DUTY OF CARE

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DUTY OF CARE EXCURSIONS
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Excursions . after the Coroners Findings
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RESPONSE is based on 3 key
principlesExcursions are valuable aspects of
learning and are to be supported.Students and
teachers need to be protected.Principals and
teachers must be supported in their exercise of
professional judgement.
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• AIM
• To support and enable schools to make informed
  decisions in relation to the management and
  conduct of school activities

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Our Policies

• Web address
• http//policies.det.wa.edu.au/
• Search using key words such as
• duty of care, excursions

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Regulatory Framework
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Duty of Care means a duty imposed by law to
take care to minimise the risk of harm to others.
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Teaching staff owe a duty to take reasonable
care for the safety and welfare of students
whilst students are involved in school activities
or are present for the purposes of a school
activity.
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The duty owed to students is not to ensure that
no harm will ever occur, but rather a duty to
take reasonable care to avoid harm being suffered.
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Duty of Care for Students

• Doing the best for the safety and
• welfare of students

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The policy allows for persons who are not
teachers to perform a supervisory role in
relation to students subject to a number of
provisos.
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Teaching staff may breach their duty of care if
reasonable care is not exercised in choosing an
appropriate person to care for students.
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Teaching staff must consider factors such as the

• Number of students involved.
• Age, experience, capabilities and behaviour of
  the students.
• Nature of the environment, premises and of the
  activity to be undertaken.
• Age, ability, experience and general suitability
  of the proposed carer.

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Teaching staff must ask most non-teaching
staff, external providers and volunteers and, if
they agree, provide them with clear instructions
as to the level of care required.
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If non teaching staff, volunteers and external
providers agree to personally care for students,
they must take such measures as are reasonable in
all the circumstances to protect students from
risks of harm that reasonably ought to be
foreseen.
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Liability

• Injured persons may sue the State of Western
  Australia.
• Department is vicariously liable for acts of
  negligence during the course of employment.
• Injured persons may sue the employee but this is
  unlikely.
• Legally possible for the State to bring a claim
  for contribution if the employee is deemed
  negligent.

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Duty of Care for StudentsUnderpins and drives
most school policies and practices

• Excursions
• Articulates how to meet duty of care
• requirements when off the school site
• Establishes a common risk
• management process

Outdoor Education Recreation Activities
Workplace Learning
Community Service Programs others
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• Excursion
• Any student-learning activity conducted off
  the site of the school, at which the student is
  enrolled, that
• is organised or managed by a member of teaching
  staff employed under s235 of the School Education
  Act 1999 and
• has gained the appropriate approval(s).

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Outdoor Education and Recreation Activities

• Available on the Department website under
  Regulatory Framework
• Replaces Organisational Guidelines for Physical
  Education and Outdoor Education
• Reviewed to align with all Departmental policies
• Common process for risk assessment and management
• Water-based Activities - Section 19

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WORKPLACE LEARNINGPROCEDURES AND GUIDELINES

• Relevant to
• Work Experience
• Structured Workplace Learning
• School Based Traineeships

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The principal must authorise a teacher to be in
charge of an excursion and give written approval
for the management plan for the excursion The
teacher-in-charge must prepare an Excursion
Management Plan for the proposed excursion The
teacher-in-charge must complete the checklist and
submit it to the principal for endorsement

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• Management Plan
• Assessment of the the risks
• Supervision strategies
• Identification of excursion participants
• Information and consent
• Communication strategies
• Emergency response planning
• Briefing of students and supervisors
• Records to be retained
• Appropriate approvals

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Assessing the Risk

• Assessment of the
• Environment
• Transport arrangements
• Students capacity
• Skills of the supervisory team
• Involvement of external providers

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Working with Children legislation

• Introduces compulsory criminal record checking
  for certain people working with children
• Examples include coaches, volunteers, umpires,
  clergy and laity
• Will be phased in over 5 years from 2006
• www.checkwwc.wa.gov.au

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Involvement of External Providers

• External providers are not generally responsible
  for personally caring for students and may refuse
  a request to do so.
• Competency of provider
• Current national police clearance
• Working with Children Check - phase in from
  2006
• Information about respective responsibilities
• Appropriate level of public liability insurance
  
• Indemnities, disclaimers

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Level of Supervision

• Age of students
• Experience and ability of students
• Student medical conditions or disabilities
• Supervisor(s) competence and experience
• Type of activity to be undertaken
• Nature of environment
• Location of activity
• Weather

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Supervision Strategies

• On a water- based activity, students are to be
  continually in clear view of supervisors.

• Consider
• positioning
• scanning
• safety checks
• buddy and check in systems
• water checks
• safety stops
• supervision roster and plan

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Why do drownings occur in supervised areas?

• Failure to recognise a student in difficulty
• Conscious non-swimmer
• Conscious weak swimmer
• Conscious injured swimmer/non-swimmer
• Unconscious person
• Intrusion of non-supervisory duties
• Distraction from surveillance duties

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Identification

• Students and supervisors must be clearly and
• easily identifiable.
• Systems include
• school T-shirts
• swimming caps
• vests
• bibs
• sashes
• neoprene armbands
• other

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Informed Parental Consent

• Information must include
• Purpose of excursion
• Date(s)
• Activities to be undertaken
• Duration of activity(s)
• Location of activity(s)
• Student contact arrangements
• Transport arrangements
• Cost
• Supervision to be provided
• Staff action in case of an accident or illness
• Liability for loss or damage, medical costs
• Special clothing or other items

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Communication Strategy

• Enables communication with group
• Emergency signal
• Contact with on and off site support services
• Alternative modes of communication

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Emergency Response Planning

• Develop a plan
• Emergency procedures (e.g. evacuation) and
  location of emergency equipment (e.g. rescue
  tube)
• Procedures understood by all participants
• Ready access to
• a list of participating students and parent
  contact details
• Student Health Forms of students known to have
  particular health requirements
• relevant health information of supervisors
• Copy of planning documents remain at school

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Emergency Response Planning continued

• For overnight stays, a copy of planning documents
  including all Student Health Forms is to be taken
  on the excursion
• For excursions undertaken during school holidays,
  students names, addresses, contact telephone
  numbers and itinerary to be provided to District
  Office

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Emergency Protocol for an Aquatic Centre

• Emergency situation
• Supervisor to signal by continuous, short whistle
  blasts
• Supervisors to remove students from water group
  together
• Supervisors to account for all students
• Qualified supervisor to effect rescue
• Qualified supervisor to commence first aid if
  required
• Aquatic manager will attend control emergency
  situation

Do not leave the injured
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Student and supervisor briefings

• Information and responsibilities are clearly
  communicated to all, including
• emergency procedures and signals
• methods of communication
• appropriate use of any equipment
• roles of supervisors
• identification systems
• demarcation of areas
• acceptable behaviour

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Retain record of Excursion

• School to retain
• Signed management plan
• Names of planning and authorising staff
• Names of participants
• Brief description of the excursion

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Gain Approvals

• Approved Excursions
• Written approval by principal
• Interstate travel - approval by relevant
  Executive Director
• International travel - approval by the Minister
  for Education and Training
• Private Arranged Activities
• Not approved
• Department of Education and Training nor the
  school accepts any responsibility for teachers or
  students

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• A useful rule of thumb..
• How will this excursion contribute to the
  students learning?
• Have I done all I can to ensure that the students
  will be safe?
• Have I done all I can to protect myself and other
  supervisors?
• Do parents understand and endorse this excursion?