CQUniversity Unit Profile
PMSC13008 Evaluating Emergency Services Risks
Evaluating Emergency Services Risks
All details in this unit profile for PMSC13008 have been officially approved by CQUniversity and represent a learning partnership between the University and you (our student).
The information will not be changed unless absolutely necessary and any change will be clearly indicated by an approved correction included in the profile.
General Information

Overview

This unit will prepare emergency services personnel to determine and quantify occupational risks, compare those risks between industries, agencies and occupations and to develop recommendations to mitigate, monitor and review those occupational risks.

Details

Career Level: Undergraduate
Unit Level: Level 3
Credit Points: 6
Student Contribution Band: 8
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load: 0.125

Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

There are no requisites for this unit.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Offerings For Term 1 - 2021

Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Class and Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Class Timetable

Bundaberg, Cairns, Emerald, Gladstone, Mackay, Rockhampton, Townsville
Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney

Assessment Overview

1. Written Assessment
Weighting: 30%
2. Written Assessment
Weighting: 30%
3. Written Assessment
Weighting: 40%

Assessment Grading

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.

Previous Student Feedback

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Feedback from Self-reflection

Feedback

Progress Tracking

Recommendation

Incorporate Moodle tracking boxes so that students can track their progress through this unit.

Unit Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
  1. Analyse occupational injury and fatality rates in the emergency service context
  2. Appraise injury and fatality rates for a given population of emergency services personnel
  3. Generate recommendations to mitigate emergency service risks.

No external accreditation applicable.

Alignment of Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Graduate Attributes
N/A Level
Introductory Level
Intermediate Level
Graduate Level
Professional Level
Advanced Level

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes

Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Written Assessment - 30%
2 - Written Assessment - 30%
3 - Written Assessment - 40%

Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes

Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Communication
2 - Problem Solving
3 - Critical Thinking
4 - Information Literacy
5 - Team Work
6 - Information Technology Competence
7 - Cross Cultural Competence
8 - Ethical practice
9 - Social Innovation
10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes

Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Written Assessment - 30%
2 - Written Assessment - 30%
3 - Written Assessment - 40%
Textbooks and Resources

Textbooks

There are no required textbooks.

IT Resources

You will need access to the following IT resources:
  • CQUniversity Student Email
  • Internet
  • Unit Website (Moodle)
Referencing Style

All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)

For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.

Teaching Contacts
Shannon Delport Unit Coordinator
s.delport@cqu.edu.au
Schedule
Week 1 Begin Date: 08 Mar 2021

Module/Topic

Welcome

Understanding Risk

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Introduce yourself to the class via Moodle site introductions
Week 2 Begin Date: 15 Mar 2021

Module/Topic

Occupational Injuries

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 3 Begin Date: 22 Mar 2021

Module/Topic

Occupational Statistics and Data

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 4 Begin Date: 29 Mar 2021

Module/Topic

Occupational Fatalities

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 5 Begin Date: 05 Apr 2021

Module/Topic

Specific Agency and Organisational Occupational Injuries


Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Written Assessment - Emergency Services Risks Due: Week 5 Monday (5 Apr 2021) 4:00 pm AEST
Vacation Week Begin Date: 12 Apr 2021

Module/Topic

Vacation Week

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic


Week 6 Begin Date: 19 Apr 2021

Module/Topic

Transportation Risks

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 7 Begin Date: 26 Apr 2021

Module/Topic

Psychological Injuries

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Written Assessment - Injury and Fatality Data Due: Week 7 Monday (26 Apr 2021) 4:00 pm AEST
Week 8 Begin Date: 03 May 2021

Module/Topic

Emergency and Disaster Risks

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 9 Begin Date: 10 May 2021

Module/Topic

Emergency and Disaster Risks

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 10 Begin Date: 17 May 2021

Module/Topic

Occupational Violence

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 11 Begin Date: 24 May 2021

Module/Topic

Emergency Services Risk Reduction and Risk Management Perspectives

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 12 Begin Date: 31 May 2021

Module/Topic

Summary and Conclusion

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Written Assessment - Agency Risk Appraisal Due: Week 12 Monday (31 May 2021) 4:00 pm AEST
Review/Exam Week Begin Date: 07 Jun 2021

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Exam Week Begin Date: 14 Jun 2021

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Assessment Tasks

1 Written Assessment

Assessment Title
Written Assessment - Emergency Services Risks

Task Description

In this assessment, you are required to select one (1) of the two (2) statistical reports provided to you on the Moodle site in order to answer the questions as set out below. These questions are in relation to injury and fatality rates for the industry of workers known as ‘Public Administration and Safety’.


Option One

You are required to answer the following questions based on either the Workers Compensation report or the WorkSafe Australia report which detail injury and fatality statistics for this population of workers. Read the provided reports and answer the following questions:-

1. Review the Queensland Workers’ Compensation Scheme Statistics 2019 - 2020 report and answer the following questions:-

What is the Claim rate (per 1,000 employed people) for this industry for 2019-20?

What is the Statutory claim lodgements for this industry for 2019-20?

What is the Statutory claim payment for this industry for 2019-20?

What is the Average finalised time lost claim costs for this industry for 2019-20?

Are the above figures increasing or decreasing compared to the previous year?

How many Common law claims were lodged for this industry for 2019-20?

What is the most common injury for which a Common law claim was lodged for 2019-20?

What type of injury is the most costly based on average finalised time lost claim cost by injury type for 2019-20?

