The Annual Safety Assessment (ASA) is a key aspect of the department's risk management approach and supports monitoring the effectiveness and compliance of the department's health, safety and wellbeing (HSW) management system, which is the framework for managing HSW in the department.
The aim of the ASA is to assist schools and workplaces identify potential hazards and improvements to local health, safety and wellbeing processes. Once completed, the ASA will provide you with a local Health Safety and Wellbeing Annual Safety Assessment Action Plan (Action Plan) that can help you to prioritise, undertake and track actions to manage hazards and improve health, safety and wellbeing.
By conducting the ASA comprehensively, you will:
- identify key compliance and hazard areas that are to be managed at your school or workplace
- review safety and wellbeing incidents or issues and existing processes to determine if required actions are in place and adequate levels of compliance are being maintained
- develop an Action Plan each year to document, set responsibilities and prioritise how issues or actions will be addressed within agreed timeframes – your Action Plan is autogenerated by the ASA Tool.
All department schools and workplaces are required to complete an ASA each year. The ASA will be facilitated by your Health and Safety Advisor (HSA) at those schools with 30 or more employees.
For those schools which do not have a HSA, the principal or manager will delegate the task of facilitating the completion of the ASA to an employee with a designated responsibility for health and safety at your school or workplace.
The DoE Executive Health, Safety and Wellbeing Committee monitors ASA completion rates each quarter. It is expected that 100% completion rate is reached by the end of the calendar year. The committee will provide performance reports to each Regional Director.
The ASA process and monitoring of the Safety Action Plan should be conducted through your Health, Safety and Wellbeing Committee. Outcomes of your completed ASA contribute to your annual operational planning activities and the prioritisation of resources in your school or workplace, which will ultimately contribute to improving HSW performance and reducing HSW risks.
ASA Tool
Safety Assessment for your school or workplace.
The 2023 ASA Tool will replace the 2022 ASA Tool, which is no longer to be used. The questions in the 2023 ASA Tool have been refreshed and updated.
Note: If you are completing the ASA on a non-windows machine (e.g. Mac, iPad, etc.), the red ‘Submit’ button will not work. To submit the ASA, you will need to save the completed file locally and send it as an attachment to
hsw@qed.qld.gov.au.
Supporting information and guides
Health and Safety checklists
The following checklists are a guide only and may assist in understanding some of the health and safety considerations for these areas. These may also prove useful to inform the ASA results.
Building fire safety
Canteen/tuckshop
Classrooms
Cleaner's store
Design and technology
Grounds
Grounds' sheds
Hallways and corridors
Home economics
Management systems
Office and administration areas
Playground
Science
Swimming pools