Australian Services Union (Victorian Authorities & Services Branch)	26 October 2009

Health & Safety Forums for Child & Family Welfare Organisations

The Centre for Excellence in Child & Family Welfare will be holding a series of Forums on Occupational Health & Safety for Child & Family Welfare organisations at five regional locations. Following on the success of the OHS Information Sessions held at the Centre in Oct 2009, further metropolitan ones will be scheduled for March 2010 in the North & West, Southern and Eastern regions.

Customised for the sector, participants will learn about resources and guidelines to help manage Occupational Health & Safety in the workplace. These full-day forums will serve to:

-         inform employees and employers of the sector’s main occupational hazards and risks, legal obligations under the OHS Act 2004 and resources to manage OHS in the workplace;

-         provide a platform for feedback to identify challenges and priorities to be addressed;

-         identify or establish networks for sustained communication and collaboration to advance Health & Safety in CFW organisations.

Sessions have been scheduled in the following locations:

DHS region	Date	Location	Venue
Grampians	18 Nov 2009	Horsham	Wimmera Uniting Care Horizons Support Services 28 Urquhart Street Horsham Vic 3400
Barwon South-West	19 Nov 2009	Colac	Elliminyt Primary School EPEE Centre 176 Main St Elliminyt Vic 3250
Gippsland	24 Nov 2009	Sale	Kilmany Uniting Care 126 Raymond St Sale Vic 3850
Loddon-Mallee	26 Nov 2009	Mildura	Mallee Accommodation & Support Program Judy Cricelli Conference Room 140 Langtree Ave Mildura Vic 3500
Hume	1 Dec 2009	Wangaratta	Upper Murray Family Care 36 Mackay Street Wangaratta Vic 3677

The Centre was funded by WorkSafe Victoria to undertake a 2.5 year Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) project to improve the OHS experience of organisations providing Residential Care, Foster Care and Family Services. A recent VCOSS study indicates that the high rate of workplace injuries is one of the key reasons qualified staff leave the Victorian community sector. Other than musculoskeletal disorders that make up 44% of WorkCover claims for our sector, the latest statistics from Safe Work Australia’s workers’ compensation data also indicate that people who work in the health and community services sector are the most stressed in Australia. Furthermore, this sector’s stress claims are four times that of the national average of 9% and cost three times as much in compensation and time off work. It is vital that Child & Family Welfare organisations address the psychological and physical injuries that have an impact on the recruitment and retention of workers as well as the cost of providing quality service.

Entry to the sessions is free subject to registration and places are limited. To register for the sessions, please click on OHS Regional Forums 2009.

For more information on the project or the latest updates on resources or training, visit our OHS webpage.