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

This section describes key strategies for injury countermeasures and injury prevention. The Australian Sports Commission's document SportSafe Australia: A National Sports Safety Framework is acknowledged as a major contributing source of information in this section.

The key strategies for injury countermeasures and injury prevention will be relevant for teachers who are appointed as coaches, instructors, supervisors, officials, activity organisers or trainers.

Participation in a safe and non-threatening environment provides opportunities for students to enjoy the experience and excitement of physical activities, to develop skills, interact socially and achieve personal goals and ambitions. Participants who enjoy and are satisfied with their physical activity experience are more likely to repeat and continue their experience.

Physical activity in the school setting takes place in a variety of contexts and includes formal inter and intra-school competitive sport, physical education, formal and informal recreation activity, leisure and fitness activities and outdoor adventure sports.

Effective prevention measures should be based on an understanding of the inherent nature of the activity or sport, its players or participants and the external environment.

Injury rates and types vary markedly between sports and the development of prevention strategies needs to occur on a sport specific basis. However, some sports with similar injury profiles can be grouped together and similar measures developed to prevent injuries.

Many of the following injury prevention measures (countermeasures) will be relevant, in various degrees, to the vast majority of physical activities organised and managed by teachers.

Accidents most commonly occur in situations where:

• inadequate supervision and instruction has contributed to a failure to ensure that rules are complied with. For example, in activities such as softball, cricket, hockey and T-ball, this has resulted in injuries to students struck with either bat or ball when students are too close to the activity
• games have been conducted on unsuitable areas such as grassed areas with tufts and holes, uneven bitumen or concrete surfaces, or too close to windows, steps or projecting objects such as taps and seats.

Sports injury prevention measures are classified into pre-event, event and post-event:

• Pre-event countermeasures focus on the development of policies and codes of behaviour that are anticipated to reduce injury and includes the training and education of coaches, officials, players and sports trainers.
• Event countermeasures are effective during actual participation in the sport or activity and include enforcement of rules, using appropriate equipment, including protective equipment, playing in a suitable environment and warming up and cooling down of participants.
• Post-event prevention strategies include the provision of initial first aid and ongoing management of injuries, the evaluation of risk management plans and review of policies.