Voice Care for Teachers

Policy

This policy outlines the health, safety and wellbeing requirements relating to voice care for teachers and school staff.

Summary

• Principals or their delegates must identify and assess tasks that could pose a risk to voice health or result in vocal injury and implement measures to prevent or minimise these risks.
• School staff must prioritise their voice health by exercising reasonable care when engaging in activities that require extensive use of the voice and report any hazards and incidents associated with using their voice.
• Tasks involving potential risks to voice health or injury must be documented in the school's occupational health and safety (OHS) risk register.
• Voice care guidelines are available to assist teachers in looking after their voices and preventing the development of voice problems through practical exercises, self-assessment tools and action plans.
• Central and regional offices are dedicated to supporting principals and school staff in maintaining voice health and preventing vocal injury. This includes access to the OHS Advisory Service and local regional OHS support officers who can offer tailored guidance on managing associated risks.

Details

People who use their voice extensively in their work, such as teachers, may suffer from voice fatigue or injury. The most common symptoms are discomfort in the throat, impaired voice quality such as hoarseness, a change in the pitch of the voice, voice loss, and difficulty in projecting the voice.

Voice fatigue or injury is usually the result of a combination of factors including the way a person uses their voice, the physical environment in which the voice is used and increased levels of stress and tension. Smoking and health conditions such as hay fever, reflux and sinus problems can also contribute to the problem. Because most causes of voice issues are a combination of factors that are not serious or difficult to eliminate, the majority of concerns can easily be remedied or prevented if care is taken.

Roles and responsibilities in managing voice care for teachers

Under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act 2004 (Vic), managing the risk of developing voice fatigue or injury is a shared responsibility between the department, the principal or delegate, and relevant school staff.

Department roles and responsibilities

The department must maintain, so far as is reasonably practicable, a safe and healthy working environment for school staff to care for and maintain voice health, preventing the development of voice fatigue or injury while working.

Principal or delegate roles and responsibilities

The principal or delegate, in consultation with school staff who are or are likely to be affected, and health and safety representatives (HSR), where elected, must identify, assess and control the risks that are associated with developing voice fatigue or injury.

School staff roles and responsibilities

School staff must take reasonable care for their own health and safety, and the safety of others who may be affected by their actions or omissions while at work, which includes caring for and managing their voice health to avoid voice fatigue or injury. If experiencing voice issues, school staff must notify the principal or their delegate.

Safety is a shared responsibility, and everyone has a role to play.

Key requirements for schools to manage voice care

Principals or their delegates must, in consultation with school staff who are or are likely to be affected and HSRs, where elected:

• identify voice hazards and monitor existing risk controls through observation, workplace inspections and incident reports
• effectively manage hazard and incidents related to voice fatigue or injury.

The Voice care for teachers procedure (in the Procedure tab) outlines detailed requirements that schools must follow to effectively implement this policy and maintain a safe working environment for all school staff.

Department supports for schools

Central and regional offices provide a range of supports and services to assist principals and school staff to be safe and well. These include access to local regional OHS support officers and the OHS Advisory Service who can provide free advice and onsite or remote support in relation to health, safety and wellbeing risk management and complete specific risk assessments where required.

Using eduSafe Plus to report and manage hazards identified allows OHS support officers to provide assistance and advice. Guidance for reporting and managing hazards on eduSafe Plus is located in the Reporting a workplace hazard guide on the knowledge base in eduSafe Plus.

Definitions

Voice care

Voice care refers to caring for the voice by paying attention to signs such as hoarseness, croakiness or a husky voice, changes in voice pitch and burning or dry sensations. Noticing signs is the first step to initiating strategies to protect and care for voice health. Preventive strategies can also be used to avoid symptoms occurring or developing.

Related policies

• Managing and Reporting School Incidents (Including Emergencies)
• Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Management in Schools
• OHS Consultation and Communication
• OHS Risk Planning and Management
• Workplace Safety Inspections.

Relevant legislation

• Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic)
• Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (Vic).

Voice care for teachers procedure

The Voice care for teachers procedure sets out the practical step-by-step instructions that must be followed to implement the Voice Care for Teachers policy. The procedure contains the following steps:

• Preparing, planning and ongoing management of voice care
• Identifying and assessing voice health hazards and risks
• Controlling the risks
• Hazard, incident and near miss reporting

1. Preparing, planning and ongoing management of voice care

The Voice Care for Teachers policy and procedure are part of the broader approach to managing health, safety and wellbeing in schools.

Actions for principals or delegates

To effectively manage voice fatigue and injury risks as part of an ongoing health, safety and wellbeing management approach, principals or their delegates must undertake the actions outlined in this chapter.

Consult

The principal or delegate must consult with teachers and school staff who are or are likely to be affected, and health and safety representatives (HSR), where elected, by implementing the OHS Consultation and Communication policy and procedure to ensure effective consultation systems are in place, including regular communication forums.

Document, monitor and review

Principals or their delegates must regularly monitor and review the risks and controls associated with voice fatigue and injury by implementing the OHS Risk Management policy. This includes activities in the OHS activities calendar (or equivalent), workplace inspections, risk assessments and maintenance of the OHS risk register. These documents must be retained in accordance with the Records Management – School Records policy.

Manage hazards and incidents

The principal or their delegate must manage hazards and incidents by implementing the Managing and Reporting School Incidents (Including Emergencies) policy.

Actions for all school staff

All staff must support ongoing management of risks and hazards related to voice health through:

• taking reasonable care for their own health and safety, including caring for and managing their voice health to avoid fatigue or injury
• implementing risk controls and monitoring for symptoms of voice fatigue
• the reporting of hazards, risks and incidents.

