Legislative Requirements
All states in Australia require specific qualifications to work with and around children. This is to
monitor these workers and their role in providing services to children, therefore minimising the risk of harm to them.
In Queensland this ‘monitoring’ system is called the BlueCard system. Everyone is required to hold
a blue card if they are working with children of the ages 18 and under are
classified under ‘regulated employment.’ Regulated employment is a standard amount of hours that workers work around children. The Queensland government classifies the following as regulated employmenthours:
· eight consecutive days, or
· once a week for each week during a period of four weeks, or
· once a fortnight for each fortnight during a period of eight weeks, or
· once a month for each month during a period of six months
The purpose of the blue card system is to ensure children are given safe, supported environments when participating in activities and receiving services essential to their developmental process. The initial screening is the first part of three step process developed by the commission of child and young people child guardians. The first step is a screening to determine a person’s eligibility based on past behaviour, the second is the ongoing screening of the person and third developing ongoing assessments and risk management strategies. (Queensland Government, 2012)
Current Legislation’s people need to know to work with children in the gym environment include their duty of care and information on pre-exercise screening for children. Duty of care in the gym environment is direct responsibility of the organisation to provide various risk management strategies to ensure the safety of the children these include:
· a safe and well maintained facility
· ensure qualified supervision at all times
· protection against physical, sexual, emotional abuse and neglect from other members, staff and anyone else in the facility
· a policy of safe supervision for children and adolescents under the age of 18 using change rooms.
Other ways to ensure the safety of children in the gym environment is the implement of pre-exercise screens before the use of the facility. The pre-exercise screen can be presented as a questionnaire for the parents to fill out and often includes:
· contact and emergency contact details
· medical history and an assessment of any problems and their management strategies required
· exercise history
· a disclaimer for the parents to describe any risks that are found in the gym environment and cover’s insurance etc.
· A parents signature and gym managers signature.
An example of a pre-exercise screen can be found here:
http://www.chw.edu.au/prof/services/chism/childcare_guidelines_for_gyms.pdf
Overall
these are all the requirements needed to ensure the safety of children in the
working environments.NSW
Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation (2003)
monitor these workers and their role in providing services to children, therefore minimising the risk of harm to them.
In Queensland this ‘monitoring’ system is called the BlueCard system. Everyone is required to hold
a blue card if they are working with children of the ages 18 and under are
classified under ‘regulated employment.’ Regulated employment is a standard amount of hours that workers work around children. The Queensland government classifies the following as regulated employmenthours:
· eight consecutive days, or
· once a week for each week during a period of four weeks, or
· once a fortnight for each fortnight during a period of eight weeks, or
· once a month for each month during a period of six months
The purpose of the blue card system is to ensure children are given safe, supported environments when participating in activities and receiving services essential to their developmental process. The initial screening is the first part of three step process developed by the commission of child and young people child guardians. The first step is a screening to determine a person’s eligibility based on past behaviour, the second is the ongoing screening of the person and third developing ongoing assessments and risk management strategies. (Queensland Government, 2012)
Current Legislation’s people need to know to work with children in the gym environment include their duty of care and information on pre-exercise screening for children. Duty of care in the gym environment is direct responsibility of the organisation to provide various risk management strategies to ensure the safety of the children these include:
· a safe and well maintained facility
· ensure qualified supervision at all times
· protection against physical, sexual, emotional abuse and neglect from other members, staff and anyone else in the facility
· a policy of safe supervision for children and adolescents under the age of 18 using change rooms.
Other ways to ensure the safety of children in the gym environment is the implement of pre-exercise screens before the use of the facility. The pre-exercise screen can be presented as a questionnaire for the parents to fill out and often includes:
· contact and emergency contact details
· medical history and an assessment of any problems and their management strategies required
· exercise history
· a disclaimer for the parents to describe any risks that are found in the gym environment and cover’s insurance etc.
· A parents signature and gym managers signature.
An example of a pre-exercise screen can be found here:
http://www.chw.edu.au/prof/services/chism/childcare_guidelines_for_gyms.pdf
Overall
these are all the requirements needed to ensure the safety of children in the
working environments.NSW
Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation (2003)