WorkSafe Survey of ‚Äö?Ñ??hotspots Discovers Working for Education is NO Picnic.

CPSU has read with interest the latest data release from WorkSafe on WorkCover claims in the Education sector.

Some of the findings for the education sector are:

Harassment, bullying and work pressure are taking a significant toll on education workers, with 19% of all claims citing work-related stress, anxiety or depression.
Back, shoulder and arm injuries from assisting or restraining students, or moving equipment or furniture, account for over 30% of all injury claims.
In education, computer use is commonly cited as a cause of neck strain, and muscle strain to the arm, forearm or wrist.
Nearly half of all injury claims in the education sector are linked to slips, trips and falls.
According to WorkSafe, in the wider community;
o The cost of treatment and rehabilitation of nearly 29,000 workplace injury claims in 2006-07 exceeded $1.16 billion ($3.2m/day)
o 32 work related fatalities reported to WorkSafe and another 66 life-threatening injuries in the same period.

CPSU believes that the importance of OHS issues cannot be overstated.

Safety is everyone s business but under law it s the Employer s responsibility.

CPSU has asked DEECD that SSOs have a separate designated work group because their jobs often involve hazards teachers don t face.

So far, this request has been denied.

EG Integration Aides have lifting and personal contact issues with children, that can lead to injury and this was found to be an area of growth in claims last year.
Those in Libraries and in laboratories also had issues with supervision, and stress. In one case, a Library assistant at SSO 1 level was being left alone for lunch time with over 100 students, and seemed to be expected to intervene in student disputes, and watch over equipment. This is stressful and dangerous.

It is interesting that during the recent stop work action by Teachers, advice given to this Union was that SSOs couldn t supervise children without a VIT registered teacher present who was employed by the school.

This led to many schools being closed so surely if this is the case during Teacher stop work action then SSOs should not be left to struggle during ‚Äö?Ñ??normal school time under such conditions.

Invite CPSU to show a DVD on the employer s responsibilities re: bullying and their staff at your school.

Email ghughes@cpsuvic.org or call 03 9639 1822


TOGETHER WE DO BETTER!
http://www.cpsuvic.org/public_docs/Work-Can-Change-membership-flyer.pdf
http://www.cpsuvic.org/public_docs/memform.pdf


KAREN BATT
CPSU Victorian Branch Secretary