Work Experience

Student safety and wellbeing

A principal or nominated person must be satisfied that the student has the capacity to undertake a work experience placement without exposing themselves or others in the workplace to any unreasonable level of risk.

The protection of the safety, health, development, education and wellbeing of students undertaking work experience is of paramount importance to the department. This section lists a number of industries, activities, plant and equipment and workplace hazards which present unreasonable risks to students’ health and safety and/or which require extensive training or experience to perform safely, and are therefore prohibited or restricted for work experience students. The lists are not exhaustive but are intended to support principal or nominated persons to fulfil their duty of care responsibilities when entering into work experience arrangements.

School staff, employers and workplace supervisors need to be aware that work experience students:

• are still developing physically, cognitively and emotionally and that there may be tasks that are beyond their current capabilities
• are inexperienced and less skilled than older workers and unaware of workplace risks
• may not have the confidence to ask questions or speak up for fear of looking incapable
• may neglect their own health and safety in their enthusiasm to impress others.

While undertaking work experience, students learn primarily through observing and assisting with simple tasks. Students must not undertake activities that require extensive training or experience, or expose them, or others in the workplace, to unreasonable risks to health and safety.

Child Safe Standards

To create and maintain a child safe organisation, all Victorian schools must comply with Ministerial Order 1359 – Implementing the Child Safe Standards – Managing the risk of child abuse in schools (PDF).

The Child Safe Standards require schools to develop and implement risk management strategies to ensure students’ safety in the school environment. The school environment includes workplace learning environments where students undertake work experience, structured workplace learning, school community work (volunteering) and school-based apprenticeships and traineeships.

The department has developed the following resources to support schools to comply with the requirements and implement risk management strategies prior to students undertaking work experience:

• Child Safe Standards and workplace learning: A guide for schools
• Fact sheet for employers: Child Safe Standards and workplace learning

For further information on the Child Safe Standards, refer to:

• Child Safe Standards
• PROTECT website

Unacceptable behaviour in the workplace

Under Victorian law (Equal Opportunity Act 2010, Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001) and Commonwealth law (Racial Discrimination Act 1975, Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and Disability Discrimination Act 1992) it is unlawful for employers and educational authorities to sexually harass, victimise or discriminate against employees and students. There must be an adequate level of supervision to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the student in a non-discriminatory and harassment free working environment.

Bullying, harassment and violence must not be tolerated in the workplace. The following information will help work experience coordinators and other relevant staff familiarise themselves with issues related to harassment, bullying and occupational violence, and offers strategies and guidance to address them.

Employers have legal responsibilities to do as much as is reasonably practicable to eliminate or reduce risks to employees’ health and safety. Employees also have legal responsibilities about how they behave toward others in the workplace. Unfortunately, harassment and bullying does take place in some workplaces.

Harassment and bullying are acts connected to the abuse of power: the less power a person has in a workplace, the more likely the chance of harassment. A work experience student is often the least powerful person in a workplace and therefore could be highly vulnerable.

Forms of harassment, bullying and occupational violence

Harassment (including sexual harassment) can take many different forms. It can be physical or verbal abuse, requests for sexual favours or assault. It can be behaviour which offends, humiliates or intimidates the victim. Forms of harassment include (but are not limited to) sexual innuendo, comments about looks or body parts, asking for dates, enquiries into a person’s sexual activities, displays of pornography or material of a sexual nature, posters, magazines, photographs or screen savers on computers.

Bullying is generally defined as repeated unreasonable behaviour directed toward an employee (or group of employees) and creating a risk to their health and safety.

Bullying or harassment can take the form of assigning inappropriate duties, name calling, threatening behaviour, shouting or general intimidation such as exclusion or isolation.

Occupational violence is generally defined as any incident where a person is physically attacked or threatened in the workplace. Occupational violence can include the physical acts of pushing, hitting, slapping or grabbing of clothing.

All harassment and bullying must be treated in the same manner by schools, whether or not the harassment or bullying is prohibited by law. Some incidents of bullying and harassment may be illegal under criminal law. If so, students have the right to involve the police.

How does harassment and bullying occur?

A student may be harassed or bullied in a number of ways: by a manager or supervisor, by other employees, by contractors, by customers – or in cases where more than one student is employed, by other students. The school and the employer are responsible for taking all reasonable steps to protect work experience students from harassment.

Where can harassment, bullying and occupational violence happen?

