Schools must consider age, maturity and skill level of students when planning curriculum activities.
Adjustments are required for
students with disability to support access and participation in the curriculum. Consult with the parents/carers of students with disability or, when appropriate, the student to ensure risks related to their child's participation in the activity are identified and managed.
Schools must consult current student medical information and/or health plans in accordance with the
managing students' health support needs at school procedure. Record information about any student condition (e.g. physical or medical, such as
epilepsy) that may inhibit safe engagement in the activity and include specific support measures within emergency procedures.
For activities with students with a medical condition or disability that may impact on safety during the activity, consultation with parents is required prior to allocating supervision to determine the impact of students' medical condition or disability on safety during the activity.
For participants with known allergies, schools must comply with the
supporting students with asthma and/or at risk of anaphylaxis at school procedure and the school's
anaphylaxis risk management plan (DOCX, 159KB), including an adult supervisor of the activity with
anaphylaxis training.
Emergency plans and injury management procedures must be established for foreseeable incidents (e.g. gas leakage, provision of CPR and
first aid) and incorporate the advice from local authorities, for example, location of automated external defibrillator (AED).
Adult supervisors must have:
- emergency contact details of all participants
- a medical alert list and a process for administering student medication
- communication equipment suitable to conditions (e.g. mobile phone) and a process for obtaining external assistance and/or receiving emergency advice.
Safety procedures must be determined for the location (e.g.
safe operating procedure, turning gas on and off, boiling water, hot ovens) and are to be informed by information provided as
equipment and machinery resources, manufacturer's instructions, product labels, vendor safety data sheet (SDS) and standard operating procedure (SOP) and incorporate advice from off-site facility, if relevant.
Access is required to
first aid equipment and consumables suitable for foreseeable incidents.
Induction is required for all adult supervisors on emergency procedures (e.g. fire/gas evacuation procedure) and safety procedures (e.g. active and direct supervision for each supervisory role) and correct techniques. If the activity is conducted at an off-site facility, induction is to be informed by advice provided in consultation with expertise at the venue.
Instruction is required for students on safety procedures and correct techniques (e.g. use of equipment including knives, food handling and hygiene practices, waste disposal and spill clean-up procedures). Rule-reminders are to be provided throughout the activity.
Parent consent (DOCX, 309KB) is required for all activities conducted
off-site and all
extreme risk level activities conducted onsite. It is
strongly recommended that parent consent is obtained for
high risk level activities conducted on-site.
Supervision
Principals, in consultation with the qualified adults, make final supervision decisions for the activity that considers the local context.
Appropriate adult supervision must be provided to manage the activity safely (i.e. prevent an incident from occurring and manage an incident if one were to occur, including managing emergency situations). The principal must give active consideration to the minimum standards set in the CARA guideline for the activity, the CARA planner and the risk assessment when determining the appropriate level of supervision.
See
number of adult supervisors below.
Participants must adhere to all rules and advice communicated by the facility operator/owner and any safety signage at the facility/location.
Before the activity, all adult supervisors:
- must be familiar with the contents of the CARA record, including the emergency and supervision plans.
During the activity, all adult supervisors:
- must provide active and direct supervision—be constantly vigilant, attentive and rescue ready
- must comply with control measures from the CARA record and adapt as hazards arise
- must comply with control measures from the CARA record and adapt as hazards arise
- must
not rely on students to recover a person in difficulty at any time.
The activity must be suspended if the conditions become unfavourable (e.g. uncontrollable hazard arising).
Number of adult supervisors
Principals, in consultation with the qualified adults of the activity, determine the final number of supervisors to fulfil instructional, emergency and supervision roles for the local context that consider the nature of the activity, students' ages, abilities and specialised learning, access and/or health needs. In some instances, the final supervision ratio may be 1:1.
If the minimum safety standard cannot be met, modify the activity (or elements of it) and use the
hierarchy of controls to implement alternative control measures to meet or exceed the minimum safety standard (e.g. reduce the number of students participating at any one time).
See
frequently asked questions (FAQs) for further support.
Supervisor qualifications
Qualifications support the minimum safety standard for this activity. Principals make final decisions* in determining supervisor capability (competence, relevance and currency) and whether the activity leader meets an appropriate teaching standard.
*See
FAQs for further support.
All adult supervisors must comply with the
working with children authority—blue cards procedure.
Qualified adults for the activity
Recovery/emergency—CPR, first aid, rescue
An adult with current emergency qualifications is required to be quickly accessible to the activity area.
Supervisors must have CPR and first aid qualifications relevant to the activity. Emergency qualifications may include:
Medium risk activities
At least 1 adult supervisor is either:
- a registered teacher with competence (knowledge and skills) in teaching in food experimentation and the use of all equipment required for the activity
- an adult supervisor, working under the direct supervision of a registered teacher, with qualifications or accreditation in science and/or home economics and/or hospitality (e.g.
Certificate I in Hospitality or similar) or other demonstrated competence determined by the principal.
High risk activities
At least 1 adult supervisor is either:
- a registered teacher with qualifications in science and/or home economics and/or hospitality (e.g.
Certificate I in Hospitality or similar) or other demonstrated competence determined by the principal and competence (knowledge and skills) in food experimentation and contamination, the use of all equipment required for the activity, and in handling chemicals that constitute a hazard
- an adult supervisor, working under the direct supervision of a registered teacher, with qualifications or accreditation in science and/or home economics and/or hospitality (e.g.