2. Identifying and assessing voice health hazards and risks

Teachers and school staff are at increased risk of developing voice health problems due to the frequency and duration of speaking required during work. Teachers and school staff are most at risk of voice fatigue or injury when they are just beginning their teaching career, returning after a break or after illness that effects the throat or sinus.

Common voice health hazards include but are not limited to:

• talking at length without breaks
• talking loudly
• speaking over background noise
• projecting the voice in open plan classrooms or when outdoors
• speaking in areas with poor insulation from external noise
• speaking in environments with floor, wall or ceiling surfaces that cause sound reverberation or echo, for example, hard surfaces such as lino, ceramic, concrete, or timber.

Regular workplace safety inspections must be undertaken by the principal or delegate in consultation with the health and safety representative (HSR), where elected, to identify hazards that may pose a risk to teachers’ voice health. For further information and guidance refer to Workplace Safety Inspections.

If hazards are identified, following the OHS risk management procedure and conducting a risk assessment (DOCX) is a practical way of considering the likelihood and severity of the voice health hazards. As part of the risk assessment, consideration should be given to:

• understanding of voice production and voice care principles
• voice use patterns
• voice production techniques
• health and stress patterns
• characteristics of the physical environment.

School staff can access the Voice Care Guidelines (DOCX) which provide further support for staff in understanding prevention strategies and symptoms of voice fatigue and self-assessment tools to identify potential physical, emotional and environmental hazards.

The OHS Advisory Service and regional OHS support officers can provide advice on preventing and managing voice problems, including completing a risk assessment to gather further information on unknown or high-risk hazards.

3. Controlling the risks

Environments and activities that may pose a risk to voice health can be avoided or managed with a range of controls.

The principal or delegate can help teachers and school staff maintain good voice health by:

• ensuring that induction includes information on voice care, including by distributing the voice care guidelines available and displaying the associated poster (DOCX)
• implementing classroom acoustic management strategies to reduce overall noise levels, such as replacing noisy floor surfaces with carpets or improving sound insulation to lower noise levels from external sources
• providing amplifiers such as microphones, megaphones or loud hailers if appropriate for the situation such as sports carnivals or school assemblies
• leading a culture where there are regular discussions regarding health, safety and wellbeing at meetings, such as health and safety committees and staff meetings, and creating a safe space for staff to raise concerns
• encouraging teachers to report issues early and seek help for any concerns with their voice.

Teachers and school staff can maintain voice health by:

• warming up your speaking voice with 5 minutes of breathing, laryngeal relaxation and humming exercises – refer to the Voice Care Guidelines (DOCX) for more information
• developing classroom management strategies that reduce the need to continuously raise your voice or the amount of time that is needed to speak
• arrange the classroom environment and learning activities to encourage calm learner behaviour with an appropriate noise level using non-verbal means to gain attention such as clapping, using a bell or blowing a whistle (refer to the department’s Behaviour – Students policy for further advice)
• talking to groups or classes when the students are quiet
• planning the day to include periods of rest for the voice
• developing behaviour management strategies that don’t involve raising your voice
• turning down or ceasing background noise such as radios, televisions, speaker systems, machinery or other plant or equipment
• moving away from sources of noise when talking
• using voice amplifiers such as microphones, megaphones or loud hailers if appropriate for the situation such as sports carnivals or school assemblies
• drinking water regularly throughout the day as staying hydrated provides lubrication to the vocal cords
• sitting or standing with good posture when speaking – refer to the voice care guidelines for more information
• breathing deeply into the abdomen with a quicker inhalation and slower exhalation – refer to the voice care guidelines for more information
• avoiding or limiting caffeine or throat clearing which can have damaging effect
• reporting issues early and seeking help for any concerns with your voice.

School staff can access the Voice Care Guidelines (DOCX) which provide further information on relevant controls for staff to protect their voice and prevent the development of longer-term voice problems. The guidelines include self-assessment tools and action planning guidance, and detailed information on:

• effective voice techniques
• harmful voice habits
• maximising physical and emotional health
• considering the physical environment.

School staff are encouraged to engage with the school leadership when working through the voice care guidelines.

The principal or delegate, in consultation with school staff who are or are likely to be affected, and health and safety representatives (HSR), where elected, must record identified and implemented risk controls to manage areas/activities that may pose a risk to teachers’ voice health on the school’s OHS risk register (XLSX).

Regional OHS support officers and the OHS Advisory Service can provide support to schools on the use of the OHS risk register to document and monitor voice care risk and controls.

4. Hazard, incident and near miss reporting

If a school staff member is concerned that their voice health has been impacted, it must be reported to the principal or delegate.

School staff are encouraged to report all hazards, incidents and near misses involving voice health directly into eduSafe Plus, which can assist with allocation of tasks and the management of hazards and incidents.

For more information on reporting hazards and incidents, refer to the Managing and Reporting School Incidents (Including Emergencies) policy.

Resources

Guidance

• Voice Care Guidelines (DOCX) – developed by the department to assist teachers in looking after their voices and preventing the development of voice problems.
• Voice care for teachers poster (DOCX) – contains strategies for maintaining voice qualities and tips on what to avoid.

Templates and forms

• OHS risk register (XLSX)– to develop appropriate risk control strategies and allocate adequate resources to implement them.
• Risk assessment template (DOCX) – schools can use this to conduct a risk assessment to determine the risk (likelihood and consequence of injury or harm).

Guidance and resources

• Useful health, safety and wellbeing contacts for schools.