Disability support

The disability support sector includes workers who provide care, emotional support, physical assistance and supervision for people with physical and/or intellectual disabilities. These workers provide care in the home, residential settings, clinics or hospitals.

Working in people's homes

When work is conducted in a home, the home is considered a workplace.

Watch the ‘Working in People’s homes’ webinar to learn about your WHS obligations when providing care and services in someone’s home.

During the webinar, we introduce the:

• Home Safety Checklist and
• Home Safety Risk Assessment.

Use these resources to help you to identify risks in the home environment. In the webinar we provide practical guidance about when you should use them.

This case study demonstrates how work health and safety can be managed in people's homes with disability support services provider; Includa Services Pty Ltd.

The risks

Disability support workers face many risks in the workplace, including:

• muscular stress from manual and participant handling
• slips, trips and falls
• working alone and in unfamiliar environments
• psychosocial injuries, where aspects of the job such as role demands, relationships with colleagues, violence and aggression can cause a stress response.

Resources

Risk identification resources have been developed to support businesses, employers and workers to identify hazards in the workplace and prevent injuries from occurring.

• Safety Climate Survey (PDF, 1192.55 KB) – employers and organisations are encouraged to complete this tool, designed specifically for this sector to measure the mood of a worksite and draw attention to areas which require greater attention.
• Risk assessment tools assist with your work health and safety planning. Download and complete with your staff to raise awareness about your obligations.
  • Transporting people in a vehicle risk assessment template (PDF, 642.7 KB)
  • Commencing provision of services in a workplace risk assessment template
• Information sharing checklist for service providers – a simple information sharing checklist to help identify hazards affecting worker safety as well as the individual being supported.
• Interactive hazard identification diagram (in home care) (PDF, 600.9 KB) – hover over different areas of the home to reveal 14 hazards, including uneven floor surfaces, room layout and lighting.
• Fact sheets to use as a conversation starter with staff, in staff induction packs and as a WHS resource.
  • Working safely in people’s homes (SafeWork QLD)
  • Transition of support from one provider to another
• The WorkSafe Victoria handbook provides safe ways to move and handle people. It is aimed at workers in health care, aged care, rehabilitation, and disability services.
• This incident animation shows how a musculoskeletal disorder can occur when handling people in a health, aged care, rehabilitation, or disability support services setting. It highlights the issues and contributing factors that led to the incident as well as what can be done to prevent them from occurring.

Psychosocial injuries in the disability sector

Managing the risks of workplace violence in the disability sector

Events

For details on events currently available, visit our events calendar.