Health & Safety Plan

Purpose

Visser & Gibb Ltd aims to look after the health and safety of its clients and providers, including employees and contractors, and to respect appropriate health and safety policies at work. We look after the physical and mental health and wellbeing of our providers and those we work with by showing care and concern. We provide leadership by setting expectations that seek to minimise risks, responding to incidents, and encouraging an ongoing learning environment.

Achieving a healthy and safe workplace is a collective task, shared between Visser & Gibb Ltd, providers, and clients.

Overview and scope

We take reasonable precautions to promote the health and safety of our clients and providers as they carry out their duties. The nature of our service means we work in a wide range of settings, including work offices, home offices, and clients’ homes.

This plan is intended as a useful framework for identifying, assessing, and managing health and safety related risks, and for resolving incidents, issues, and concerns.

Risks

We work in everyday locations, with similar levels of risk to everyday life in our region. Key identified risks include:

• Appropriate office environment.
• Physical injuries and emotional stress in the work environment.
• Working safely with children, when approved to do so.
• Cultural sensitivity.
• Information management.
• Appropriate use of telehealth.
• Dangerous behaviour exhibited by any client.
• Working alone or in isolation.
• Drugs, including alcohol.
• Infectious diseases when working with families, the public, and children.
• Driving between work sites, especially for social work providers.
• Visiting new sites that may have unexpected hazards.

Objectives

Applying this plan will:

• Encourage and enable a safe and healthy environment for services provided by Visser & Gibb Ltd.
• Educate providers about the health and safety behaviours and processes needed to keep themselves and their clients safe.
• Provide a framework for identifying, assessing, and managing organisational health and safety risks, and for resolving issues and concerns.
• Support compliance with New Zealand legislation and regulations, including the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, and related ACC and WorkSafe NZ guidance.

Risk management

Health and safety are everyone’s responsibility. All contractors under our contract are required to comply with this plan. Our induction includes a section on health and safety, and our training policy is also designed to help mitigate risks. We work with each provider to check that their workplace complies, and that they know the reporting requirements and our health and safety register. This is done by a visit and interview, or a video conference.

Office environment

• The room in which the provider meets the client must be suitable for purpose.
• A doctor’s consulting room with an examination table, or any room with a bed, is never suitable. The room should be furnished professionally and comfortably. For example, the chairs for the client and the provider should be the same, or very similar, and of equal height.
• The room should have suitable heating, lighting, and ventilation, and the spoken voice should not be audible from outside the room.
• Pictures or decorations should not align with any political or specific group. They should be neutral and relaxing.
• Windows should not allow those inside to be seen. If placement is not private, screening should be considered.
• Entry and exit arrangements should be safe and signposted, including during an emergency.
• A Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights poster should be displayed clearly in each room and/or waiting area.
• The room should be large enough to comfortably hold the number of people being seen, with each person feeling comfortable about their personal space. If there is a session with extended whānau and the room is not suitable, the provider must arrange access to a suitable room for that appointment.
• The room should be accessible for any disabled or injured client. The provider may need access to a different suitable room for these occasions.
• If the office is at the provider’s home, access to the room should not require the client to go through any other rooms in the premises.
• Providers have maps of tsunami and/or earthquake evacuation zones for their offices where available.

Physical injuries and emotional stress

• Electrical or other cables are placed where they cannot be tripped over. Exposed cables are taped down.
• Providers often need to bring resources with them, such as toys and assessments, which can be heavy. Providers never lift anything beyond what they are comfortable with.
• Furniture in clinics sometimes needs to be shifted. Providers arrange for colleagues to assist where needed, and do not move furniture that is heavy for them.
• If using computer technology, an appropriate ergonomic set-up should be used.
• Stress and burnout are a risk because of the nature of the work. All providers must have supervision, and should raise such concerns there.
• Clients are not disadvantaged because of their race, age, gender, or disability.
• Clients are treated with respect, and should know they have the right to make a complaint if they have an issue with their treatment. See how to make a complaint.

Working safely with children

When approved to do so, children have additional health and safety needs that are specific to them.

• Provide safe toys, such as lightweight and/or soft objects where possible.
• Providers are well trained in reading nonverbal signs of agitation, confusion, and other signs of possible aggression.
• Providers monitor the physiological arousal levels of clients and strive to help clients stay in a well-regulated state.
• De-escalation techniques are a key part of our clinical practice.
• We ask primary carers who are present to help keep us safe by assisting in managing their child’s unsafe behaviour.

