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Information for DET staff

Health of staff after a natural disaster

Natural disasters can impact on your health in a number of ways. Queensland Health provides practical health advice and contacts for people seeking assistance after natural disasters.

Health issues

Queensland Health provides information on minimising the risk of injuries, illnesses and infection to ensure Queenslanders stay safe and healthy as we prepare for, and recover from, these natural disasters.

Special leave provisions/Leave issues

The Special Leave Directive (18/09) provides for special leave with pay of up to five (5) working days per calendar year where an employee is prevented from attending their normal place of employment because of floods, cyclonic disturbances, severe storms or bushfires.

An employee who is prevented from attending their normal place of employment may be granted leave in the following circumstances:

it is not practicable for the employee to attend for duty at another Government office;
the employee is absent from his or her usual place of residence on approved leave or during a weekend and is unable to return in sufficient time to attend the normal place of employment or it is not practicable to attend duty at another Government office;
where the employee is required to return home before the employee's usual ceasing time to ensure personal safety, the protection of the employee's family and property or the availability of transport facilities which may be disrupted or discontinued because of weather or environmental conditions;
where the employee must, of necessity, remain at home to safeguard the employee's family or property;
where the employee remains at home to have temporary repairs effected, restore belongings, clean up etc;
where the employee is travelling on transfer and is unavoidably delayed from arriving at the destination. (An officer may also be allowed reasonable expenses necessarily incurred for accommodation and meals for the officer and family.)
See the Special Leave Directive No 18/09 (PDF, 133 KB) for further information.

Employee support

A range of supportive psychological health services to employees is available through the Employee Assistance Service (EAS). The service is available for all staff at any time and provides services such as free confidential counselling, critical incident debriefing and developing psychological resilience.

Creating Healthier Workplaces provides information to staff who may require the services of Injury Management Consultants/Rehabilitation and Return to Work Coordinators for assistance in lodging any WorkCover and QSuper claims that may arise.

Support is available in the Employee Assistance Fact Sheet (PDF, 43 KB) 43k for staff not coping with the aftermath of natural disaster even months after the event.

Returning to the workplace

Follow the advice and instructions of your local emergency management authorities.
Ensure gas, electricity, water and sewerage have been checked by the relevant authority prior to using.
Don't use gas or electrical appliances which have been in flood water until checked for safety.
There is an increased risk of injury to staff when performing duties not normally part of their daily routine e.g. heavy lifting. If manual tasks are unavoidable think ahead, plan and decide:
- Can a trolley or other handling aid be used?
- Where is the load to end up?
- Will help be needed?
Ensure nobody uses vehicles and equipment they are not trained to use e.g. chainsaws, boats, earth moving equipment etc

Queensland Health provides additional information to assist with disaster management.

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This page was last reviewed on 28 Oct 2011