Health and Safety – St. Austin's Academy

HEALTH AND SAFETY PROCEDURES

In view of the preparation of reopening of school, there are procedures that will be followed to ensure safety of learners and staff.

The procedures are clear on:

Social distancing
Use of face masks by learners and staff at all times within the school environment
Supply of adequate clean running water, liquid soap and hand sanitizers
Temperature monitoring using thermo guns and record keeping
Health and hygiene practices – ie coughing on your elbow, avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth, washing of hands regularly etc
Provision of mental health and psychosocial support to learners and staff
Procedures of handling suspected COVID-19 cases

Objectives:

The objective of these procedures is to ensure that schools take necessary measures to prevent contracting, transmission and control of COVID-19. To guide on mechanism of offering psychosocial support to learners and staff affected by COVID-19.

HYGIENCE AND SANITATION PROTOCOLS

Availability of water
Safe water will be provided with adequate water handwashing points at strategic places
Drinking water will be provided and set at strategic locations where all students and staff can access and preferably have pedal-operated taps and devices/dispensers with sensors to minimize hand contact and reduce the risk of infection
Taps will be regularly cleaned
Respiratory Etiquette
The management will reinforce health messages such as avoidance of touching eyes, nose and mouth
Covering mouth and nose with bent elbow or tissue when coughing, sneezing and disposing off the used tissues in lidded bin.
Wearing of face masks at all times and in the right way covering nose and mouth
Regular changing of face masks for students and staff

Hand Hygience
Water points will be marked clearly for all learners, staff and visitors to use. All students will be required to wash hands before accessing the classroom
Emphasis of washing hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds will be enforced to all learners. Alcohol-based sanitizer will be used where water and soap will not be available.
Parents/guardians will inform the school in cases where they do not want their child to use alcohol-based sanitizer by sending a written notice to the school.

CLEANING OF THE FACILITY

The supervisor will develop a program for cleaning/ use of ground and facilities to ensure proper hygiene and social distancing. On the program there will be a daily cleaning plan with duty rotas that will be understood by all support staff who will own the daily cleaning plan
The School Management will ensure that there are adequate number of cleaners to ensure deep cleaning is done once a week.
Daily cleaning will be intensified and will be done three times a day ensuring door knob and frequently touched surfaces are cleaned thoroughly with alcohol-based detergents
The school management will ensure there is availability of adequate running water at all times
Classrooms/Offices/Laboratories/Library and all common areas will be cleaned daily and all desks/ chairs surfaces cleaned with alcohol-based detergent
Each classroom/office will have a pedal-operated waste collection bins with liners. The waste bin will be emptied every day and waste disposed in the proper way.

SOCIAL DISTANCING

The management will ensure that there is social distancing of 1 metre apart in all aspects of the institution – in the classrooms, laboratories, Library, dining hall and water points

Classrooms/Library/Laboratory

Desks/working tables shall be arranged in rows facing forward to minimize learners being in face to face contact with each other
Desks/working tables will be cleaned and disinfected daily and will not be shared
Class rooms will have proper ventilation to ensure circulation of clean air by keeping the windows and doors open during the lesson
Break times will be staggered to limit the number of students in the ground at any time
Every classroom will have a waste basket (preferably a pedal-operated) that will be emptied at the end of the day

STAFF

The management will ensure there are posters/signs showing clearly points for temperature monitoring and washing hands
Temperature monitoring using thermo guns will be taken every morning to all staff as they come into the school
Any Staff with temperature reading of more than 37.5⁰C will be advised to move to the sick bay for monitoring of the temperature and if need be taken to the nearest health centre
Staff will proceed to the washing point and wash hands with soap and water before proceeding to various areas of duty
All staff will wear mask at all times and in the proper way covering the mouth and the nose

STUDENTS

The management will ensure there are posters/signs showing clearly points for temperature monitoring and washing hands
Temperature monitoring using thermo guns will be done every morning to all learners and records maintained
Any learner with temperature reading of 37.5⁰C and above will not be allowed to enter the classroom. They will be taken to the sick bay, a second reading will be taken and if the reading is the same, they will be required to go back home/taken to the nearest healthcare
After the temperature monitoring, the learners will be directed to the water points to wash their hands with soap and water before proceeding to the classrooms
The management will ensure that Learners wear face masks at all time while in classroom and in the right way covering the mouth and the nose.

