monsters beware! - safe-t1 · monsters beware! introduction mastering the numeracy and maths...

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Developed with funding from WorkSafe Victoria

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Monsters beware!

Introduction

Mastering the numeracy and maths associated with Occupational Health

and Safety contributes greatly to a true understanding of important OHS

issues. This unit is part of a series of three activity-based units dealing with OHS and numeracy.

The purpose of the activities is to introduce OHS content in an engaging manner with a view to better

preparing the learner for the workplace, whilst developing numeracy and mathematics skills required

for Foundation/Intermediate VCAL.

Each unit consists of two main activities dealing with different aspects of OHS and a range of numeracy

skills. The activities use OHS issues as the context to introduce the numeracy and mathematics skills

necessary for young learners to fully engage with real work environments.

The units have been written so they can be used by both maths teachers and teachers who do not have

a strong mathematical background or who are not experienced in teaching numeracy. They contain a

number of features that may assist in the delivery, including: approaches to using the activities;

preliminary and follow up exercises; suggested questions for discussion; and student worksheets and

handouts, including guides for creating tables, graphs and reports.

Purpose

Young people are most at risk from workplace OHS incidents. Identifying some of the potential hazards

in a workplace, and gaining a real appreciation of the consequences of disregarding them, may assist

young workers to gain enough confidence to speak out or ask questions at work.

The purpose of this unit is to raise awareness of likely workplace hazards, look at signage and other

warning systems used in workplaces, and decide which are the most effective warning signs and/or

systems. It should lead to more informed discussions about the injuries most common to young

workers in relation to these hazards.

The activities in this unit focus on three important questions:

Which hazards are most likely to be the cause of injuries?

What warning systems are being used in workplaces?

How is signage used in workplaces? What makes signage effective?

Overview of the unit

There are two main activities in this unit. They are designed to complement and enhance each other,

however, either activity can be done independently. The activities depend on all students visiting one or

more local sites (preferably workplaces, but also public facilities such as sports centres, libraries, bus or

train stations or shopping malls). Visits can be done either as a class, in small groups or individually.

Data for both activities can be collected on the same visit. The unit activities will require two or more

class sessions plus the time for the visit(s). Some preparation is needed before the visit.



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Activity 1 – Here be monsters

Through a preliminary discussion, followed by a visit to a workplace or public facility, learners

investigate the potential hazards most likely to cause workplace injuries. Collected data is presented in

tables, graphs and reports and may be compared with statistics on the ‘Injury Hotspots’ website.

Activity 2 – Good signs, bad signs

Learners collect information on warning signs and protective measures at the site(s) visited and analyse

their usefulness and effectiveness. They analyse categories of OHS signs and then design, measure and

draw signs of their own in accordance with OHS sign conventions and sizes.

The activities can be contextualised to a particular local industry, or conducted over a range of

industries and workplaces, as applicable. Students could also choose to investigate workplaces in which

they work or have work placements.

Activity Numeracy content OHS learning

Activity 1: Here Be Monsters – hazards

Creating tables

And graphs

Writing reports of numeracy activities

Interpreting site plans (if available)

Locating and interpreting maps and public transport maps – internet or hard copy (optional extra)

Locating and interpreting timetables – internet or hard copy (optional extra)

Calculating with time (optional extra)

Potential hazards in some local workplaces

How OHS helps reduce accidents in the workplace

Activity 2: Good Signs, Bad Signs

Recognising and naming 2D shapes

Designing 2D signs according to conventions

Using measuring instruments to measure and draw shapes

Drawing 2D shapes in simple ratios (e.g. half or quarter real size)

Interpreting site plans (if available)

Locating and interpreting maps and public transport maps – internet or hard copy (optional extra)

Locating and interpreting timetables – internet or hard copy (optional extra)

Calculating with time (optional extra)

Meanings of OHS signs and language

Categories of OHS signs

Elements of effective and ineffective signs

How OHS helps reduce accidents in the workplace



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Resources requirements

Activity sheets and handouts

Activity 1

Worksheet 1: Potential workplace hazards

Worksheet 2: Workplace hazard observations

Site plan of relevant workplaces (if available)

Handout 1: Elements of a good graph (optional)

Handout 2: Guide to writing a report on an activity (optional)

Hazard Fact sheets for relevant industries downloaded from http://www.education.vic.gov.au/safe@work/workplace_hazards.asp

Activity 2

Worksheet 3: OHS signs survey

Activity sheet 1: OHS signs and categories

Site plan of relevant workplaces (if available)

Facilities and equipment White board or butchers paper

Access to computers and internet for: o safety sign information o Google maps and public transport sites (optional)

Street directories and/or local maps (optional)

Rulers and pencils

Graph paper (optional)

Video camera (optional)

Assessment and curriculum alignment

The activities in this unit are designed to support student learning but may also be used for assessment

purposes. The activities support the learning outcomes listed in the table below but may not cover all

the elements. If the activities are to be used as assessment tasks, teachers should check the relevant

curriculum document, e.g. the VCAL Curriculum Planning Guides, to ensure all the elements are

covered and the activity is consistent with the unit purpose statement.

