District Operational Safety and Wellbeing Plan 2026 to 2027

Purpose. This plan sets the district's safety and wellbeing objectives for the year and the actions, owners and measures that will achieve them.

1.Context

Members of the service face physical risk at incidents, road risk during response driving, and psychological risk from repeated exposure to trauma. The previous year recorded a rise in assaults on members at family violence incidents and in fatigue-related near misses on night shift. This plan responds to those trends and to the findings of the annual health and safety audit.

2.Objectives

The plan sets four objectives for the year. Each objective has actions, an owner and a measure reported quarterly.

• Reduce assaults on members by fifteen per cent
• Complete operational safety requalification for every member on time
• Reduce fatigue-related near misses to zero
• Increase peer support contact after critical incidents to one hundred per cent

3.Actions

Two-member attendance will be mandatory at all family violence incidents from September 2026. The roster will adopt a maximum of four consecutive night shifts with a mandatory rest day. Every member will complete the operational safety requalification in the scheduled block. Supervisors will make a welfare contact within twenty-four hours of any critical incident and record it.

4.Training

Operational safety requalification will run in monthly blocks at the district headquarters. Custody officers will complete the custody risk assessment refresher by November 2026. All supervisors will complete the wellbeing conversation workshop by December 2026.

5.Measures and reporting

Assaults, near misses, training currency and welfare contacts will be reported from the Incident Log and the training records at each quarterly governance meeting. The District Superintendent will report progress to regional command. The plan will be reviewed in July 2027.

6.Responsibilities

The District Superintendent owns the plan. The Operations Inspector owns the roster and attendance actions. The Sergeant, Custody and Protective Services owns the custody actions. Every member is responsible for reporting hazards and near misses.