VISITORS

- The management will ensure there are posters/signs showing clearly points for temperature monitoring and washing hands.
- Any visitor visiting the school will be required to have an appointment
- Temperature monitoring using thermo guns will be taken to all visitors visiting the school
- Any visitor with temperature reading of more than 37.50 C will not be allowed in school
- Visitor with the allowed temperature reading will then proceed to the washing point and wash hands with soap and water before proceeding to the reception area
- All visitors will wear face mask at all time covering the nose and the mouth. No visitor will be allowed in to the school compound without a mask.

TOILETS/WASHROOMS

The school should have adequate toilets which are properly maintained to prevent spread of diseases. Provision of clean and healthier environment to all learners, teachers and non-teaching staff will prevent the spread of COVID 19.

Wash room guidelines that will be followed are: –

School will maintain clean toilets at a ratio of 1 door to 25 girls and 1 door to 30 boys with a urinal.
Toilets will be disinfected three times a day ie morning, lunch and late afternoon.
There will be adequate cleaning and disinfection supplies such as chlorine, detergents, mop and buckets
Door knobs and other frequently touched surfaces will be cleaned daily with alcohol-based detergent
Adequate running water will be available and hand washing soap at all times
Break times will be staggered to limit the number of students visiting the washrooms at any given time

8. LUNCH HALL/DINING HALL

All food handlers will have personal protective equipment (gloves, aprons and facemasks) to promote basic health and hygiene
Students will wash hands thoroughly with clean water and liquid soap before and after eating
Tables and chairs will be spaced at a distance of at least 1 meter apart
Staggered eating shifts will be considered to avoid overcrowding in the dining hall
Where possible lunches and snacks will take place within each class
There will be no sharing of food and utensils at the dining hall

9. FOOD HANDLERS/CATERERS

All food handlers will be required to have valid food handling certificates
Wearing of PPE will be routine in the kitchen and dining area
Physical distancing and stringent hygiene and sanitation measures will be observed while handling food
All utensils and other kitchen items will be thoroughly cleaned with soap and hot water. Disinfect the utensils by soaking in 0.1% chlorine solution for a minute then rinse with clean water before air-drying.

10. TUCK SHOP

The management will regulate the number of students who enter the tuck shop to avoid overcrowding
Social distancing will be observed by managing the queues
Washing point with water and soap/sanitizer will be provided and disposable paper towel at the entry of the tuck shop
Tuck shop attendance will observe proper hygiene and sanitation measures
Attendants will wear PPE at all times while at the tuck shop

11. SICK ROOM/WAITING BAY

In case a learner or member of staff develop any symptoms of illness consistent with COVID-19 e.g fever above 37.5⁰C, headache, sore throat etc, the management will: –

Inform the parent/guardian and the health centre nearest and attached to the school
Isolate the person and place them in the sick room while they wait to be taken to the health centre or picked by parent/guardian
Nurse or school first aider will administer first aid and keep clear records of the nature of first aid given and the time it was administered
Ensure the sick person and the first aider have the hygiene supplies available including face masks, facial tissues and alcohol-based sanitizers
Staff monitoring the sick person to ensure there is social distancing where possible
Disinfect the sick room once the sick person leaves the room
Wear gloves when cleaning the sick room and wash hands after removing the gloves to avoid contamination

PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT TO LEARNERS AND STAFF

A guidance and counselling department will ensure that all staff are taken care of by providing mental health and psychological support to learners and staff
The guidance and counselling department will develop and disseminate child friendly psychosocial messages to address challenges affecting the learners through development of pamphlets, posters and fliers. Sharing short videos during guide and counselling sessions
Set up a communication channel for learners and staff to report and record complaints
Set up sessions for talks with counsellors for the learners and staff
Psychiatrist will be available for mental health/psychological support to staff and learners at the health centre appointed by the school