While documentation from undertaking the activities in this unit can be collected to build a portfolio of

evidence to be used for the assessment of relevant learning outcomes, students should demonstrate

competence of a learning outcome on more than one occasion and in different contexts, to ensure the

assessment is consistent, reliable, fair and equitable.

VCAL

Foundation

VCAL Inter-

mediate

VCAL Senior VELS Primary e-

phase

Activity 1:

Here Be

Monsters –

hazards

Numeracy -

LO 5

WRS 1 &2

Numeracy -

LO 5

WRS 1 &2

Mathematics

Measure-ment, chance & data

Engage Explore Explain Elaborate Evaluate

Activity 2:

Good Signs,

Bad Signs

Numeracy -

LO 1

WRS 1 – LO 4

Numeracy -

LO 1

WRS 1 – LO 4

Mathematics

Space

Engage Explore Explain

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/safe@work/workplace_hazards.asp




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Preparation for the unit

Planning visits

Before students can do these activities it is necessary to plan how each student can visit one or more

workplaces. They could either go on teacher organised visits (as a whole class or in smaller groupings)

or they could plan their own visit to workplaces that they are familiar with - those in which they already

have jobs or work placements, or workplaces of friends or family.

Note: If a class visit is planned, you will probably need to make a preliminary visit or contact the

worksite prior to the excursion to collect a simple site plan and seek information on the protocols

and/or requirements for the visit (e.g. need for protective clothing, prohibited areas, supervision

requirements, how many students are allowed in one area at a time and how long they may stay there,

etc). Viewing the site plan would be valuable prior to the excursion.

If students are making visits in pairs or small groups, make sure they know to ask about, and observe,

the required protocols for the sites they visit (e.g. do not enter prohibited areas, wear hard hats, etc).

Encourage them to obtain copies of site plans if possible.

If workplace visits are not feasible, or if you want students to look at multiple sites, they could also

make brief visits to public facilities such as libraries, sporting facilities, hospitals, bus or train stations, or

shopping malls.

Optional preliminary activity

If students are going on a visit to somewhere unfamiliar to them, you could get them to do some

planning for the trip as a preliminary class exercise. Planning activities could involve any of the

following:

Locate the site on a map using Google Maps, hard copy maps or street directories (whatever is

appropriate for your locality and student group).

Use the map or a public transport site to decide on feasible public transport routes.

Use timetables and likely travelling times to decide which bus, train, tram, etc to catch (using

either public transport sites or hard copies of timetables).



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Activity 1: Here be monsters

Before you begin

Providing relevant OHS materials: Download several ‘Hazard Fact Sheets’ that might be relevant to the

workplaces or sites being visited.

See http://www.education.vic.gov.au/safe@work/workplace_hazards.asp

What to do

Provide students with copies of relevant Hazard Fact Sheets to refer to throughout the activity.

Raising awareness of workplace hazards

Ask students to brainstorm situations that lead to injuries in their individual work, leisure, home or class

situations [e.g. burns (fast food outlets), muscle strain (gym work or sports), psychological stress (busy

customer service situations), hearing loss (loud concerts)]. If they do not immediately come up with ideas of

their own, distribute copies of the ‘Hazard Fact Sheets’

During the brainstorm:

Try to get students to focus on hazards found in situations they are familiar with (many will be

generic or cover more than one workplace).

Distinguish between the idea of a ‘hazard’ as opposed to an ‘injury’ or ‘accident’.

Introducing the workplace visit

Discuss the purpose of the workplace visits with the students (observing OHS hazards and signs) and canvas

suggestions for potential workplace sites they could visit in small groups. The potential industries or

worksites identified can then be used for the following exercise.

Identifying potential hazards related to class visit(s)

On the next page is a sample table with possible visit sites as column headings and with examples of hazards

that may be found in the first column. The likelihood of this type of hazard being found at each site can be

denoted by a tick in the appropriate cell. Together with the class, use Activity sheet 1: Potential workplace

hazards to create a similar table for sites relevant to your students’ visits.

Note: If all students are going on the same visit you might want to use different sections or workstations

within that workplace as your column headings. The site plans would be useful at this point, so that students

could locate each of the sections or workstations/workspaces.