Cultural sensitivity

• Each provider will have received information in this area and be required to have read the relevant documentation, as required by ACC and our contract with them.
• Additional training specifically to address cultural safety will be provided by Visser & Gibb Ltd.

Information management

• Each provider will have information about these requirements, as they are part of the ACC contract.
• Our training policy will ensure this is covered for all providers, and that they comply with the requirements.

Teletherapy

• For teletherapy to go ahead there are several considerations. These are outlined in the ACC telehealth guide and should be followed.
• This includes gaining informed consent from the client after reviewing points raised in the guide.

Dangerous behaviour

If any party feels physically or emotionally threatened in any way, this must be reported to Visser & Gibb Ltd and to ACC, using the forms and contact details in the appendix below.

Working alone or in isolation

• Providers sometimes travel to isolated areas, work alone in buildings, and visit homes that are unfamiliar. Providers need to be contactable at all times, so that immediate support is available if an urgent situation arises.
• Providers carry charged mobile phones so they can seek help and be contacted in an emergency.
• Providers are encouraged to carry phone numbers of who to contact if they become stranded.
• Providers are encouraged to give the Visser & Gibb Ltd administrator next-of-kin contact details, in case of emergency.

Drugs including alcohol

• Drugs and alcohol, taken by the provider, the client, and/or a child’s carer, can contribute to incidents, accidents, and illness.
• Providers only carry out their work responsibilities when they are not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
• Where there is suspicion that a client or carer may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, especially if their behaviour is likely to be unpredictable or dangerous, additional precautions are taken, such as making another worker in the building aware of the situation. Where the provider’s safety cannot be assured, they should discontinue offering support for that client until it is agreed that all safety measures are in place. This must be reported to Visser & Gibb Ltd and to ACC.

Infectious diseases

• Providers will not provide face-to-face therapy when unwell.
• Clients are asked to advise their provider if anyone who attends sessions in person is, or has been, unwell.
• We notify all clients seen before or after a potential infection exposure so they can manage their own risk.
• When working with children, providers will clean all toys after use.

Driving and visiting other sites

• Drivers are expected to keep their cars in good working order. Seatbelts are always used, and traffic laws adhered to.
• Providers are expected to monitor for potential hazards for themselves and the people around them whenever visiting a different site.
• Providers are supported if they leave a site due to health or safety concerns.
• When visiting clients’ homes, we ask if there is a dog on site and if it will be restrained when the worker arrives.
• Providers are supported if they need to minimise or avoid specific locations due to emotional hazards (abusive, threatening, or bullying people), physical hazards (unexpected dangers at a person’s home, such as dangerous dogs), or environmental hazards (second-hand smoke, mould, unsecured poisons, allergens, and the like).

How we meet these standards

• Making health and safety a key part of our role.
• Providing appropriate support and training.
• Doing everything reasonably possible to remove or reduce the risk of injury or illness.
• Making sure all incidents, injuries, and near misses are recorded in the Incident Register.
• Investigating incidents and near misses to reduce the likelihood of them happening again, and to learn from them.
• Having emergency plans and procedures in place where a need has been identified.
• Providing appropriate induction, training, and supervision as required for all new providers.

Provider responsibilities

All providers are encouraged to play a vital and responsible role in maintaining a safe and healthy workplace through:

• Being involved in improving health and safety systems at work.
• Following all instructions, rules, procedures, and safe ways of working.
• Reporting any pain or discomfort as soon as possible.

Reporting an incident

Incidents are to be documented by providers or clients, and shared with either Martin, Relationship Manager (martin@visser.net.nz or 021 065 0065), or Fiona, administrator (admin@visser.net.nz).

They will arrange an investigation in line with this plan and the complaints policy. They will also store the information in their register and make it available to ACC, either immediately or at six-monthly reporting, depending on the incident’s seriousness, as per the ACC supplier contract.

The following details will be recorded:

• Date and time.
• Location.
• Who was involved.
• What happened.
• Whether it was a near miss, incident, illness, or something else.
• What actions were taken at the time.
• What needs to happen next, including whether anyone needs to be notified, and the desired outcome if known.
• Whether procedures or policies need to be updated because of this incident.

Reporting to ACC

• Contact ACC to report an incident using ACC’s third-party health and safety form.
• See ACC’s reporting health and safety incidents guidelines.
• Call the ACC recovery team if there is an immediate risk to you, staff, or clients: 0800 222 070 (Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:00pm), or email providerhelp@acc.co.nz.