Safety Matters

CoVID-19 Safety in the Community

Safe Practices

Please implement your practices of safe hygiene by washing your hands as often as you can and disinfecting items you come into contact with. We encourage staff to abide by the social distancing regulations to avoid passing the virus to your fellow staff and participants as well as your own families. If you or your participant are unwell or believe you have come into contact with someone who may have the virus please let us know as soon as you find out as we will need to remove you from all shifts for the following two weeks.

Face Masks

A limited supply of face masks is available to Toowoomba support staff to assist in reducing the spread of the virus. These will be available through the Paul Myatt Community Centre.

Motor Vehicles

From the 3rd April 2020 all vehicle bookings will be cancelled. The community buses will continue to run between 9 am to 3 pm on week days so please encourage your participants to use the bus only for shopping or attending medical appointments. It is best practice to book the bus in advance to avoid missing out. Please encourage your participants to stay at home unless absolutely necessary. If you have a shift picking up participants from out of town such as Laidley, Kingsthorpe, Gracemere etc. a car will be made available to you but this will be the only exception.

Everyone at BigDog have undertaken this valuable and free training package thathas been made available through Disability Services Consulting.

Staff updates

Administration Offices

From the 3rd April 2020 the administration offices will be closed to all staff and participants. Staff and participants will still be able to contact the office via the business telephone on 4632 9559 or the on call numbers outside office hours of 8 am to 4 pm.

Shift changes and flexible hours

We are currently experiencing a demand to provide more flexible hours and this will no longer be a 9 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday job which many of you are currently doing. The work we have is going to be all hours of the day/night including weekends. Everyone will need to be more flexible with their availability and help out their fellow staff and if anyone cannot do this then unfortunately we will have to replace them with those who are able to work these shifts. To the staff who have stepped up and worked every weekend or filled sleepover shifts, most staff will be continuing in these shifts and we are very grateful to everyone for stepping up and supporting our clients particularly at the moment where everyone's anxiety levels are so high. To some of staff there is a possibility that they may be stood down and unfortunately that is the reality of what we are currently dealing with. Supporting letters that this has occurred will be provided to the relevant staff to assist them in claiming support through Centrelink.

Further Information

If there is any uncertainty about your shifts or reduction in your shifts or even not having any work please ring us immediately for your options. As mentioned previously we are doing everything we can to keep you in your jobs but you will need to work with us.

Birthdays

March

6th Adrian C 9th Georgia G 10th Mark R 17th Chisato C Karen A 21st Betty C 29th Angus R Cailan K 30th Sharon P

Have a great day!

I love a Sunburnt Panicked Country

A poem by Julia Varga

I love our panicked country A land of empty shelves Where everyone is hunting For toilet paper elves

The Pasta aisle is empty The Oats and Wheat Bix gone What has happened to this country? When knives come out… forlorn…

We are the lucky country Or so they used to say, But when Aussie takes on Aussie Over dunny paper, who will pay?

The Virus has us running For hand sanitiser and masks But what about the Aussie way Looking out for each other I ask?

Bring back my Aussie Homeland Where, when in fire or in flood We stand by one another We fight hand and hand in mud

Stop heading to the shops And buying everything in sight Remember you’re an Aussie And keep your community tight

Check on all your neighbours Hand out the toilet rolls Put some snags out on the barby And block out the panic trolls.

Direct Contact with Participants

We have become aware of the fact that staff and participants are contacting each other directly rather than communicating via the office. Please note this is against BigDog policy and must cease immediately. If a participant has your direct phone number you must advise them that you will be blocking them or deleting your number from their phone.

There are NO exceptions to this.

Cancellations or No Shows

If you attend a shift and the participant does not answer the door (regardless of whether they are home or not) or tells you to leave early you must notify the office or on call immediately. Claiming for hours you have not worked is a fraudulent act and will not be tolerated.

Supported Independent Living

We will be making changes to minimise the risk of exposure to our participants. This may have some affect on supports provided by services other than BigDog.

Again, these will be discussed with participants and decision makers in the first instance.

Important Numbers

13 HEALTH 13 432 584

Community Recovery 1800 173 349

Business Support 1300 654 687

Services Australia 13 24 68

Lifeline 13 11 14