Health and Safety Policies

• Swimming Goggles
• Ultra Violet Radiation
• Work place UV protection
• Infectious Diseases
• Exclusion - infectious diseases
• Diving

Use of Swimming Goggles

Guidelines for Teachers & Parents

Preamble/Rationale

There are recognised medical and learning advantages and disadvantages associated with the use of swimming goggles when learning to swim. However, from a teaching and learning perspective it is generally desirable that children learn without the use of goggles.

It is considered important, by health and well-being specialist staff, that when learning to swim and increasing personal safety, the development of confidence in relation to opening the eyes and being able to cope with splashing of water on the eyes are of prime importance in developing skills and knowledge.

So .... we believe:

1. It is important for children to consistently demonstrate the ability to open eyes whilst submerged because
2. goggles are unlikely to be available to aid in clear vision in an aquatic emergency situation. Examples of such include - falling from a boat into the sea, lake, river etc.

It is considered essential children learn to cope without their use, as the physical safety of the child could be seriously jeopardized through the inability to open the eyes.

Guidelines

As a result of the above it is strongly recommended that the following guidelines apply:

1. Children will be encouraged to participate in this program without the use of swim goggles.
2. However, it is recognised that some children, for medical and / or associated reasons, must wear swimming goggles in order to participate.
3. For assessment/evaluation the following policies are to be applied:
   • Safety and Survival skills no goggles are to be worn.
   • Stroke Development goggles are permitted to be worn.
4. We advise the following:
   • Parents ensure that goggles fit the child correctly and contain impact resistant lenses.
   • Teachers will not be responsible for the fitting of goggles to the children.
   • That the child should have received adequate instruction, prior to participation, as to the fitting and adjustment of goggles.

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Ultra Violet Radiation

Guidelines For Teachers & Parents

Rationale

These guidelines provide a safety framework for the protection of children and staff.

Reducing Exposure to Solar Ultraviolet Radiation In The Work Place

Ultraviolet radiation from the sun can penetrate the skin and eyes where, over a period of time, it may cause damage to their underlying structures and lead to serious health problems.

It is the responsibility of principals / managers to ensure that hats, sun screens and sunglasses are provided for employees whose duties require them to spend a substantial amount of time of the working day in the sum.

Organising work to protect employees from exposure to ultraviolet B radiation

Principals/ managers are required to brief employees of the need to wear protection against the sun if they are required to work outdoors.

During our hot weather, and when the ultraviolet radiation is high, employees working out of doors should be encouraged where practical to cover all exposed skin with clothing of light material eg long sleeve shirts.

Principal / managers are advised that it is not always appropriate to provide employees with sun protective equipment and expect them to continue to work outside in excessively hot conditions.

Consultation about working in the sun should take place with employees and should involve the workplace Health and Safety Representative. some alternative strategies that could be considered are:

• Rescheduling certain jobs or limiting them to safer times of the day eg. before 11am and after 2pm (and during daylight saving before 11am or after 3pm)
• Modifying the hours of work so that outdoor work is avoided during the time of the day when ultraviolet B levels are highest;
• Allowing unscheduled rest breaks
• Modifying the rate at which work is performed; and
• Provision of bulk supplies of SPF 15+ sun block cream for staff required to work outdoors for short periods.

Employees of the Department are eligible to receive sunhats, sun screen and sunglasses if they are required to spend a substantial time too their working day out of doors, especially during the summer months. Employees eligible are:

• Physical education teachers.
• Agricultural studies teachers.
• Environmental studies teachers.
• Teachers of Swimming and Water Safety.
• Groundstaff (this group of employees have an Award which provides an allowance for the purchase of UV protection).
• Book mobile drivers (sunglasses only).

Itinerant physical education staff are eligible to receive protective apparel from their base school.

Teachers who do yard duty of approximately twenty minute periods are expected to supply their own protective equipment. However, a sun umbrella could be quite appropriate for this short time span.

Reducing Exposure to Solar Ultraviolet Radiation In The Swimming & Water Safety Program

1. Personnel involved in outdoor teaching programs must, for the purpose of personal protection and positive modeling, wear a hat and sunglasses.
2. Children should bring and apply their own personal sun screen - 15 to 30 minutes prior to lesson commencement gives best results (15+ broad spectrum water resistant).
3. Staff should not apply sun screen to the bodies of children who are involved in this program.
4. Dispensers of sun screen will be made available by schools for the use by those children who may have forgotten to bring their own sun screen.
   • The use of dispensers must be supervised by class teachers.
5. Health & Well-Being staff would liaise with school(s) with regard to the provision of personal protective items ie. sunglasses, hat, sun screen.
6. The wearing of T-shirts by children involved in the swimming & water safety program is to be discouraged.
   • Some materials are less effective against sun damage than a recommended 15+ screen.
   • When wet can become extremely uncomfortable and cold, which may adversely affect the student's concentration and body heat retention
   • Detrimental to stroke development
   • May reduce the comfortable effective program participation time of the child.
7. The wearing of long sleeved shirts by teaching staff is encouraged.
8. children who are not involved but are however at the pool side should be fully clothed.

