An emergency or crisis must be dealt with in the first instance. This should follow school crisis management procedures. Every school must have a crisis management policy in the event of a serious injury, death, or near miss. These should integrate with your EOTC Safety Management procedures.
The Ministry of Education's Group Special Education (formerly SES) will provide support for your school staff and students immediately following the incident.
Under the Health and Safety in Employment Act, if a serious injury or fatality occurs, an accident report must be lodged with the Occupational Safety and Health Service (OSH) of the Department of Labour. The incident may be investigated and evidence gathered to determine culpability, if any.
Schools are strongly encouraged to carry out an internal
review of policies and procedures and/or invite experts in
to determine any lessons that can be learned to reduce the
chances of a recurrence. There are national organisations
that can assist in this process, at no cost to the school.
These include: Water
Safety New Zealand, Education
Outdoors New Zealand, Outdoors
New Zealand, and New
Zealand Mountain Safety Council.
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