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Workplace Example Hazard

Office Super- market

Petrol station

Aged care

centre

Hair- dresser

Building site

Fast food

outlet

Cutting tools

Slippery floors

Obstacles

Chemicals

Standing/fatigue

Manual handling

Extreme temperatures

Cooking equipment

Hot oil/grease

Exposure to blood

Vehicles

Noise/vibration

Animals

Working at heights

Equipment

Electricity

Other

…..

…..

…..

When the column headings have been agreed upon, go through one of the columns together as an example

in order to clarify the meaning of the language and terminology used. The specific tools, obstacles, etc likely

to be present should be discussed as you decide where the ticks should be placed.

Encourage students to add further suggestions in the rows under the ‘Other’ heading, so that their final list

will be customised by their input.

Then put students into pairs to discuss the hazards which might apply in two or more of the sites named.

Students should be ready to explain to the class what they had in mind for each tick they put in.

Compare ideas as a whole class and see how much agreement there is.

Students should take this list on their workplace visits as a reminder of the hazards to look for.

Observation sheets for the visits: Distribute copies of Worksheet 2: Workplace OHS observations and using

the sample below as a guide, show students how to fill them in when they go on their visits. You might like

to use the previous exercise to look at a few imaginary workplaces/workspaces as a model for them. Ensure

that students take these worksheets on their workplace visit.



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Sample worksheet 2:

Workplace: Jay’s Petrol Station Group 3 Emily, Aaron, Hassan

Workplace/ workspace

Hazard& possible risk

No. of times observed

Risk control action

Sales area Wet floor – slippery Could slip

1 time Roped off area with ‘Careful wet floor’ signs

Ask the students to mark the hazards on their site plans during their visits. If there is no site plan for the

workplace ask students to create a rough sketch plan themselves.

Follow up - combining the data

During the follow-up session lead the class in creating a combined list of the hazards they identified and

make a table, as illustrated below.

Suggested discussion questions that could be used during this process:

What potential hazards did you observe?

Were some more dangerous than others?

How would you rank them (frequency, potential injury or damage, etc)?

Did some people see more hazards than others?

Which part of the workplace was the most hazardous? Why?

What were the most common hazards you observed? Why?

Were the results surprising? Why?

Hazard & possible risk No. of times observed

Risk control action

Wet floor - slippery, could slip

Group 1- 4 times Group 2- 3 times Group 3- 1 time Total=8

Signs, barricades etc

Noise Ear muffs, ear signs

Electrical shock Protective gear

Ask students to create a column graph of one or both of the following:

‘Hazards’ on the horizontal axis and ‘Number of times observed’ on the vertical axis.

‘Workplaces’ or ‘Workstations’ on the horizontal axis and ‘Number of hazards’ on the vertical axis.

Handout 1: Elements of a good column graph is provided for use with students who are not yet familiar with

creating column graphs.



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Report

Ask students to work individually, in pairs, or in small groups to compile a report on their visit, their findings,

interpretations and recommendations. The report should focus on how to avoid or reduce potential hazards

in a workplace.

The report may be in the form of:

a short visit report

an oral presentation of results

a poster/e-poster

a journal entry - “What I found out today”

a cartoon sequence (focus on the hazard to be avoided)

a video report (if this is an option then ensure that filming occurs throughout the excursion and that

permission is obtained beforehand by the workplace management).

Note: If you wish to encourage students to create a written report for this activity, refer to Handout 2: Guide

to writing a report on an activity.

Comparing results with industry-wide figures (optional extension)

Ask students to research the industry related to the workplace they visited (e.g. Injury Hot Spots -

www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/wsinternet/WorkSafe/Home/Safety+and+Prevention/Injury+H

otspots/) or hand out the Hazard Fact Sheets for their particular industry.

The following suggestions may be used to guide the students in making their comparisons:

the most serious hazard in that industry

other serious hazards found in that industry e.g. toxic chemicals or air, extreme temperatures or

noise

reasons why injuries occur, e.g. negligence, rush, loss of concentration, ignorance.

These observations could then be added as a final section to students’ reports.

http://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/wsinternet/WorkSafe/Home/Safety+and+Prevention/Injury+Hotspots/



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Potential workplace hazards

Workplaces

Example Hazard

Cutting tools Slippery floors Obstacles Chemicals Standing/fatigue Manual handling Extreme temperatures Cooking equipment Hot oil/grease Exposure to blood Vehicles Noise/vibration Animals Working at heights Equipment Electricity Other

Activity

sheet 1



10

Workplace OHS observations

Workplace:____________________________________

Group: _______________________________________

Workplace/

Workspace

Hazard Detail

No. of times

observed

Risk Control Action

Activity

sheet 2



11

5

15

0

10

0

0

Handout 1: Elements of a good column graph

A graph is a way of communicating your data or information so that other people

can see it quickly and clearly.

