Incident Management Policy

1.    Overview

1.1.  Purpose

The Incident Management Policy outlines the approach taken by Junior Adventures Group to respond and manage the instance of an incident, injury, trauma or illness whilst a child is attending the service.

1.2.  Scope

All JAG People are required to comply with the provisions set out in this policy, their contract of employment, and all other relevant policies, procedures and legislation.

1.3.  Legislative Requirements

Under the Education and Care Services National Regulations, Junior Adventures Group is required to have policies and procedures in place to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of the children in care.  

2.    Policy Statement

Junior Adventures Group is committed to providing a safe and positive environment in which children and young people can participate in a broad range of experiences and learning opportunities. To facilitate this, all JAG people and Team Members have a duty of care to identify, respond and manage the instance of an incident, injury, trauma or illness.

To identify organisational learnings and support continuous improvement, Junior Adventures Group maintains a transparent approach to the reporting of all incidents, both internally and externally as required.

3.    Principles

3.1.  Duty of Care

In the event of an incident, injury, trauma or illness to a child, all Team Members have a duty of care to respond appropriately. All actions taken must be determined by the circumstances of the incident, the severity of the incident and the potential harm.

All children involved in an incident, injury, trauma or illness will be monitored and cared for until an authorised person takes charge of them, where applicable.

3.2.  Confidentiality

All incidents will be managed confidentially.

Parents/ Guardians will not be given information or identifying details about other children. This includes information given in an incident report.

3.3.  Risk Management

All Team Members must read and understand all service risk assessments and implement the identified mitigation strategies. Team Members must continuously monitor their environment for potential hazards and risks. Risks and hazards must be mitigated where possible, and otherwise escalated to their line manager.  

3.4.  Actions to Reduce Harm

In the event of an incident, injury, trauma or illness, Team Members must take immediate corrective actions to ensure no further harm to children.

Team Members must communicate the occurrence of an incident, injury, trauma or illness to other JAG People to ensure adequate supervision can be maintained.

3.5.  First Aid Requirements

All Service Leaders are required to hold a current approved first aid qualification, including approved anaphylaxis and asthma management qualifications.

If an incident, injury, trauma or illness requires first aid treatment, only a Team Member with a current approved first aid qualification will attend to the child/ren involved.

3.6.  Serious Incidents

Team Members must escalate the instance of a serious incident to their line manager and emergency service as required and in accordance with the Incident Management Procedure.

If a Team Member is unsure whether an incident is serious or not, it should be treated as serious, and escalated accordingly.

All serious incidents must be reported to the regulatory authority within 24 hours.

3.7.  Incident Reporting and Escalation

An incident report must be accurately completed for all instances of an incident, injury, trauma or illness before the end of session and within 24 hours.

All incident reports will be kept and stored as per regulatory requirements.

All Team Members are responsible for communicating and escalating the occurrence of a serious incident, injury, trauma or illness to their line manager as soon as practicable and in accordance with the Incident Escalation Matrix.

3.8.  Notification to Parents/ Guardians

The Parents/ Guardians of any child affected by an incident, injury, trauma or illness must be notified within 24 hours.

Parents/ Guardians are required to provide emergency contact details in the event that they cannot be contacted.

3.9.  Family Responsibilities.

Any Costs incurred in ensuring prompt medical attention for a child will be met by Parents/Guardians.

3.10.  Reportable Incidents and Notifications

Reportable incidents are those that the approved provider is required to notify to an external agency or organisation.

Where required, incidents and serious incidents will be notified to the appropriate authority within the prescribed timeframes.

3.11 Supporting Procedures

All Team members are guided by our procedures in managing incidents, including Crisis management and claims management. These processes ensure that the utmost care and clarity and consistency is provided by all JAG People, including proper documentation, reporting, and investigation processes to take appropriate action.

3.12.    Safeguarding Children and Young People

Any incidents, allegations or disclosures of abuse or neglect must be documented in an incident report and escalated to management as soon as practicable.

All Junior Adventures Group People are considered mandatory reporters. For any safeguarding concerns, notifications to the regulatory authority, as well as state-based child protection reporting authorities must be made in accordance with the Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy and Procedure.

3.13.    Death of a Child

The death of a child must immediately be reported to:

• An Ambulance service

• The Police

• Management

• The Regulatory Authority

It is not the role of Team Members to inform a parent of the death of their child.

A detailed report must be completed as soon as possible after the event and provided to management and other agencies as required.

3.14.    Counselling and Support

Counselling services will be made available to all JAG People and children where required following a serious incident or death of a child.

3.15.    Supervision

When an incident is identified, team members must ensure that all children are adequately supervised. Team members must communicate their intended movements to ensure that adequate supervision can be maintained throughout the incident management process.