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Procedures For The Control Of Infectious Diseases

Rationale

This document provides a safety framework for the protection of children and staff. It should be read in conjunction with the DECCD statement on the control of infectious diseases. (11.1.8 Human Resources Handbook).

Standard First Aid Procedures

1. First Aid containers (boxes, bum bags, etc) must be at each venue and should include appropriate disinfectant, disposable or latex gloves, face mask suitable for mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, sticking plaster, sterile dressing pads, triangular bandages, plastic bags, stainless steel scissors and tissues.
2. Staff members should not treat children unless wearing disposable gloves.
3. Place disposable items and waste after contact with blood or body fluids in a plastic bag and seal for disposal.
4. Wipe down benches or other items in contact with blood or body fluids with cold water and detergent and then with an approved disinfectant.
5. Wash / sponge carpeted areas with soap and cold water.
6. Thoroughly was instruments (ed scissors ) in cold water and detergent.
7. Wash your hands to arm in cold soapy water.
8. If cancer remains after dealing with spilt blood, etc. then contact a medical practitioner and /or the DOE Occupational health officer (03) 6233 7942.

Exclusion periods (refer to appendix with Student Health Care Requirements Manual)

Recommended minimum exclusion periods from school, pre-school and child care centres of infectious diseases cases and contacts were approved by the 113th session of the National Health and Medical Research council Hobart June 1992.

Additional Procedures

A water environment requires additional procedures

1. If children have a graze or cut that is bleeding they should receive first aid but not get in the pool.
2. Swimmers requiring bandages are not to enter the pool for the following reasons:
   • Blockage of pool filtration.
   • Other swimmers may come into contact with loose/free dressings.
   • Sores become soft, weep and prolong healing time.

   Swimmers identified as suffering from:

   • Ring worm
   • Chickenpox
   • Impetigo (school sores, I.e. sores with scabs).

Viruses such as Hepatitis B and HIV / AIDS cannot be contracted from swimming in pools. Medical authorities state that these viruses are destroyed by the chemical in the pool.

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Exclusion of Children with Infectious Diseases

1. This section other than information in italics has been reprinted from the Administrative Instructions and guidelines.
2. Various swimming centres may have more stringent conditions in relation to some infectious diseases. Where this is the case, staff and students using the centre are required to observe the specific requirements of the centre.

General

Children who are ill with an infectious disease must not be allowed to attend school. The following guidelines have bee drawn up on the basis that children who have been unwell will not return to school until they have fully recovered. The only exception to this rule is that children with certain skin disease may return once appropriate treatment has commence.

The recommended periods are issued as a guide to teaching staff and medical practitioners, and may be modified in individual cases as circumstances warrant.

In cases of doubt, or for guidance in cases of conditions not listed, advice should be sought from the appropriate clinic, C&YH medical officer or family doctor. Similarly, advice on possible preventive measure should be sought if cases occur in boarding institutions amongst children housed in dormitory-type accommodation.

Exclusion arrangements

The following table lists the recommended minimum exclusion periods from schools of infectious disease cases and their contacts.

Exclusion days refer to calendar days. Exclusion periods are minimum periods based on National Health and Medical Research Council recommendations. If children are well and a medical certificate can be produced showing earlier recovery, children should be allowed to return to school.

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Water Entry & Diving Policy

Swimming & Water Safety Program

The teaching of diving should be included as an integral part of the Swimming and Water Safety Program. Lead up skills should be included into the teaching area of entries in all aquatic safety and survival lessons. Introduction to head first entries should only occur when students have adequately mastered the skills of all other forms of entry and exhibit the required level of confidence in the water..

Diving lessons should follow a sequential development of appropriate skills so as to introduce students safely to the activity.

The teaching of head-first entries from the edge of a pool must take place in water of depth at least equal to the person’s height when standing with their arms are extended vertically.

Diving blocks or similar should only be introduced when student’s have adequately mastered the skills from water level. Minimum water depth 1800mm.

Competition

All schools / colleges are advised in any pool which is marked with “Shallow – No Diving” that races should start from in the water.

Pools with no warning signage

• Starting blocks should only be used by those competitors deemed as competent of executing a safe forward dive entry and should be at water of a depth no less than 1800mm.
• Poolside Dives (poolside height to be no greater than 380mm) should only be used by those competitors deemed as competent of executing a safe forward dive entry and should be at water of a depth no less than 1350mm.

Note: This policy should be read in conjunction with the RLSS-A, “Guidelines for Safe Pool Operations”

• PR9 TEACHING OF WATER ENTRY AND DIVING
• SU23 SUPERVISION OF DIVING
• FD24 DESIGN OF STARTING BLOCKS

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