Your personal safety on placement

Your safety on placement, including when you are travelling to and from your placement, is one of UQ’s highest priorities. However, you also have a responsibility to prioritise your own personal safety.

Below are some tips for staying safe on placement – we recommend you review these regularly. Remember, safety includes both physical as well as psychosocial safety.

General placement safety information

Complete the HaBS Placement Safety Modules and review them again prior to each placement block. You can access the content of these modules at any time, even if you have completed them previously.

Travelling to and from placement

Review the Queensland Police Adult Safety website. This website provides situational safety strategies for various settings including public transport, workplaces and private vehicles.
Use these strategies as a starting point for conducting an informal risk assessment for yourself and develop a personal safety plan. A personal safety plan is comprised of safety strategies chosen by you to suit your lifestyle and abilities. When formulating your personal safety plan, consider placement scenarios such as transport to and from your placement and your accommodation arrangements if you are living away from your usual place of residence while on placement.
Are you driving to a placement outside Brisbane? Driving in rural Australia is challenging and brings with it additional risks. Review the Queensland Government regional driving webpage for recommended precautions if you are driving on country roads for your placement.
If you need to travel within Australia or internationally for your placement, ensure that you understand your obligations as a student and have followed the relevant travel procedures outlined on your discipline’s Prepare for Placement webpage.
Do you commute to and from placement in uniform? A uniform identifies you as a professional-in-training within the workplace which is a positive. However, outside in the wider community it can make you vulnerable to undesirable attention. By covering up your uniform or changing into other clothes when travelling to and from placement it prevents you being identified as a certain profession and being approached by individuals who may have negative associations with healthcare professionals, or who may be looking to pray on the empathy of your profession for other reasons. We also recommend that you remove your name badge when in public. Wearing a name badge can increase risk in the form of someone who pretends to already know you, taking advantage of your trust.
Do you have a communication plan in place? Does someone know where you are and when to expect your return? There are many different phone tracking apps and personal security apps that you may wish to consider using when travelling to and from placement.

Incidents and hazards on placement

Your personal safety includes both physical as well as psychosocial safety.
UQ takes sexual respect seriously. Refer to the UQ Respect page for information on:
- support and information for survivors of sexual assault and misconduct
- options for reporting sexual assault and misconduct if you choose to
- information about consent, and UQ's policies and procedures
All incidents that occur while on placement should be reported both to the placement host and to UQ. Your UQ contact for any incidents is your Placement Coordinator or Course Coordinator. If you are not able to contact your Placement Coordinator to report an incident, you can also report it to habsplacements@uq.edu.au and we will pass this on to your School. UQ will ensure that your privacy is protected when you report an incident.
Incidents should be reported as soon after an incident as possible, when you are in a safe environment. This ensures the incident details are fresh in your mind and you can provide sufficient detail to enable an effective investigation and resolution.

Provide safety feedback

No induction at your placement location? Work conditions unsafe? Have you been involved in an incident?

Our staff work tirelessly with our placement partners to ensure your safety and we are keen to make sure your experiences are positive and safe. Please share any safety concerns you may have with your UQ Placement Coordinator/Course Coordinator. It's important that you let us know as soon as you think there is a problem so it can be addressed and resolved quickly. UQ will ensure that your privacy is protected when you report any concerns.

Student support

In the first instance you should contact your UQ Placement Coordinator or Course Coordinator for assistance with your placements. However, if this is not possible or preferred, there are other options available to students seeking support:

Emergency Services (Police, Fire, Ambulance)	Phone: 000 Triple Zero
UQ Student Support Services	Counselling, crisis support, financial hardship assistance, accommodation, international student support, Allianz Care
Student counselling services	UQ offers a range of different counselling sessions to suit your needs including one-on-one appointments, group sessions and online support. If you need assistance outside normal business hours, please call our UQ Counselling and Crisis Line: 1300 851 998
Sexual Misconduct Support Unit	The University of Queensland's Sexual Misconduct Support Unit is a safe and supportive place for the UQ community to receive guidance around sexual assault and misconduct.
First responder network	The First Responder Network offers a safe and supportive environment so that you can receive information on the support services that are available to you. Note: The First Responder Network is not an emergency response or counselling service
UQ Security	Keeping safe on campus 07 3365 1234
Contact your School	School of Dentistry School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work School of Pharmacy School of Psychology