3.15.    Child Safety

Policies and practices reflect the relevant legislation, including the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations. JAG provides polices and procedures to support and equip people with the knowledge, skills, and awareness to keep children safe. These practices are continuously reviewed and improved to ensure up to date practices are in effect throughout the business. This policy identifies the process for JAG People for responding appropriately to incidents, allegations and disclosures of abuse. Where appropriate, families are informed and involved in actions toward Incident Management.

4.    Key Terms

JAG People/JAG Person:

• Any adult that governs, manages, conducts work for, or provides activities and/or services to, JAG in a paid or unpaid activity spanning all levels of the organisational structure

Service Leader:

• Anyone who oversees the Service in one of the following roles:

  1. The Approved Provider; if the approved provider is an individual, in other cases, a person with management or control of the Service

  2. The Nominated Supervisor of the Service

  3. A Responsible Person who has been placed in day-to-day charge of the Service in the absence of the Nominated Supervisor.

Team Member:

• JAG People who work directly with children.

Line Manager:

• The persons in the direct supervisory role overseeing the work of the particular JAG person; the JAG persons escalate matters toward the person in this role, in the event of incidents and breaches

Serious Incident:

• A serious incident as defined by the National Regulations as:

  -         the death of a child while that child is being educated and care for; or following an incident occurring while that child was being educated and cared for

  -         any incident involving serious injury or trauma to a child where urgent medical attention was required, sought, or ought to have been sought e.g. a broken limb

  -         any illness where a child attended or ought to have attended a hospital e.g. asthma attack or anaphylaxis reaction

  -         any emergency where emergency services attended

  -         any circumstance where a child:

  o   appears to be missing or cannot be accounted for

  o   appears to have been taken or removed from the service in a way that breaches the National Regulations

  o   is mistakenly locked in or locked out of the service or premises.

Incidents Notifiable to the Regulatory Authority:

• Any incidents that seriously compromise the safety, health or wellbeing of children are notifiable to the Regulatory Authority. An Approved Provider must notify the Regulatory Authority of:

  -         any serious incident

  -         any complaints alleging

  o   that a serious incident has occurred or is occurring

  o   that this law has been contravened

  o   information regarding any other prescribed matters

  -         any incident that requires the service to close or reduce the number of children attending

  -         any circumstance that poses a risk to the health, safety or wellbeing of a child attending the service

  -         any incident where the approved provider reasonably believes that physical or sexual abuse of a child or children has occurred or is occurring

  -         allegations that physical or sexual abuse of a child or children has occurred or is occurring

  -         the service is caring for extra child/ren due to an emergency

Injury:

• Any physical damage to the body caused by violence or an incident

Trauma:

• Trauma is when a child feels intensely threatened by an event he or she is involved in or witnesses.

Approved first aid/ asthma/ anaphylaxis qualification:

• A qualification that has been approved by ACECQA and published on the list of approved first aid qualifications and training on the ACECQA website.

ACECQA:

• Australia Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority.

NQAITS:

• National Quality Agenda IT System

5. References

Education and Care Services National Law and Regulations

Section 165 – Offence to inadequately supervise children

Section 167 – Offence relating to the protection of children from harm and hazards

Section 174 – Offence to fail to notify certain information to Regulatory Authority

Regulation 85 – Incident, injury, trauma and illness policies and procedures

Regulation 86 – Notification to parents of incident, injury, trauma and illness

Regulation 87 – Incident, injury, trauma and illness record

Regulation 89 – First aid kits

Regulation 95 – Procedure for administration of medication

Regulation 103 – Premises, furniture and equipment to be safe, clean and in good repair

Regulation 104 – Fencing

Regulation 136 – First aid qualifications

Regulation 161 – Authorisations to be kept in enrolment record

Regulation 168 – Education and care service must have policies and procedures

Regulation 170 – Policies and procedures to be followed

Regulation 177 – Prescribed enrolment and other documents to be kept by approved provider

Regulation 183 – Storage of records and other documents

Related Policies

Safeguarding Children and Young People

Absent and Missing Children

Medical Conditions

Governance, Management and Leadership

First Aid

Related Procedures

02P005 Incident Management

Other

OCG Guide to Child Safe Standards - https://ocg.nsw.gov.au/child-safe-scheme   

CCYP Child safe Standards - https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/child-safe-standards/

National Principles for Child Safe Organisations - https://childsafe.humanrights.gov.au/national-principles 

6.    Appendices

6.1. Appendix 1 – Incident Reporting Flow Chart

Version 3.0 Change History

JAG Policy Change Register Date Approved 01/07/2023 Date Implemented

01/07/2023 Document Owner Quality Service Development Document Approvers

CEO / Approved Provider Next Review 12 Months