top of page
Policies
INDEX
Cultural Safety Plan and Code of Ethics
Social Scaffoldings Cultural Safety Plan (the Plan) and Code of Ethics complements the general Governance policy and procedures but focusses specifically on the Cultural Safety aspects of the organisation’s services and provides a Code of Ethics to follow.
The Plan and the training aims to equip all Social Scaffolding employees to improve quality, reduce risk, create continuous improvement, develop innovative service delivery responses and supportive and culturally safe environment.
Work Health and Safety Plan
This health and safety plan is designed to adhere to and comply with current and future requirements. Continuous monitoring of changes to current and new requirements will ensure compliance and continuous improvement.
Work Health and Safety Plan
This health and safety plan is designed to adhere to and comply with current and future requirements. Continuous monitoring of changes to current and new requirements will ensure compliance and continuous improvement.
Cultural Safety Plan and Code of Ethics
CSPACE
Policy Statement
Social Scaffoldings Cultural Safety Plan (the Plan) and Code of Ethics complements the general Governance policy and procedures but focusses specifically on the Cultural Safety aspects of the organisation’s services and provides a Code of Ethics to follow.
The Plan and the training aims to equip all Social Scaffolding employees to improve quality, reduce risk, create continuous improvement, develop innovative service delivery responses and supportive and culturally safe environment.
The plan outlines Social Scaffoldings commitment to meaningful collaboration with relevant underrepresented communities and its plan to create an inclusive environment for staff from all backgrounds, including those from the relevant under-represented communities.
Purpose
Having a culturally safe mindset in the way we operate ensures all individuals - clients, employees and visitors to Social Scaffolding, are treated respectfully with particular regard to their cultural needs and ways. As such, Social Scaffolding, through this Plan, iterates the importance of being mindful of the way we interact with other persons. We will endeavour to in no way diminish, demean or disempower any person on the basis of their cultural needs or ways.
Our core business vision and mission are concerned with the cultural safety of all people and as such Social Scaffolding has a priority to care for the particular needs of the cultural requirements of these communities. We therefore recognise the diversity of Australian communities - there is no single culture and all cultures are recognised for their differences. Differences can include a person's socioeconomic background, religion, gender, age, sexuality and disability.
Scope
This Plan applies to all of Social Scaffolding employees, Board members, volunteers, student placements and visitors.
What is Cultural Safety The Australian Human Rights
Commission refers to cultural safety as “…an environment that is safe for people: where there is no assault, challenge or denial of their identity, of who they are and what they need. It is about shared respect, shared meaning, shared knowledge and experience of learning, living and working together with dignity and truly listening”.
Definitions
Communities - Defined language groups or regional groups that reflect the diversity within different population groups. A specific community may be referred to.
Cultural Awareness - A basic understanding of peoples histories, peoples and cultures. There is no common accepted practice to reflect cultural awareness, and the actions taken depend on the individual and Current as at July 2022 2/4 their knowledge of people’s culture. Generally accepted as a necessary first step and a foundation for further development, but not sufficient for sustained behaviour change.
Culturally reflective workforce - Reflecting on one’s own cultural norms and beliefs, and how these impacts on others from a different cultural and spiritual background. Cultural safety does not propose that people become experts on other cultures, but rather it places an emphasis on understanding.
Cultural respect -The recognition, protection and continued advancement of the inherent rights, cultures and traditions of people from different cultural groups. Cultural respect is about shared respect. It is achieved when the health system is a safe environment for people from different cultural groups, and cultural differences are respected.
It is a commitment to the principle that the design, model of care and provision of services will not knowingly compromise the legitimate cultural rights, practices, values and expectations of people from diverse cultural backgrounds. The goal of cultural respect is to uphold the rights of all people to maintain, protect and develop their culture, and achieve equitable health outcomes.
