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Measures in place to prioritize health, safety and wellbeing

At CBCHS, our disability program is part of a broader Community Health Service.  This means we are in the unique position of having in-house expertise in clinical-standard infection control. We also have a dedicated Quality, Risk and Safety team working tirelessly to stay abreast of Government guidelines and instructions to ensure the wellbeing, health and safety of our clients and staff.

In line with Government guidelines, any face-to-face support will be provided in compliance with COVID-safe practices. To enable this, the following risk mitigation measures are in place at all centres:

  • COVID-safe cleaning regime
  • Strict infection control measures
  • Daily health screening for clients and staff
  • Social distancing in compliance with the 4 sqm per person requirement
  • Environmental and infection control audits
  • An adequate supply of sanitisation and cleaning products, appropriate PPE and no-touch thermometers
  • Appropriate level of segregation and spacing e.g. entry / exit procedures, program room allocation, staff rosters, furniture positioning, individual client material boxes, BYO lunch and utensils to avoid sharing etc.
  • Refresher COVID-safe training for our staff, including infection control, PPE, hand hygiene, social distancing, waste management, vehicle cleaning, incident reporting etc.
  • Procedure for management of suspected case of COVID-19 and dedicated isolation area
  • Our dedicated Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) across the business will continue to play a critical role in ensuring compliance with Occupational Health and Safety and COVID-safe measures, and to mobilise rapid response and action across the organisation.

In the ‘new normal’ world, our day programs may look and feel different. We are looking forward to establishing a new form of normality – thank you for your understanding and support.

To ensure we are well prepared for this rapidly changing landscape, we are maintaining an open dialogue with other disability service providers and stakeholders in the sector to align our strategies in managing in these uncertain times.

We remind you that the Corona Hotline 1800 675 398 is still the best place for advice on COVID-19 related health concerns.

Our Request to you

We are committed to providing a safe environment for our clients and staff. In the interest of health and safety of all, we request you to remain mindful and compliant with Government guidelines. To prepare for the clients’ return to day programs, we request that you consider:

Good Practice

We strongly encourage the client, their co-residents, carers, close family members and close friends to:

  • have the flu vaccination
  • download and activate the COVIDSafe app
  • follow good practice to stay safe – wash your hands, avoid touching your face and maintain social distance and cough/sneeze etiquette.

Prompt Communication and Action

To maintain prompt, open and transparent communication:

  • please immediately inform us of any potential risk situation such as if the client or co-resident, carer, close family member or close friend of the client or that of the client’s co-resident are symptomatic or have been in contact with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19
  • if the client is unwell, they must not attend our day program, they must remain at home and seek medical advice
  • if the client or co-resident, carer, close family member or close friend of the client or that of the client’s co-resident is unwell with respiratory or COVID-19 like symptoms, they should get tested; the client must not attend our day program until test results of suspected case come back negative.
  • prompt communication and action is essential to ensure health and safety of the community.

Prepare for Return

To prepare the clients for their return to day programs, we ask that you consider:

  • developing client’s morning routine of getting ready in time
  • start preparing snacks and lunch as clients would bring to the day program
  • return to a bedtime / sleep routine to tune their body clock
  • start talking to them about returning back to their day programs and seeing their friends and longstanding support workers
  • as we will try to increase ventilation at ACO sites, we suggest clients to bring in extra layers of clothing to keep warm
  • as an infection control measure, to minimise sharing, clients will be required to bring their own lunch, snacks, water bottle, utensils and personal clothing protectors for meal assistance.

Access to our centres

As a risk mitigation measure, entry to our centres will be prohibited for anyone other than clients and staff. For ‘least contact’ access, it is required that:

  • only the client exits the vehicle on arrival and departure – the carer must stay inside the vehicle, unless the client requires support
  • when you arrive for drop off or pick up, please wait at the designated spot or at a distance of at least 1.5mts from another person – a support worker will monitor the entry and exit doors and another support worker will escort the client to / from the program area
  • if you need to speak to a staff member at the time of drop off or pick up, please call the centre
  • due to limited parking space at some of our centres, please avoid staying in the carpark for longer than drop-off and pick-up time
  • to support us in supporting our clients, please be punctual at scheduled arrival and departure times; clients will not be permitted to enter the centre before the scheduled session start time.

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