

• • • There is a comprehensive Health and Safety section in the online staff Handbook. It has been updated to reflect the requirements of the new act.

    • All staff were invited to complete a line by line review of Health and Safety section in November 2019.

    • Four individuals and all three syndicates completed the review.

    • There were no areas of concern.

 "...the principal shall not fail to:...

• • Provide a smoke free environment"

Interpretation

• • • I interpret this to mean that the board expects me to ensure that we comply with smokefree law.

    • The Smoke-free environments act 1990 requires that the "managers of school premises ... must take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure that

(a) no person smokes in any part of the premises (whether an internal area or an open area) at any time on any day; and

(b) a notice stating that smoking within the premises is forbidden at all times is prominently displayed at or immediately inside-

(i) every entrance to the premises; and

(ii) every outer entrance to every building or enclosed area forming part of the premises."

Data to Verify that this Interpretation has been Fulfilled

• • • Smokefree notices have been checked.

 "...the principal shall not fail to:...

• • Ensure a risk analysis management system (RAMS) is carried out where and when appropriate

  • Seek approval for all overnight stays/camps attesting first to their compliance with the Risk Analysis Management requirement above

Interpretation

• • • I interpret this to mean that that I ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to ensure that staff and students are safe when they go on school trips.

Data to Verify that this Interpretation has been Fulfilled

• • • The Education Outside the Classroom section of the online Staff Handbook outlines process that staff follow whenever they take students away from the school environment.

    • There have been no incidents of concern.

 "...the principal shall not fail to:...

• • Consult with the community every two years regarding the health programme being delivered to students

Data to Verify that this Interpretation has been Fulfilled

• • • This has just been completed and is the subject of a separate report..

"...the principal shall not fail to:...

• • Provide privacy of personal documentation held at school

Data to Verify that this requirement has been Fulfilled

• • • As the designated Privacy Officer I ensure that the school complies with the principles of the Privacy Act.

    • No privacy issues or enquiries have arisen since the last report (August 2018).

"...the principal shall not fail to:...

• • Advise the board chair of any emergency situations as soon as possible

Data to Verify that this requirement has been Fulfilled

• • • There have been no emergency situations since the last report (August 2017).

Recommendations

• 1. That the board notes that, as “officers”, board members have a duty to be aware of Health and Safety issues at the school and to ensure that the school meets the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.