Policy Statement

Objective

The Australian Sewing Guild Ltd (The Guild) is committed to safeguarding the health, safety and welfare of all people who interact with the organisation. The purpose of this policy is to, as far as reasonably practicable:

• Provide The Guild rules and guidelines to prevent injuries and illnesses,
• Promote health and safety awareness for our meetings and events.

Scope

This policy applies to any meeting or event organised by The Guild for members and/or the general public. This includes, but is not restricted to:

• Regular Social Sewing Group meetings
• Social Sewing Group committee meetings
• Regional committee meetings
• Industry Days
• Inspiration Days
• Sewing retreats
• The Guild convention
• Online events, meetings, training courses and interactions

Policy

The Guild is committed to keeping all people who interact with the organisation safe, and to managing any health and safety incidents to minimise harm to individuals and the organisation.

Meeting and event organisers (for example, Group Coordinators) are responsible for ensuring the meeting or event is conducted in a manner which safeguards, as far as practicable, the health and safety of attendees. They must familiarise themselves with, and adhere to, this policy and any relevant public health policies set by the State government where the meeting or event is held (for example, pandemic management or vaccination policies).

Guild rules and guidelines

• Group Coordinators/event organisers should be aware of, and adhere to, the venue’s health and safety procedures (such as emergency evacuation) and any restrictions imposed by the venue, and communicate this to all members. Visitors who are not members must also be made aware of these procedures and any restrictions
• Meeting and event venues are to be inspected at the commencement of each use to identify and address any safety risk – for example, trip or slip hazards. Power cords for sewing machines and other sewing equipment are to be organised to minimise safety hazards.
• The Group Coordinator/meeting organisers are to keep at hand the details required to obtain medical assistance or ambulance support if required. Call 000 if urgent help is needed from ambulance, police or fire services. Group coordinators/event organisers should also have the address and phone number for the nearest medical service and police station, in the event of less urgent need.
• Emergency contact details should be held for all attendees at any event or group meeting. Templates for collecting this information for events and for regular group meetings are available on the website in the Documents & Resources section. Members who have a medical condition that could impact their health and wellbeing are encouraged to complete an Emergency Medical Information form, also available on the website. Each Emergency Medical Information form should be kept in a sealed envelope labelled with the member's name. The envelope is opened only in the event of a medical emergency. If no longer needed, the envelope should be returned to the member or securely destroyed.
• We welcome our members and attendees to highlight any health and safety concerns or hazards, which the Group Coordinator/event organizer will address.
• Event and sewing group coordinators are to ensure that sewing machines brought to Guild events or meetings comply with the electrical safety certification required in the state of the event or meeting.
• Event and meeting organisers, and all members, are to uphold the member Code of Conduct, Child Safe and Vulnerable Persons Policy and Anti-bullying Policy, to ensure the psychosocial health and safety of attendees at any event or interaction with The Guild, whether held in person or online.
• All members are responsible for complying with reasonable health and safety requirements implemented by the venue and the group Coordinator or event organizer, and for not acting recklessly or placing others' health and safety at risk at the event or meeting.
• Any health or safety incident should be recorded in the ‘Accident and Incident Report’ section of the Attendance Register form available on the website, and these details also reported to the designated State representative immediately after the incident.

Vaccination guidelines

The Guild will not mandate vaccinations or boosters as a requirement to attend an event. However, Group Coordinators and event organisers must adhere to State Government policy and any venue restrictions, as noted above. Some members may have concerns about attending meetings where unvaccinated people may be present. Conversely, some members may have legitimate reasons why they cannot be vaccinated.