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Policies and Procedures

The purpose of Legislation?

To make Queensland workplaces healthier and safer, you must fulfil your duties under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 .

The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 sets out the laws about the health and safety requirements for workplaces and work activities in Queensland.

If a regulation exists for specific risks at your workplace, you must do what the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 says to prevent or minimize the impact of the risk.

If there is a Code of Practice about a risk at your workplace, you must either:

do what the Code of Practice says, or
adopt and follow another way that gives the same level of protection against the risk, and ensure you take reasonable precautions and exercise proper diligence.

If no regulation or code of practice exists about a risk at your workplace, you must choose an appropriate way to manage exposure to the risk, take reasonable precautions and exercise due care. This is usually achieved through a risk management approach.
All staff have duties under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 to:

take reasonable care for his or her own health and safety
take reasonable care that his or her actions do not adversely affect the health and safety of other persons
comply with departmental instructions and procedures.

How do legislation and departmental procedures fit together?

Departmental procedures and guidelines reflect the requirements of legislation, codes of practice, standards and supporting information.

Procedures provide mandatory information for schools and workplaces to follow.
Guidelines reflect good practice and represent the Department's preferred position and should be followed. If principals or managers do not follow a guideline the alternative actions taken need to achieve an equivalent or improved outcome in terms of safe practice. The alternative actions or procedures should be documented.

Procedures and guidelines help departmental sites meet health and safety obligations by highlighting relevant legal requirements and detailing how these can be met in the DETE environment.

Where do I find departmental policies and procedures?

The DETE Procedure Register is the location to find all departmental procedures and guidelines. You will notice that most former policies from the Department of Education Manual (DOEM) or the Education Policy and Procedures Register (EPPR) are now called procedures in the DETE Procedure Register.

The DETE Procedure Register is accessible via the OnePortal intranet (Education Queensland schools and departmental work sites only) and publicly through the Department's internet site. These policies and procedures act as current departmental advice and supersede all previous documents.

Health and Safety related procedures are found on the Workplace Health, Safety and Wellbeing Page .

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This page was last reviewed on 24 Sep 2012 at 01:02PM