Contents

Student Protection
Protection Against Child Abuse and Improper Conduct
Sports Injury Prevention Measures and Strategies
Injury Countermeasures
Infectious Diseases Control Guidelines
Sun Protection
Inappropriate Activities
Additional Protection Measures

The use of starting guns and caps

Starting gun caps are sensitive explosives which have the potential to cause serious burns and impair hearing. Concerns for staff and students' safety require that all schools take care in the storage and use of starting guns and caps.

Commonly, starting guns are mechanical devices which rely on a hammer being set by the user and released by a trigger action to explode a cap. These starting guns are available through sporting goods outlets and do not require a permit or licence. Principals must ensure that the following requirements are met:

• Schools are not to use the older style guns which use a metal encased charge and require the user to have a permit under the Firearms Act, 1996. It would be rare that schools still have these guns on the premises. Any school which has such a
  gun should surrender it to the local police.
• When not in use, starting guns and caps are to be securely stored in a locked cupboard inaccessible to students or unauthorised persons.
• Starting caps must be kept in a rigid plastic or wooden box until ready for immediate use. The box must be clearly labelled either as "Dangerous Goods" or "Explosive Items".
• No student is to operate a starting gun or have access to a starting gun or caps.
• Starting gun caps are not to be carried in pockets or placed in situations where friction or static electricity may cause ignition. Commonly, starting guns are mechanical devices which rely on a hammer being set by the user and released by a trigger action to explode a cap. These starting guns are available through sporting goods outlets and do not require a permit or licence.

When using a starting gun, the staff member must ensure that:

• the gun is fired at arm's length above the shoulder
• they wear ear muffs with an SLC 80 rating of not less than 20 or ear plugs with an SLC 80 rating of not less than 25. Ear muffs are easy to fit and generally give the best protection. Adults assisting with the starting procedure are also required to wear hearing protection
• all other persons are positioned at a safe distance from the starting gun area
• the gun and caps are in their possession at all times and are not handled by students or unauthorised persons
• all spent or partially spent caps are disposed of securely. Particular attention must be paid to ensuring spent or partially spent caps are placed in a secure container immediately after use.

Ground Markings

Hydrated lime must not be used in any circumstances. Creosote, sump oil and kerosene have been found to present health and environmental risks and are not to be used.

Whiting (calcium carbonate or calcite) may be used as a dry lime marking material. Coloured oxides mixed in water are popular as is aerosol paint sprays used in marking machines specifically designed to operate the spray process.

Further advice concerning marking of fields and athletic tracks may be obtained by contacting the grounds and parks divisions of the local Council.

Fixed playground equipment

A safe playground is an essential element of a safe school.

Most students will use the playground at some time during the day and it is essential that all risks are identified and addressed. Fixed playground equipment can make a significant contribution in
extending physical activity options in the school.

As part of its risk management strategy, the Department has developed Safety Guidelines for the Installation and Maintenance of Fixed Playground Equipment in Schools. The document is located on the Department's Intranet site: http://www.intranet.dse.nsw.edu.au/stand.cgi/dse/D1.0/policies.htm

In respect to introducing new equipment, schools should develop best practices and guidelines for the safe use of the equipment, including the application of existing school rules, or the development of any new rules.

Safety Guidelines for the Installation and Maintenance of Fixed Playground Equipment in Schools contains a checklist that will assist schools to identify risks within playgrounds. The items on the list are not exhaustive and the assessment of risks should take into account the strategies that appear in the Risk Management Awareness Training for Principals and Asset Protection Training Program.

Due to the potential risk of injury, the following items of equipment are banned from use on Departmental premises: Swings (all types including swinging ropes and tyres - some items for students with disabilities may be exempt in specific settings)
See-saws, roundabouts and maypoles.

• Swings (all types including swinging ropes and tyres - some items for students with disabilities may be exempt in specific settings)
• See-saws, roundabouts and maypoles.

Portable goal structures

Portable structures, of a variety of kinds, are used by schools in indoor and outdoor settings during organised sport, formal and informal playground games and physical education.

The structures are used principally as goals for netball, soccer, basketball and hockey games. Portable goals vary considerably in design, construction, weight, size and materials used in their construction.

Goals which are secured in position solely or principally by goalposts being inserted into the ground are not considered portable structures.

Unanchored goal structures can pose a hazard to players and by-standers. The instability of an unanchored goal is not easily recognisable.

Unanchored soccer and hockey goals may tip forwards and downwards if sufficient weight is applied to the crossbar. Unanchored netball and basketball posts may over balance when body contact is made with the structure. Unanchored posts used to support volleyball nets are particularly dangerous, as force applied to the net will cause the structure to fall into the court area.

Schools are encouraged to examine options for making such goal structures safe. Where portable structures are of a sufficient size and weight to be a potential hazard:

• they should be suitably pegged or anchored to the ground, or
• modified to ensure that they cannot over balance.

When portable structures are not in use, and not securely anchored, they should be:

• removed to a secure area where students or members of the community cannot use them, or
• secured to an immovable structure such as a fence, wall or concrete pad so that there is no possibility of the goals falling if sufficient weight force is applied to them.

In order to make informed purchasing decisions, it is recommended that schools contact the relevant state sporting association about appropriate products, existing standards, suppliers etc.

Medical Insurance

All NSW School students are automatically covered for serious injury and death whilst they are participating in school sporting activities. Cover is provided by the Supplementary Sporting Injuries Benefits Scheme and funded by the NSW Government. The Scheme is administered by the NSW Sporting Injuries Committee under the Sporting Insurance Act 1978.

Any injury resulting in the permanent loss of a prescribed faculty or the use of some prescribed part of the body is covered by the Scheme. The disabilities covered can be found in the tables on page 272. Partial as well as total incapacities are covered. For Table A injuries, permanent loss of use or function of at least 50% must be established unless the injury relates to the greater part of an arm or leg in which case the threshold is 33%. There is no such threshold for Table B
injuries and the only requirement is to establish that a loss has occurred.

The amounts of the benefits payable vary according to the type and degree of disability sustained. For full details of the Scheme, including benefits tables, refer to pages 268-272.

Parents and caregivers should be advised to assess the level and extent of their child's involvement in the sport program offered by the school and school sport associations when deciding whether additional insurance cover, above that provided by MEDICARE, is required.

NSW Ambulance Service

Many schools and a number of Area School Sport Associations in NSW annually join the School Contribution Scheme administered by the NSW Ambulance Service. Cover is provided from the time the student arrives at school to the time they leave the school premises. Provided a teacher is in charge, students involved in school excursions, sporting activities in non-school venues and camping activities are also covered by the Scheme.

The cost to schools is $20.00 per one hundred students, or part thereof, enrolled at the school. The period of registration is from March 1 to February 28. Proportional payments are available for schools registering during this period. In situations where schools avail themselves of the service and are not registered, the respective parent/caregiver will be issued with an invoice for a minimum charge of $136.00.

Schools registered with the Service should provide teachers in charge of sporting activities and excursions with the school's registration number for reference when calling the ambulance.

Further information can be obtained by phoning the NSW Ambulance Service on (02) 9320 7698.