Certificate II in Hospitality or similar) or other demonstrated competence determined by the principal and (knowledge and skills) in food experimentation and contamination, the use of all equipment required for the activity and in handling chemicals that constitute a hazard.
See
FAQs for further support.
Facilities and equipment
The qualified adult supervisor of the activity, in consultation with the principal, determines the requirements for facilities and equipment appropriate to the local context.
Location must be suitable for the activity being undertaken, including sufficient space to prevent overcrowding (in kitchens—recommended 900mm bench space per student; maximum of 3 students per stove), adequate lighting and ventilation to ensure safe participation and that safety rules and procedures can be followed. Undertake a reconnaissance of new or infrequently used locations to ascertain suitability.
Participants must wear
personal protective equipment as relevant (e.g. safety glasses with Australian Standard specification, appropriate non-porous enclosed footwear, gloves, clean apron, hair coverings, bright coloured waterproof dressings).
Ready access to appropriate safety equipment, including fire extinguishers and fire blankets, must be available.
Consumables to be provided as required (e.g. cleaning agents, hand soap, paper towel).
Aids for safe handling, lifting and carrying (e.g. oven cloths, guards, safety steps and mobile trolleys) must be available.
Hand washing, washing-up facilities and garbage disposal facilities must be available.
Adequate facilities for food storage (cold and dry) must be available.
Adequate number of easily accessible power outlets must be available.
Equipment must be sized to match the ability of students. Benches to be appropriate height and accessible for all students (recommended height for kitchen benches is 800–1,000 mm).
All equipment must be used in accordance with the manufacturer's instruction.
A maintenance schedule (e.g. checking for damage, repairing, sharpening) must be established and enacted for all plant and equipment used in the workspace. Consult
Equipment Maintenance Records (EMR) documents.
A retirement schedule must be developed to replace plant and equipment by manufacturers' nominated expiry date or when significant wear causes a hazard.
A process for checking for damage for all equipment used in the activity must be established and employed.
Preparation surfaces and equipment (including serving plates and dish cloths) must be sanitised with commercial cleaning agents used at the minimum necessary strength.
Clean up equipment including a broom, dustpan, breakages bin and spill kit must be available.
Consult
chemicals in curriculum activities for support in assessing the risks of chemicals used with/by students in curriculum activities.
If a CARA record is required in OneSchool, a summary of chemicals, plant, equipment and/or materials used in the activity must be provided by entering directly onto the CARA record in OneSchool or by attaching a summary. Sample templates are provided on chemicals in curriculum activities and
plant, equipment and materials in curriculum activities.
For
high risk level activities:
- A fume cupboard must be available when the presence of toxic gases is a possibility.
Common hazards and controls
Further to those listed, include any additional hazards and control measures considering the local context of the activity.
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Biological material
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Ensure all food items used comply with
Food Standards Australia New Zealand and are not subject to any
current food recalls when providing ingredients.
Provide explicit instruction in
preventing food poisoning: handling and hygiene.
Manage open wounds before, during and after the activity. Consult
infection control guidelines and Queensland Health's
exclusion periods for infectious conditions poster for first aid and hygienic practices.
Consider sickness (e.g. vomiting, diarrhoea), contamination (e.g. blood, saliva) and hand hygiene (e.g. hands and nails washed thoroughly with warm running water and liquid soap, and dried thoroughly using a single use towel or disposable paper towel).
Do not allow tasting equipment to be shared.
Ensure contaminated food stuffs, other substances and products are not consumed
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Environmental conditions
Weather
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Follow the
managing excessive heat in schools guidelines when participating in very hot or extreme heat conditions.
Ensure drink breaks occur regularly. Make water available for individual participants between drink breaks
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| Facilities and equipment hazards |
Control measures |
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Hazardous chemicals |
Ensure chemicals that are toxic are not used in a food preparation area.
Correctly label and securely store all chemicals according to storage compatibilities in the SDS in a cool, dry area, away from general student use
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Manual handling |
Use correct manual handling processes when
lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling or carrying
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Equipment |
Control the environment for pests (e.g. use fly screens and food covers).
Use appropriate equipment to handle food safely (e.g. tongs, serving spoons) and to heat or cool food (e.g. ovenproof dishes).
Equipment and implements stored safely and securely when not in use
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Extreme temperatures sources |
Provide explicit instruction in heating oil, including:
- dangers of overfilling a fryer or leaving unattended
- using a temperature controlled deep fryer rather than a saucepan for deep frying
- use only suitable fats and oils
- consequences of spills of other liquids into oil
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Sharp implements or objects |
Keep knives sufficiently sharp to allow for easy cutting and store in a way that allows safe selection
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Slips, trips, falls |
Procedures must be in place to immediately manage the removal of all spilt substances (e.g. breakages bin, mop, spill kit for large spills). Consult the
Preventing slips, trips and falls brochure |
| Student considerations |
Control measures |
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Injury
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Students aware of the location of emergency and first-aid equipment
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Student issues
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Ensure fingernails and hair do not pose a hazard.
Monitor and enforce the correct use of equipment.
Maintain close supervision of students
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