To be clear to the reader, every graph needs:

a title – a name that tells the reader what it is about

two labels, one for each axis (vertical and horizontal)

equally spaced scale markings on each axis

a clear explanation of the scales – either clear numbers beside the scale markings

or a key for each of the scales, e.g., 1 cm = 5 times

a clearly marked starting point on each of the axes.

Tips when drawing graphs:

usually zero is the beginning of the axis but sometimes this is not the case and the

symbol is used to show that axis does not go all the way to zero

each column or bar is always the same width

each scale must be the same all the way along the axis.

Horizontal axis label (e.g. Type of hazard)

Vert

ical axis label

(e.g

. Num

ber

of t

imes

obse

rved)

Vertical scale (1cm = 5 times)

This point is often 0 for both axes (in

maths that is called ‘the origin’)

Title of graph

(e.g. Most common workplace hazards)



12

15

0

10

0

5

0

Example graph

Note: the statistics in the column graph are fictional and do not represent common

workplace hazards.

Workplace hazards

Num

ber

of t

imes

obse

rved

Type of hazard

Slippery floor Equipment Extreme

temperatures



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Handout 2: Guide to writing a report on an activity

Your ideas are important.

1. Use the headings to set up the report.

2. Use the questions under each heading to guide you to say what you mean clearly.

3. Use sentences/paragraphs and labeled diagrams to help make your report clear

and balanced.

Name

Partner’s name:

Date:

Report Headings Plan, ideas, main sentences etc

Title:

What is a good name for

this activity?

Aim/ Introduction

What did you want to find

out?

Materials/resources

What did we use for this

activity?



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Method

How could you have found

out what you wanted? What

did you choose to do?

Safety: What did you need

to be careful of in this

activity?

Results

How can you best represent

the observations,

measurements and notes

you have made?

E.g. a table, graph, model,

diagram(s), cartoons…etc.

Discussion

What have you learned from

this activity?

Can you use your results to

plan further activities? E.g.

OHS posters, signs,

pamphlets.

Were there things that

went wrong?

Conclusion: What

conclusion/recommendations

can you make from this

activity?

Appendix: Attach a copy of any documents you used for the project e.g.

questionnaire or list of questions you asked.



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Activity 2: Good signs, bad signs

This activity has two introductory parts:

An ‘OHS signs survey’ in which students collect information about OHS signs in the workplaces they visit

(this can be done in conjunction with Activity 1: Here be monsters).

A discussion and sorting exercise to introduce categories of OHS signs and their features.

The order for doing this depends on teacher preference (i.e. students having maximum information prior to their

visit, or alternatively, the visit as the source of preliminary information). A slight difference in emphasis will be

needed depending on that choice.

The final part of the activity involves students designing their own signs according to the conventions of OHS sign

categories.

Note: If access to a workplace is difficult, or if you want to visit more than one site, students could visit public

areas likely to have warning signs, including the school itself.

Before you begin

Preparing the ‘Signs and categories’ activity

Make copies of Activity Sheet 4: OHS signs and categories for each group of 3-4 students, preferably on stiff

paper or card. Cut out the pieces of Set 1 and place in a labelled envelope. Do the same for the pieces of Set 2.

You should now have two envelopes for each small group of students – Set 1 and Set 2.

What to do

OHS signs survey

For their visit, students will need a copy of Activity sheet 3: OHS signs survey, which they fill out during their

workplace visit. They should note any safety or warning signs or notices they see in both the inside and outside

areas of the site.

Students’ notes about the signs should include words, symbols and graphics on the signs as well as the colours,

e.g. ‘Yellow sign with black lettering and black triangle – graphic of falling person inside the triangle.’ To make

the task easier, they could be encouraged to draw the signs instead of writing descriptions.

Observing signs

As a class make a list of all the signs the students observed, discussing where they saw them, what they mean

and what colour and symbols were on them. Encourage students to use the language of shape as they describe

the signs, e.g. use the words ‘circle’, ‘rectangle’, ‘triangle’ and language of location such as ‘inside/outside the

circle’, ‘below/above the triangle’ etc.

Suggested questions for discussion:

Which workplace or workstation had the most signs? Why?

Did you understand all the signs? Why? / Why not?

Did some draw your attention more than others? Why?

Were some pictures/symbols misleading? Why? What would you have put on the sign instead?



