BUSHkids Annual Report 2019-20

ANNUAL REPORT 2019–2020

WHS

Before COVID-19, there was ‘Black Summer’ and its disastrous bushfires, which threatened many BUSHkids communities as well as our staff members’ own homes. Outreach services and home visits were restricted, with travel either cancelled or approved only if a safe alternative route could be taken; little did we know that this heightened state of alert across our organisation was just a taste of what was to come!

Staff were encouraged to complete thorough Risk Assessments for all offsite activities, with a strong emphasis placed on the potential risks the fires presented at the time. Then, with the unfolding pandemic, we had to quickly adapt and change the way we conducted business, to keep our volunteers, staff and clients safe, all while continuing to support families across the state, as BUSHkids was considered an essential service. At first we closed the doors of our Centres to all visitors, ceased all non-essential travel, offices were reconfigured to allow for physical distancing, and cleaning frequency was increased with the introduction of nightly ‘mini-cleans’ where all often-touched surfaces where wiped with disinfectant. Hand sanitiser stock was ordered and signage installed around the offices with instructions on hygiene, social distancing reminders and maximum room capacity.

But with more and more COVID-19 restrictions being brought in, and for the safety of our teams, BUSHkids arranged for staff to work from home and to close several of our Centres. This brought potential risks in not having control over the environment in which our staff would be working. To minimise the risk we created a ‘Working from Home Self-Assessment Checklist’ which formed part of the ‘Working from Home Agreement’ – comprehensive documents which would be approved by only the CEO.

SECTION TOPIC 10 C VID-19 MEASURES WORK HEALTH AN D SAFETY

LET’S ALL BE

COVID-WISE

AND HAND

The checklist outlined the provisions needed to create a safe working environment at home. Once staff completed the checklist and signed- off to confirm these were in place, and after thorough review by Team Leaders and Line Managers, they were considered as Working from Home (WFH) candidates for CEO approval.

SANITISE!