Finally, generate recommendations for the mitigation of the injury and hence the risk you have identified.


OR


Option Two

2. Review the Safe Work Australia Report called ‘Priority Industry Snapshot: Public Administration & Safety’ (June 2018) and answer the following questions:-

What is the average number of fatalities per year for this industry?

What age groups appear to be most at risk of a fatality for this industry?

What age group appears to be most at risk of having a serious claim for this industry?

Why might this be so?

What types of workers within this industry accounted for the highest proportion of worker fatalities?

What types of workers within this industry accounted for the highest proportion of serious claims?

What type of incidents accounted for the largest proportion of fatalities?

What was the second type of incident that accounted for the largest proportion of fatalities?

What other types of incidents appear to be a risk for this industry?

Finally, generate recommendations for the mitigation of the injury and hence the risk you have identified.


Assessment task one is submitted via Moodle. Please ensure you select either Option One or Option Two, and answer the questions, do not complete both sets. You are free to present the response in a written format that best suits you.


Assessment Due Date

Week 5 Monday (5 Apr 2021) 4:00 pm AEST


Return Date to Students

Week 7 Monday (26 Apr 2021)


Weighting
30%

Minimum mark or grade
50%

Assessment Criteria

A detailed marking matrix will be provided on the Moodle site, however, marks will be awarded based on:-

Occupational injury and fatality rates answered correctly;

Statistical reports used to analyse risks for this industry.


Referencing Style

Submission
Online

Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Analyse occupational injury and fatality rates in the emergency service context
  • Generate recommendations to mitigate emergency service risks.


Graduate Attributes
  • Communication
  • Critical Thinking
  • Information Literacy

2 Written Assessment

Assessment Title
Written Assessment - Injury and Fatality Data

Task Description

Assessment two asks you to analyse the Report on Government Services 2021-Emergency services for fire and other events and write a report. The report is intended for a senior executive, and, as such must be pitched accordingly, the report must be sufficiently detailed and the contents supported by relevant data. As a minimum, the briefing must include:-

1. A description of the fire services and its workers/employees (e.g. demographics such as males/females, ages, experience levels etc);

2. Using the existing report (Report on Government Services 2021- Emergency services for fire and other events - https://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2021/emergency-management/emergency-services) construct a data set comparing two(2) states injury and fatality statistics;

3. Comment on the data and trends that you have identified;

4. Select and discuss one piece of data that interested you, what it is and why it was significant to you.

Your written report should be no longer than 1000 words and submitted as a Word document via the Moodle site.


Assessment Due Date

Week 7 Monday (26 Apr 2021) 4:00 pm AEST


Return Date to Students

Week 9 Monday (10 May 2021)


Weighting
30%

Minimum mark or grade
50%

Assessment Criteria

A detailed marking matrix will be provided on the Moodle site however marks will be awarded for:-

  1. The emergency services agency or organisation and its workforce description;
  2. Injury and fatality types correctly identified;
  3. Trending statistics and/or agency data sets being identified and discussed;
  4. Appropriate referencing, spelling and grammar are correct.


Referencing Style

Submission

No submission method provided.


Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Analyse occupational injury and fatality rates in the emergency service context
  • Appraise injury and fatality rates for a given population of emergency services personnel


Graduate Attributes
  • Communication
  • Problem Solving
  • Critical Thinking
  • Information Literacy

3 Written Assessment

Assessment Title
Written Assessment - Agency Risk Appraisal

Task Description

Within this assessment, you are required to appraise strategies used in your agency or organisation in order to reduce risks.

You are therefore required to:-

1. Identify and discuss what your agency or organisation does to avoid or reduce the risk of a psychological injury to its workers;

2. Identify and discuss what your agency or organisation does to avoid or reduce the risk of a range of physical injuries;

3. Identify and discuss your agency or organisations fatality rates; make comment based on its comparability to other like agency’s or organisations;

4. Discuss the effectiveness of your agency or organisation’s risk reduction strategies based on your agency’s or organisation’s longitudinal statistics, and make suggestions for further risk reduction strategies where appropriate;

5. Discuss the biggest issue for keeping workers safe that you believe your agency or organisation faces at present and/or in the future.

6. Based on the above, make recommendations to mitigate the risks you have identified.


Your written report should be 2000 words submitted as a Word document via the Moodle site.


Assessment Due Date

Week 12 Monday (31 May 2021) 4:00 pm AEST


Return Date to Students

Exam Week Monday (14 June 2021)


Weighting
40%

Assessment Criteria

A detailed marking matrix will be provided however marking will be made across the following criteria:-

  1. Agency or organisation specific psychological injury risks being discussed;
  2. Agency or organisation specific physical injury risks being discussed;
  3. Agency or organisation specific injury support strategies being examined;
  4. Risk reduction strategies being examined based on longitudinal data;
  5. Risk reduction enhancement suggestions being made;
  6. Issues facing the agency in the present or future being discussed;
  7. Appropriate referencing, spelling and grammar are correct.


Referencing Style

Submission

No submission method provided.


Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Appraise injury and fatality rates for a given population of emergency services personnel
  • Generate recommendations to mitigate emergency service risks.


Graduate Attributes
  • Communication
  • Problem Solving
  • Critical Thinking
  • Information Literacy

Academic Integrity Statement

As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.

Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.

When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.

Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.

As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.

What is a breach of academic integrity?

A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.

Why is academic integrity important?

A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.

Where can I get assistance?

For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.

What can you do to act with integrity?