Cultural safety - Identifies that clients are safest when staff have considered power relations, cultural differences and clients’ rights. Part of this process requires staff to examine their own realities, beliefs and attitudes. Cultural safety is defined not by staff but by the client’s experience – the individual’s experience of the care they are given, and their ability to access services and to raise concerns. The essential features of cultural safety are:
• An understanding of one’s culture
• An acknowledgement of difference, and a requirement that caregivers are actively mindful and respectful of difference(s)
• Informed by the theory of power relations; any attempt to depoliticise cultural safety is to miss the point
• An appreciation of the historical context of colonisation, the practices of racism at individual and institutional levels, and their impact on people from diverse culture’s living and wellbeing, in both the present and the past
• Presence or absence is determined by the experience of the recipient of care and not defined by the caregiver.
Principles
The Cultural Safety Plan and Code of Ethics
Social Scaffolding adheres to the following principles in delivering their Cultural Safety Plan:
1. Leadership and accountability
• Providing meaningful leadership opportunities to design, deliver and evaluate culturally safe policies, programs, initiatives and services
• Ensuring leadership, at all levels, are united in understanding and championing the organisation’s role in cultural safety.
2. Human rights approach
• The rights based approach that drives this framework is an essential part of Social Scaffoldings service delivery and continuous improvement. The Human Rights Act (Qld) also recognies culture as a right.
3. Value, respect and trust
• Social Scaffolding establishes a relationship of trust and respect with people from diverse cultural communities and groups. We recognise, respect and value diverse cultures and understand that this is fundamental to improving our services.
4. Culturally safe and responsive systems
• Social Scaffolding embeds culturally safe practice into recruitment and retention processes, as well as into existing policies, programs, procedures, procurement and services.
• Communicating aspirations and expectations related to cultural safety in strategic and operational documents and systems.
• Documenting and following systems for continuous improvement and cultural safety and for supervision, support and mentoring of personnel.
• Social Scaffolding is a learning organization, with continuous improvement processes of reflection and quality improvement embedded to identify and reflect on individual and organizational practice, and implement the actions required for ongoing learning and self reflection at all levels of the organization.
5. Building cultural capability
• Staff at all levels of the organisation are supported to undertake ongoing cultural safety professional and personal development. Social Scaffolding prioritises the development of each staff member’s capacity, creating the environment and conditions for cultural safety.
• Induction, onboarding and ongoing professional development activities for staff incorporate learning focussed on culturally safe practice. Requiring and supporting staff to cultivate the personal and professional attributes of cultural safety.
6. Engagement and partnerships
• Proactively forming and nurturing strong partnerships with diverse peoples and communities
• Building our ability to respectfully and inclusively engage with people from diverse cultural backgrounds.
The Cultural Safety Plan and Code of Ethics
Social Scaffoldings Cultural Safety Plan and Code of Ethics includes a focus on the following :
• Historical information relating to the cultural group the individual
• Historical information relating to the individual
• Language preferences, including acknowledging first languages
• Acknowledging the cultural preferences
• Recognition of food preferences including preparation and eating (e.g. Vegetarian, Halal or Kosher)
• Acknowledgement and respect of religious practices and rites including those around responding to death/funerals, coming of age/men’s business and cultural ceremony
• Recognition of preferred activities
• Acknowledgement of the title of the individual or their preference of sexual identity
• Recognition of care worker preference – cultural background, language or sex
• Actions are minuted in governance meetings and followed up.
Work Health and Safety Plan
WHSP
Introduction
This health and safety plan is designed to adhere to and comply with current and future requirements. Continuous monitoring of changes to current and new requirements will ensure compliance and continuous improvement.
Duties and Responsibilities
This plan sets out a number of duties for Social Scaffolding to monitor compliance to WHS. The relevant duties for management who employ staff and who manage or control a workplace include:
1. A duty to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers who work for Social Scaffolding (example training and induction, hazard identification onsite and offsite where relevant)
2. A duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers whose activities in carrying out work are influenced or directed by management, while the workers are carrying out the work (example training and induction, PPE, H&S meetings,)
3.A duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the health and safety of other people is not put at risk from work carried out as part of the business (example induction of contractors and visitors , listed hazards and signage)
4.A duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the workplace, the means of entering and exiting that workplace, and anything arising from the workplace, is without risks to the health and safety of any person (example fences, signs, pathways, hazard management and identification)
5. A duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that fixtures, fittings or plant at a workplace are without risks to the health and safety of any person (example hazard management and identification, maintenance schedules, training and induction.
