Occupational Health & Safety

Kate Cares Disability Services is committed to protecting the health and safety of its participants, and its support workers who work in your homes. Kate Cares Disability Services adheres to the Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004.

As your home forms the workplace for our support workers, it is very important for you to ensure, to the best of your ability, a safe working environment. If you are aware of any potential hazard that may impact on the health and safety of our workers and yourself, it is your responsibility to advise us immediately and we will work with you to make your home is a safer workplace.

If you wish our support worker to use particular aid equipment, this must be assessed by an occupational therapist to ensure that both you and our support worker safety are not compromised by using that particular aid equipment.

Please note that our support worker will not transfer or lift a person without a hoist or lifting equipment when it has been assessed that a hoist or lifting equipment is required.

We acknowledge that you may not like to be transferred using a hoist, however in order to provide a safe workplace for our support worker and to ensure your safety, we may be required to use safety requirement even when this is against your preference.

Chemical safety for home-based workers

To comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2007, only the chemicals below are to be used:

Use with Caution:

  • Detergents and general cleaners (e.g. Amway LOC Regular, Mr Muscle All Purpose, Ajax All Purpose, Handy Andy, Jif, Spray and Wipe)
  • Glass and hard surface cleaners (e.g. Amway Crystal Clear, Windex, Ajax Spray and Wipe, Ajax Creamy Cleanser, Jif, Bon Ami)
  • Toilet cleaners ( e.g. Toilet Duck, Harpic)
  • Washing powders and oil-based furniture polishes (e.g. Cedar Oil)
  • Non chemical alternatives: vinegar, lemon juice, and bi carb soda

Please Note:

  • No products containing Chlorine (Bleach) or Ammonia are to be used e.g. Domestos or White King
  • Cleaning products are to be used strictly in accordance with the manufacturers’ instructions
  • Our support workers are instructed to read the label of each product and, if unsure, should not use the product
  • Products must NOT be mixed prior to use

No service on days of weather extremes

Please be advised that Kate Cares Disability Services do not provide services when:

  • It is a day of extreme heat
  • The area is under threat of fire
  • The area is under threat of flood

There are also be other occasions where our worker may not be able to access your area to deliver the service, e.g. on days of extremely high winds when driving may be dangerous

Should any of these events occur on days when you are expecting a service from Kate Cares Disability Services, we will ring to inform you that we are unable to send a worker for that shift. We will work with you to provide alternation that is suitable to you at the time or when the threat of the emergency or extreme weather condition subsides.

We understand at times this may be inconvenient at ask you to plan ahead for these events as everyone safety is of paramount concern to Kate Cares Disability Services.

Should you decide to leave your home at a time of high risk, and a service has been rostered for that day we ask that you ring to inform us as soon as possible. We also ask that you contact us if you are aware of a situation where it may be too dangerous for our worker to travel within your area i.e. extremely high winds, so that we can alert staff or arrange for your service to be re-scheduled when it is safe to do so.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to discuss this with your case manager or alternatively you can ring our office on 0488 349 869.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us.