Reporting security incidents
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 129 No 7, 27 September 2024, page 21.
The QTU has being receiving calls from members complaining about fencing.
While ineffective fencing poses a security risk at schools and can impact on school operations, it also is a risk to the health and safety of staff and students, as well as community members. It is important to remember that our school is our workplace, so fencing should therefore be thought of as a work health and safety issue.
Department information defines a security incident as an event during which an unauthorised person commits an unauthorised act at a school. Security incidents include:
- any occurrence of unauthorised entry to school grounds (this includes during school hours, and evidence found of unauthorised people after hours)
- any malicious damage to buildings, fences, signs, furniture, or equipment caused by unauthorised people (including graffiti)
- break and enter, and attempts to force entry into buildings
- arson (including evidence found of attempts).
As part of their partnership with the department, Protective Services functions as an incident reporting agency, and every security incident reported to Protective Services is forwarded to the Emergency and School Security (E&SS) unit in Infrastructure Services Branch. These reports help the school security advisors in E&SS to identify trends in unauthorised activity and increased security risks at schools. Security incident reports are also used to determine a school’s security risk rating, via a data assessment process.
The data from all reported security incidents is analysed each year to determine a security risk rating for each school: low, medium, high or extreme. Current security risk ratings are used as a measure to identify at-risk schools. E&SS refers to them when giving advice for infrastructure projects and determining measures to assist schools manage their security risks in the event that any funding becomes available.
What does this mean for schools with fencing concerns?
This means it is very important to record ALL incidents and to report the incident as soon as possible. It is also important to include as much detail as possible.
Unfortunately, this does mean additional workload, especially if you are experiencing a significant number of security incidents, but it is important that this information is reported. If these security incidents have impacted on members health and safety, we strongly recommend that they are recorded on MyHR WH&S. This information provides evidence to support the need for effective control measures.
It is important to realise the further implications these security incidents can have for the health and safety of our members in schools, such as:
- repeatedly attending the worksite at night or on weekends after a break-in
- attending the worksite at night when security or police are not in attendance
- sharps found on school grounds
- students leaving the school grounds
- workers having to attend to their regular duties the next day after a callout
- additional workload associated with dealing with numerous incidents
- members of the public using the worksite as a thoroughfare
- and more…
Members should also note that one of the QTU’s 2024 State Election Asks calls for the establishment of a $75 million security fencing fund to fast track critical fencing in communities where fencing is needed.
If you need additional support or information, contact the QTU by emailing qtu@qtu.asn.au or by calling (07) 3512 9000.