Harassment, bullying and occupational violence can take place in any setting, and are not necessarily more likely to occur in one workplace over another.

Particular care must be taken when placing a student in a residential situation, such as, students working on distant farms where residential accommodation may be the norm, or when the student has an employer who works from the relative privacy of a home office.

Students must be instructed to never drink alcohol while on a placement, even in social situations.

Responsibilities to protect students

Schools have a responsibility to ‘take all reasonable steps’ to protect students on work experience from harassment and bullying. ‘All reasonable steps’ may include:

• ensuring that the whole school community understands the school’s policy and procedures on sexual harassment and bullying
• organising the work experience to protect students from possible harassment and bullying
• visiting the workplace where possible and discussing the school’s policy and procedures with the employer.

Note: Taking ‘all reasonable steps’ may involve actions before, during and after work experience.

If a work experience student reports harassment, bullying or occupational violence the school must be able to demonstrate that it has clear policies and a working set of written procedures to deal with these matters. These documents must be forwarded to each party involved in the student’s work experience prior to the placement commencing.

Procedures for dealing with harassment, bullying or occupational violence must include step-by-step instruction on what is required to protect students on work experience, and must include the written endorsement of the principal or nominated person. Employers can also be vicariously liable if a sexual harassment complaint is made. Refer to the Child safe standards and workplace learning: A guide for schools.

Wherever possible, the workplace must be visited. Discussions should occur with supervisors, alongside observations regarding the culture of the workplace, including language, the way people relate to each other, and the suitability of posters, magazines or screen savers that students may see while on placement.

Workplaces may change from year to year. A new supervisor may change the workplace culture. The prevention of harassment and bullying of the student must be discussed with potential employers. Discussion should also include the standards that the school expects of the workplace and processes to deal with harassment and bullying if they arise with tact and sensitivity.

All school staff involved in administering work experience programs and students must receive the information about harassment and bullying outlined in this section of the guidance. This information must include the many different forms that harassment and bullying can take, where it may occur, who it happens to, how it affects victims, and how it must be dealt with. The role of the work experience coordinator and the school in dealing with these matters must be clearly outlined to the student.

Schools must have a process that empowers the student to respond immediately to the harassment and bullying if it occurs. The student must understand that if they are made uncomfortable during their work experience, they have the right to leave the workplace immediately. Bags and other belongings can be collected at a later time. If the student does leave the workplace, they must notify their school immediately.

Handling incidents of harassment, bullying or occupational violence

Strategies that students may use in response to incidents of harassment, bullying or occupational violence include:

• expressing dislike of their treatment to their harasser(s)
• reporting their treatment to other people at the workplace – co-workers, supervisors or managers
• reporting their treatment to parents/carers
• reporting their treatment to their work experience coordinator, principal or nominated person
• in matters of sexual harassment, lodging a complaint under the Equal Opportunity Act 2010.

Schools must support students to deal with incidents of harassment, bullying or occupational violence.

Schools must have a process for supporting work experience students who report incidents of harassment, bullying or occupational violence. As part of this process:

• each complaint should be accepted at face value
• concerns and/or complaints must be acted upon without delay
• in the first instance, care must be taken to address the wellbeing of the student rather than the facts of the matter – 'Are you OK?' is a better response than 'Were there any witnesses?'
• if appropriate, conciliation may take place between the employer, the student and the school. This may not involve the parties necessarily being in the one room at the same time. If agreement can be reached between the parties, this must be recorded and followed accordingly
• where conciliation is inappropriate or not possible, the school must attempt to investigate the complaint to the extent possible
• all evidence relevant to the complaint must be given to the principal or nominated person for assessment. If the principal or nominated person is of the belief that the evidence sustains the complaint, a decision must be made about the on-going relationship with the employer. In some cases, further placements will need to be closely monitored, while in others the relationship will be suspended or terminated.

At the completion of the work experience program, the school must conduct a debriefing process wherein each student has opportunity to comment on their experiences during their placement. Each student must also have the opportunity to raise any issues privately with the work experience coordinator or other relevant staff member without other students being present.

Each student must be contacted while on their placement to ensure that they are experiencing no difficulties as a result of the behaviour of other people.

Occupational health and safety preparation

Schools must ensure that all students complete one of the following occupational health and safety programs developed by the department prior to undertaking their work experience:

• safe@work, which is designed to help students improve their knowledge and understanding of OHS matters before they enter a workplace. It consists of a general module and a number of industry-specific modules
• A Job Well Done, which has been developed to provide students with disability with a general awareness of workplace health and safety and expose them to issues relating to the world of work.