“Workers” is widely defined to include employees, contractors, trainees and volunteers. “Workplace” is also widely defined to include any place.
where a worker goes, or is likely to be, while at work.
Developing a safe and healthy workplace makes good business sense. Your employees will feel more valued and visitors will be protected from harm. It’s likely to increase productivity and reduce the cost impact on your business of any downtime from employee injuries.
The Process as to How This Health & Safety Plan Has Been Developed
Step One
Meet with your staff to identify all the hazards in your workplace. Since this is a continuous improvement cycle, you need to return regularly to the review step to monitor your planning and action steps, investigate any incidents that have occurred and review your injury management and emergency readiness. Any suggested improvements feed through to the planning step.
A “hazard” is something that could harm you or someone else and can include the following:
- Activities
- Arrangements
- Circumstances
- Events
- Processes
- Behaviour
- Situations.
Step Two: Plan
1. Control Measures are actions taken after the risk assessment, to remove the identified hazard from the workplace.
Elimination - Allows hazards to be designed out and control measures to be designed in. It will require a modification to the process, method or material to eliminate the risk.
Substitution - Engineering Replacing the material or process with a less hazardous one Redesigning work processes to reduce or eliminate risk.
Administration - Adjusting the time or conditions of risk exposure (e.g. job rotation, increased supervision). Ensure staff members have received training, information and instruction regarding the particular hazards and Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) within the workplace.
Personal Protective Equipment - Using appropriate safety equipment where other control measures are not practicable.
2. Appoint a staff member to be a H&S representative and arrange regular H&S staff meetings.
Step Three: Action
Map out your health and safety programme. Remember to assign responsibility for each required action, include a budget if necessary and set a timeframe for completion.
Commitment and Communication
Two further key elements in the WorkSafe Cycle are commitment and communication. It’s important to get your whole team involved in health and safety.
Open and honest communication throughout the cycle is vital to keep everyone involved and contributing to the health and safety improvement cycle
Accidents and Incidents
Under current legislation you must notify WorkCover when certain work-related events occur.
A notifiable event is when any of the following occurs as a result of work:
- a death;
- notifiable illness or injury, eg any injury requiring professional medical treatment;
- a notifiable incident, eg an accident that could have resulted in an injury that would have required professional medical treatment.
Summary
- Meet with your staff and identify all hazards in your workplace.
- List all the hazards identified and prepare an action plan to control these.
- Review this weekly at your staff health and safety meetings (remember hazards can change regularly).
- Review all your H&S signs, are they adequate?
- Ensure that all staff, visitors and contractors have suitable inductions.
- Ensure staff training schedules are maintained.
- List out notifiable events and the process to follow.
- Maintain an incident register.
- Contact your local WorkCover representative and ask them to review your plan.
APPENDIX
Common types of hazards
Use these notes to help you identify and assess hazards that might occur in your workplace.
Chemical hazards
Chemicals can affect the skin by contact or the body either through the digestive system or through the lungs if air is contaminated with chemicals, vapour, mist or dust. There can be an acute (immediate) effect, or a chronic (medium to long-term) effect from the accumulation of chemicals or substances in or on the body.
Noise hazards
Excessive noise can disrupt concentration, interfere with communication, and result in loss of hearing. High impact noises are particularly damaging. Noise can also mask out signals, affecting communication or danger warnings.
Radiation hazards
Equipment such as radioactive gauging devices or the radioactive trace element used in analytical chemistry produce Ionising radiation. Non-ionising radiation covers infrared radiation (heat-producing processes), lasers, ultraviolet radiation (welding, sunlight), and microwaves (high-frequency welders, freeze drying).
