EOTC Risk Assessment and Management
At St Joseph's School, risk assessment and management is an ongoing process for EOTC events and activities. The school has a duty to ensure we identify 
hazards that pose a risk to the health and safety of those involved in EOTC. We use multiple sources of information and a range of tools to eliminate or minimise risks, so far as is reasonably practicable. We may also consult with other agencies, as appropriate.
A hazard is something that could cause harm. A risk is the likelihood that the hazard will cause harm and the severity of the potential harm. See Risk Management.
Our risk management policy provides more information about hazards and risks, hierarchy of controls, and our identification and reporting process. See Risk Management.
We inform parents of any general and specific risks associated with an EOTC activity, and strategies proposed to manage these. See EOTC Consent.
Risk management planning
Our planning is determined by the nature of the event/activity and the associated level of risk. We assess risk during the initial proposal and planning stages, which involves submitting proposals and plans for approval. See "EOTC safety planning and risk assessment documentation" in Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) and EOTC Event Planning and Approval.
We may develop a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) that can be used to provide a consistent approach for recurring events.
Risk assessment process
At St Joseph's School, we undertake the following risk assessment actions: identify, assess, develop, manage and monitor.
Identify
We identify the risk category of the EOTC event (i.e. low risk, medium to high risk, overnight). We then identify the level of risk associated with:
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Low risk
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Medium to high risk
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Overnight
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Activity type
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Routine and expected activities and environments (e.g activities on school grounds, supervised local visits).
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Where risk exposure is greater than what would typically be the case at school (e.g. adventurous activities, water-based activities, hazardous/unpredictable environments including speed, height, extreme weather).
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Overnight stays, both domestic and overseas.
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Examples
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- Trip to supermarket
- Science trip in botanical gardens
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- Agricultural days (medium)
- Field trip to the beach (medium)
- Day ski trip (high)
- Swimming at the beach (high)
- Rock climbing (high)
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- Sports trip
- Tramping
- Overseas language trip
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Adapted from the EONZ Safety Management Plan template ("Event Category Table")
- activities involved in the event (e.g. water-based activities)
- participants, including staff (e.g. number, competence, additional support that may be required)
- venue/physical environment (e.g. access, physical features, water)
- equipment (e.g. specialist or adaptive equipment)
- environmental factors (e.g. weather, tide, traffic)
- transport.
This stage of planning may also include setting operational limits.
Operational limits are parameters that can be set to decide whether or not an EOTC event will go ahead as planned. Operational limits can be particularly useful for events that are weather dependent or held in a dynamic environment (e.g. temperature, rain, sea conditions, driving conditions, etc.). Limits could also apply regarding adequate supervision (e.g. if an adult falls ill or is unavailable to attend).
A traffic light approach can be applied to operational limits, for example:
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Operational limits for a surfing trip (example)
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RED
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No go zone
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2 metre swells, 25+ km winds, red weather warnings in place
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ORANGE
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Are the conditions suitable for the activity and group capability (students and staff)?
Are modifications needed to keep the risk at acceptable level?
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Swells 1–2 metres, winds 15–25 km
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GREEN
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Go ahead
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<1 metre swells, <15 km winds
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Adapted from the EONZ Safety Management Plan template ("Operational limits")
Assess
We assess the potential consequences of any hazards (i.e. degree of harm) and likelihood of them occurring, and the most important hazards and controls to focus on (e.g. most dangerous or likely to cause injury). See Risk Assessment Guide 
.
Develop
We develop ways to eliminate any risk of harm from hazards so far as reasonably practicable. If a risk cannot be eliminated, we take action to minimise it using a hierarchy of controls (see Risk Management), and:
- identify who will be responsible for implementing risk control measures
- reassess the risk rating after controls have been put in place to determine the level of risk remaining, and ensure this is kept at an acceptable level.
Manage and monitor
We continuously manage and monitor the control measures during an event/activity to ensure they are working as intended. We:
- tell all participants about the controls and how to implement them
- ensure staff (including any external providers/contractors) understand the controls and their role in implementing them
- continue to actively assess risk and hazards during the event
- review the effectiveness of the controls after the event
- identify and manage any change in risk and/or new hazards when planning a new EOTC activity.
Also see EOTC Review, Evaluation, and Reporting.
Related policies
Legislation
- Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
- Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016
Resources
: Term 4 2024, Term 1 2024, Term 1 2021, Term 1 2019
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