Once a student is in a workplace, the employer has a duty of care to provide and maintain a working environment that is safe and without risks to health – this includes both physical and psychological health.

A responsible employer will conduct regular workplace hazard inspections and implement a program of effective risk controls, understood by everyone in the workplace. Warning signs must be displayed prominently wherever they are required, and the meaning of the signs must be made known to employees and visitors, including students.

As part of the workplace induction on the first day of the placement, the employer must explain to the student what hazards are present in the workplace, why risk controls are in place and how they are put into practice. Employers must also nominate a supervisor to provide direct supervision of a student while they are undertaking work related activities.

Students must be told that if they have any concerns, such as not knowing how to use equipment or feeling that a task may involve a risk to their safety, they must speak to their supervisor before proceeding. Safety must always be the employer’s, and the student’s, first priority.

Construction induction training

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017, an employer must ensure that anyone employed to do construction work (including students placed with an employer under a workplace learning arrangement made under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006) has completed construction induction training before they start work. Construction induction training aims to provide people new to construction work with an understanding of:

• their rights and responsibilities under OHS law
• common hazards and risks in the construction industry
• basic risk management principles
• the standard of behaviour expected of workers on construction sites.

The construction induction training must be provided by a registered training organisation (RTO). Construction induction cards are issued by WorkSafe Victoria following receipt of evidence of satisfactory completion of the course from the RTO and proof of identity. Construction induction cards issued by WorkSafe Victoria are recognised nationally.

For further information about construction induction card requirements or to locate a RTO, visit WorkSafe Victoria’s Advisory Service.

For further information about what is considered to be construction work, and how to meet health and safety requirements on construction sites, refer to the following WorkSafe Victoria publications:

• Working safely in the general construction industry – A handbook for the construction regulations
• Working safely in the housing construction industry – A handbook for the construction regulations

Undertaking work experience with animals

The Workplace hazards fact sheet – working with animals has been developed to assist students, parents/carers, schools and non-school senior secondary providers to consider the hazards associated with animal contact, and to help employers plan suitable activities and provide a safe and rewarding experience for students.

Note: Students under 15 years of age are not permitted to undertake work experience involving direct contact with animals. They may however, undertake other animal-related activities that are safe and suitable, for example, preparing feeds.

Prohibited or restricted industries and businesses

Students must not be placed in industries or businesses where there is an unacceptable risk to their safety, health, development or wellbeing. Work experience in the following industries or businesses is prohibited or restricted on this basis (this is not an exhaustive list):

• Abattoirs
• Any business where firearms and/or ammunition are manufactured, repaired or sold
• Aviation – students aged 15 years and over may undertake work experience at a commercial airport or airline but are restricted to an office environment or other administrative environment such as customer service. If a student is offered a complimentary flight during their placement, this must be as a seated passenger only, and under the care and control of a suitably qualified and experienced member of staff
• Butchers or fishmongers – students aged 15 years and over may only undertake retail activities in these industries
• Civil construction (such as roads and bridges) – students aged 15 years and over are allowed
• Defence Force – students aged 15 years and over are allowed
• Emergency Services – students aged 15 years and over are allowed
• Equine industry – students aged 15 years and over may only undertake work experience in this industry in line with the department’s guidelines for work experience with animals and are not permitted to undertake riding activities
• Fishing vessels
• Funeral homes
• Gaming
• Mining, quarrying, extraction, recycling plants, foundries and tips - students aged 15 years and over may only undertake office duties above ground in these industries
• Morgues
• Prisons, correctional or remand centres, or immigration detention centres
• Recreational vessels
• Security industry
• Sex industry
• Tattoo shops
• Trading vessels – students aged 15 years and over may assist on trading vessels used for passenger ferry services or charter activities and operating on inland or enclosed waters
• Transmission and distribution industries (linework and/or cabling)

Prohibited or restricted activities

Students are prohibited from engaging in activities:

• where there is an unacceptable risk to their health, development, safety or wellbeing
• which require extensive training or experience to perform safely.

