Health and Community Services ISSC communique: April 2024
The Health and Community Services Industry Standing Committee (the Committee) met on 18 April 2024. The acting Chair, Ms Alarna Lane-Mullins, welcomed Committee members to the first meeting.
The Chair facilitated discussions focused on establishing a foundation for the Committee’s three-year term including:
- Endorsing the Committee’s terms of reference, a key governance document that has been developed to support the operations of the Committee; and
- Identifying the reporting requirements to undertake Committee functions; noting the primary function of an Industry Sector Standing Committee is to give advice and make recommendations to the Work Health and Safety board about work health and safety in the industry sector for which the committee is established (Work Health and Safety Act 2011, Schedule 2, Division 5, Section 15).
The Chair invited the committee members to discuss the current and emerging issues and risks in the rural industry. The following key matters were raised by the Committee members:
- Psychosocial matters
- Occupational and sexual violence
- Manual handling
- Clean air/air quality
- Mould and extreme heat in schools
- Workload
- Fatigue management including how to manage the right to disconnect
- Under-resourcing
- Volunteers and Not-for-profit community services
- Interaction of different legislative obligations eg obligations to violent clients
- Lone workers
- Vicarious trauma
- Limitations on funding models for the Not-For-Profit Sector (NFPS) delivering programs impacts health and safety
- Emerging exposure standards, SWA standards and impact on the workplace
- Selection of employees and PCBU support for staff
- Staff shortages and difficulty to find replacements
- Quality of training and limited instruction provided
- Reduction in the number of people with special education skills.
The Members discussed items for future meetings including clarification of the industry sectors covered by this Committee and further information about the People at Work survey tool.
The next meeting of the Committee will be held on Thursday 11 July 2024.
ISSC secretariat | Email: oirboardsandcommittees@oir.qld.gov.au