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Raising awareness of categories of OHS signs

This discussion can be done either before students go on their workplace observation collection visit or

afterwards. If it is done afterwards make sure you tell students to record a lot of detail on their OHS sign survey

(Activity sheet 3), including the wording, colours and shapes on the signs they see on their visit.

If it is done before the visit, you could begin by asking students to do a quick walk around the school, taking

notes of the signs they see. Alternatively you could display photos of some nearby signs.

Introduce the idea of categories of OHS signs by asking students if they have noticed anything that some of the

OHS signs have in common, for instance, colours, shapes and graphics. Collect ideas on the board for later

reference. Tell students that you are looking at four common categories of OHS signs in the following exercise.

A small group sorting exercise using Activity sheet 1: Signs and categories

Have the students work in small groups. Explain that each category of signs has a particular colour and symbol

that is normally used with it.

Distribute Set 1 of the prepared cut out pieces and ask students to sort them into four groups that should go

together. Students should have the category descriptions in front of them (‘Protective equipment’, ‘Stop &

Prohibition’, ‘Warning/Caution’, ‘Emergency Related’), and 12 sample signs – 3 for each category (see Activity

sheet 4).

Check that the groups have sorted correctly by getting them to compare with each other.

For each grouping of signs ask students to describe what they have in common, for example:

all of the ‘Protective equipment’ signs are white with a blue circle – usually with a white graphic inside

the circle

all of the ‘Warning or caution’ signs are yellow with a black border, they also have a black triangle with a

black graphic or words inside it.

Encourage students to name the geometric shapes correctly (rectangle, triangle, circle) and use the language of

position, such as inside/outside, under/above.

Now distribute Set 2 of pieces and ask the students to see if they can decide which group each piece should go

into.

Finally, compare where groups have placed each of the captions and ask for suggestions of graphics that might

be used with them, and where the graphic would be placed on the sign.

Designing their own signs

Ask students to move into pairs or small groups (preferably with students they were not working with

previously). Then ask them to design a sign of your choosing e.g. a ‘no swearing’ sign for the teacher’s use or a

sign to encourage ear protection. This is likely to work best if you can choose something relevant to the class or

the school.

Whilst students are designing their signs, make sure that they discuss the correct category of the sign and can

explain to you why they are using the shapes and colours they have chosen.



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Sizing the signs

If appropriate to the students’ level, encourage them to create the sign in proportion to the actual size it would

be, e.g. ½ or ¼ of actual lengths. Students should decide on an appropriate actual size by measuring some

existing signs at the school or reading the measurements from websites with safety signs.

Using ratio notation (optional)

For more advanced students you could introduce the idea of ratios, in this case 1:2 or 1:4. This ratio notation is a

common method used in plans and diagrams to be clear about the actual size of the object in the drawing. For

instance 1:2 means that for every 1 cm of length on their picture of the sign, the actual sign would be 2 cm long.

So if the rectangle in their drawing was 20 cm wide then the real rectangle would be 40cm wide. A commonly

used ratio for house plans is 1:100 – meaning that every 1 cm on the page represents 100 cm or 1 m on the real

house.

Designing signs for home or school

To extend students’ imagination and inject a little fun, ask them to design an original sign of their own that they

would like to use at school or at home. (This has the potential to be extended into computer graphics also.)

When the signs have been drawn, ask students to display or present the sign to the rest of the class. Other

students could be asked to interpret the sign’s meaning and decide whether or not the correct shapes and

colours have been used. Alternatively, the students’ presentation could explain why they chose the size, colour

and shape that they did for the sign.

Ensure that the discussion encourages students to use the correct language of shape and measurement. For

example, ‘I used a black triangle on a yellow background because it was a warning sign. I made it ... mm wide

because the sign I measured was ....mm wide and this is exactly ½ ... etc’.



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OHS signs survey

Name/group: ______________________________________________________ Date: ________________

Description

Colour, shape, graphic What it says Where found

Activity

sheet 3



19

OHS signs and categories

SET 1

Protective equipment

Stop / Prohibition

Warning/Caution

Emergency related

Activity

sheet 4



20

OHS signs and categories

SET 2

Face mask must be worn in this

area

Smoking prohibited

Hot Emergency

shower

Hands must be washed before

returning to work

Authorised personnel only

Flammable material

Eye wash Station

Foot wash must be used

No pedestrian access

Radiation area – Authorised entry

only

Emergency Breathing Apparatus

Aisle must be kept clear

No thoroughfare

High voltage

First Aid

High visibility vest must be worn in

this area

Do not put feet on seats

Step down Safety shower

Activity

sheet 4

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