Students are prohibited from engaging in the following activities on this basis (this is not an exhaustive list):

• Administering medical treatments
• Bathing patients
• Discussing the condition of patients
• Dispensing and/or administering medication
• Door-to-door selling (selling any goods or services at any premises other than premises occupied by the employer, and includes making an unsolicited consumer agreement within the meaning of the Australian Consumer Law (Victoria) with a purchaser)
• Handling or using explosives
• Holding or transporting cash and negotiable items – such as cash, cards, stamps or cheques – with a value exceeding $100. (This excludes the student’s personal items)
• Holding keys, codes or ciphers except those required to operate standard office machines and other permitted equipment
• Work experience on a building or construction site (whether commercial or residential) at any time before the buildings on the site are at lock up stage if a student is under 15 years of age

Dangerous plant and hazardous equipment

Students must not use plant or equipment that pose an unacceptable risk to their health or safety, or which require extensive training or experience to use safely.

Students are not permitted to use:

• abrasive blasting equipment
• brush cutters with attached metal blades
• buzzers
• chainsaws
• compressed air power tools
• elevating work platforms
• explosive power tools
• firearms
• gas-fuelled cutting equipment
• guillotines (manual and electric-operated)
• jackhammers
• lathes
• nail guns
• petrol sales consoles
• plastic moulding machines
• power presses (unless the press has laser guarding or a remote control, and training and close supervision are provided)
• power saws, including docking saws, circular saws and buzz-saws
• power wood shapers
• powered cutting or grinding tools (excluding those used for key cutting and engraving on items such as trophies)
• powered lifting equipment
• powered mobile plant or vehicles (students must never be permitted to drive any vehicle or mobile plant while on work experience, including tractors, forklifts, all-terrain vehicles, ride-on mowers, bulldozers, excavators, and skidders)
• rubbish compactors
• scaffolding
• sharp objects and cutting equipment (not including scissors and secateurs sold for general use)
• spindle moulders
• thicknessers
• ultraviolet (UV) equipment
• welding, brazing and open flame soldering equipment.

Note: This is not an exhaustive list.

Workplace hazards

Students must not be exposed to workplace hazards that could harm their health or safety such as:

• biological/medical hazards (for example, exposure to needles in syringes or other ‘sharps’, to blood or other body fluids, Legionella bacteria)
• bullying, occupational violence, work-related stress, sexual harassment and discrimination
• confined spaces (‘confined space’ is defined as a space in any vat, tank, pit, pipe, duct, flue, oven, chimney, silo, reaction vessel, container, receptacle, underground sewer or well or any shaft, trench, tunnel or other similar enclosed or partially enclosed structure that meets conditions specified in the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2007 (refer to WorkSafe Compliance code: Confined spaces))
• debris (for example, waste material generated by milling or grinding operations)
• electrical hazards associated with faulty, unsuitable or inappropriately placed leads, electrically powered plant or equipment, contact with live underground or overhead cables
• excessive noise
• exposure to asbestos fibres in areas where damaged and/or friable (‘friable asbestos’ means asbestos that when dry, may be crumbled, pulverised or reduced to powder by hand pressure) asbestos-containing materials are known to be present
• exposure to occupational sources of ionising radiation (such as X-ray machines)
• exposure to non-ionising radiation hazards (associated with devices such as UV sterilising equipment and laser devices)
• exposure to high-pressure liquids or gases (associated with gas cylinders, compressed air tools, boilers and pressure piping)
• exposure to hazardous substances (‘hazardous substances’ are regulated by the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2007 and classified on the basis of their health effects, both immediate and long-term, such as chemicals, flammable liquids or gases that can cause cancer, skin disease, poisoning or respiratory illness) and dangerous goods (‘dangerous goods’ are regulated by the Dangerous Goods (Storage and Handling) Regulations 2022 and can have immediate physical or chemical effects – such as fire, explosion, corrosion and poisoning – on property, the environment or people)
• extreme heat or cold that could result in physical harm through illness or impaired performance
• falling objects (such as objects falling from platforms, loads slung from cranes)
• falls from, or collisions with, forklifts or mobile plants
• falls from heights
• hazardous manual handling involving the application of repetitive, sustained and/or high force, awkward postures or movements, exposure to sustained vibration, manual handling of people or animals, manual handling of unstable loads that are difficult to grasp or hold
• impalement hazards, such as protruding angle iron
• plant hazards including moving machinery or equipment, unguarded machinery in which clothing, hair, limbs or fingers could get caught, cut or crushed
• trenching and excavation operations, including digging of post holes.

Note: This is not an exhaustive list.