Inclusive Risk assessment for internship Annemie Van Diest Gaspar Haenecaert

1. Inclusive Risk assessment for internship Annemie Van Diest Gaspar Haenecaert

2. About K.U.Leuven Katholieke Universiteit Leuven private catholic university since 1425 34 940 students (12 % international) 8 617 university staff 8172 university hospitals staff (UZLeuven) Association K.U.Leuven cooperation with 12 Flemish university colleges (about 80 000 students) K.U.Leuven equal opportunities policy Masterplan inclusive equal opportunities & diversity policy (2005) including Education and Examinations Regulation framework for reasonable adjustments since 2009 Diversity Policy Department (Rectorial services) responsability of vice rector of Student Affairs Research coordination (http://www.kuleuven.be/lucide)

3. About K.U.Leuven Disability Office Service for students with disabilities • Interdisciplinary support of students with disabilities since 1973 (founded by Myriam Van Acker) • Disability Office since 2007 (staff 5 FTE) Student Counselling Services Mission: • Organizing the support of students with disabilities • Recognition, registration, needs assessment, coordination of individual and group support program (2,5 FTE disability officers) • Supporting and stimulating the university staff to improve the accessibility of the learning environment (working groups) 2008-2009: 890 students with disabilities registered

4. Disability Office: concern for Health and safety Past: limited attention - Students with disabilities • Guidance: • no specific procedure for risk assessment for students entering • during assessment of needs: list up concerns for health and safety • measures to eliminate risk • inform teaching staff and fellow students, if necessary • Structural level: • collaboration with the HSE service • to optimize evacuation procedures (wheelchair users) • Students volunteering • Training provided (lifting techniques)

5. Concern for Health and safety Recently: hot issue - students with mental health difficulties - going on internship - concern about the risks involved for third parties • e.g. students trained to work with clients, patients,.. in Medicine, Pharmaceutical Scieces, Psychology, Educational sciences…..

6. Concern for Health and safety Hot issue: questions! • What are the responsibilities/limits of the university • When something is going wrong? • To inform others when we estimate their is a saftey risk for others? • How can we know/correctly estimate? • How far do we have to go in facilitating students when having serious doubts? • What are the possibilities to ‘exclude’ students when problems during internship persist? • Concern to ‘damage’ the image of the institute

7. The internship Project General target • analyze ‘the problem’ • work out strategies to handle the problem Work in different fields • Curriculum: how it can be changed • Guidance: how to optimize in order to prevent • Educational legislation • Deontology • … Specific Topic • Occupational health and safety legislation • The potential of the ‘risk assessment’ procedure

8. Risk assessment ‘A risk assessment means a careful examination of what, at work, could cause harm to people, in order to judge whether precautions are sufficient or if more should be done to prevent harm. The aim is to make sure that no one gets hurt or becomes ill. A risk assessment involves identifying the hazards present and then evaluating the extent of the risks involved, taking into account existing precautions. The results are used to choose the most appropriate prevention measures’. European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Facts 53

9. Risk assement for students on internship Legislation 2004 Student on internship = employee, and thus covered by the occupational health and safety legislation ↓ - before going into internship - if (see job description form) there are risks involved in the job - health and safety surveillance (risk assessment) is necessary

10. Why specific interest? • Abroad work done in some higher education institutions! e.g. dr. Christine Rose, Inclusive risk assessment, Learing and Skills Developmnet Agency, UK ↨ • Own institution • within our own unit, only little work is done to structurally implement health and safety legislation into our work with students with disabilities • within the Health and Safety Service: no special attention was paid to students with disabilities ↓ started to collaborate

11. Main concerns collaboration • What can we do to make sure that the risk assessment by the doctor is not used to exclude but as a means to guarantee both health and safety and equal treatment? • How can we fully use the procedures students are submitted to in order to • inform students to facilitate disclosure? • detect students that do not easily disclose out of themselves? ! especially important when knowing that ‘problematic situations’ often arise with students who do not disclose

12. Main concerns collaboration • Can a ‘risk assessment’ and the health and safety legislation provide alegal base to • communicate to the employer concerns, also on risks involved for third parties? • eventually prevent/exclude students from going into internship?

13. Output realised • Change of Philosophy • Change of instruments and forms used

14. Output : Change of philosophy Disability-sensitive risk assessment - comply with health and safety duties and avoid discrimination at the same time; - with the possibility to take into account the concern of risks for third parties ↓ not only a ‘medical matter’; necessity to bring together different actors/expertise • Medical staff, Disability officer, Educational staff, Student • Employer

15. Output: Change of Job discription form Change Additional informative item on form to subscribe by student ‘If you have a disability and might need reasonable accomodations, please inform the disability officer’ Aim - to inform students about their rights and responsibilities - to invite them to act in a proactive way - to give them the possibility to talk about it in a confidential context - to make sure (and have the proof of it) that all students are informed

16. Output: Change of medical questionnaire Change Additional question: ‘Do you have a disability?’ Aim To give the doctor the necessary information to take into account the disability of the student and consider any specific risks; Notice: job discription form – medical questionnaire: different formulation

17. Output: Health assessment by doctor Change • Optimized procedures in order to bring together different actors when having a student with a disability on risk assessment Aim • realize a disability sensitive assessment for students going on internship • fully use the potential of the external Occupational Health and Saftey Service

18. Problems Problems - lack of experience! ( medical staff, educationall staff,employers) - legal framework: final result of ‘risk assessment? -can a student be declared not suitable for placement? - can the doctor impose guidance on a student? - can the doctor impose a medical/psychological treatment on a student before going into internship?

19. Discussion Item • Do you have in your institution a committee charged with investigating ‘the suitability for placements’ when a concern is raised? • Who is on the committee?

20. Discussion Item • Do you (and how do you) cooporate with the employers? Workfield? • How do you see the role of your institution in promoting diversity? (when sending on internship students with psychiatric disability) • How do you handle the concern of the staff • to lose credibility, to ‘damage’ the image of the institute when • sending on internship ‘problematic’ students • when asking ‘too much’ from the employer