Electrical hazards
These include the risk of injury from all forms of electrical energy. Such as the use of extension cords and electrical equipment in damp conditions or wet areas. Also be aware that extension cords can create trip hazards, they should be routed around high-traffic areas and should never be a long-term solution to a power supply problem
Lighting hazards
Inadequate lighting levels are a potential safety hazard. A common problem area is the reaction time needed for the eyes to adjust from a brightly lit to a darker environment — such as a forklift driver coming indoors from bright sunlight. Temporary lighting is often inadequate.
Vibration hazards
This includes whole-body vibration — for example, truck drivers, people standing on vibrating platforms, and operators of mobile equipment — and also more localised vibration effects from such equipment as hand tools, chainsaws, and pneumatic hammers.
Temperature hazards
Extremes of cold or heat can cause problems such as tiredness, vulnerability to infections or reduced capacity to work.
Biological hazards
These include insects, bacteria, fungi, plants, worms, animals and viruses.
Ergonomic hazards
Ergonomics (the ‘fit’ between people and their work) covers risk of injury from manual handling procedures, incorrectly designed desks or workstations, audio and visual alarms, and colour coding control mechanisms.
Physical hazards
These include a wide range of injury risks— as diverse as being caught in or by machinery, buried in trenches or hurt by collapsing machinery. This category also includes the hazards from working in confined spaces, being hit by flying objects, falling from heights and tripping on obstacles.
Other hazards
Include stress, fatigue, the effects of shift work, and even assaults from other people
Quality Assurance Policy, System and Checklist
Quality Management Policy
Our Commitment
Social Scaffolding is committed to taking proactive actions in relation to ensuring that our Quality Management System continually strives to deliver a quality service to all of our clients. We recognise that everything we do in the day to day operation of our business could impact our desire to achieve the highest possible performance of this system.
Quality Management System Policy
The Quality Management System (QMS) model is based on the requirements of the AS/NZS ISO 9001 standard. The main aims of the QMS are to ensure customer satisfaction and to drive ongoing business management & quality system improvements, including increases in productivity and efficiency, whilst reducing wasteful activity through our continuous improvement processes and activities.
Social Scaffolding will ensure that the system complies with the requirements of ISO 9001 and will continually improve the effectiveness of the QMS.
The QMS will provide a framework for establishing and reviewing measurable Quality Objectives, which will be embedded at relevant functions and levels within the organisation. The QMS Policy will ensure the system is effectively implemented by communicating the requirements and responsibilities clearly to all employees, and ensure relevant skills training is completed with appropriate quality awareness training.
Social Scaffolding will ensure that the policy and procedures continue to be appropriate by initiating regular reviews to check ongoing effectiveness and relevance. Social Scaffolding will ensure that the system will monitor and measure all activities for conformity to required laws, regulations & standards.
There will be regular reviews of the needs and expectations of our clients and the system will initiate continuous improvement activities to meet these expectations while also improving general system performance.
Social Scaffolding will ensure that the system records the sequence and interactions of all processes, and determine the criteria and methods needed to ensure the operation and control of these processes remains effective via process of ongoing review
Item | Responsible | Action |
|---|---|---|
Performance Reviews | Director | Review of project performance with client and confirmation of performance expectations and deliverables |
Invoicing | Director | Creation of agreed invoicing milestones and invoicing to client |
Quality Review and Audits | Director | Review of project at project completion as to performance and adherence to quality framework |
Client Relationship and Communications | Director | Regular dialogue and communication with client regarding project performance and satisfaction |
Project Budget | Project Manager | Monitoring and adherence to agreed project budget with client |
Project Deliverables | Project Manager | Approval of project deliverables by client and acceptance of project completion |
Project Management | Project Manager | Management of project deliverables and internal project team |
Project Proposals | Director | Review of project proposals and ensuring adherence to quality framework |
bottom of page