A Leading and
Successful Team
Safety at Work virtual reality technology
Gamers and tech-heads can now count their favourite pastime as a professional development, with the introduction of a new virtual reality (VR) training program.
In an industry first, Scope has created cutting-edge, immersive technology to better equip our people on the frontlines navigating the risk of occupational violence.
Across the sector, it is not uncommon to encounter behaviours of concern when supporting people with complex disabilities. Scope, together with Swinburne University, recently launched the Safety at Work VR training program, which aims to help workers practise positive behaviour support (PBS).
With a futuristic headset and handheld controller, disability support workers (DSWs) can immerse themselves in realistic scenarios and safely navigate best practice.
Extensive research was conducted to ensure the scenarios and characters depicted in the course are reflective of the types of situations DSWs may find themselves in in the workplace. Tash Drozdoff, a PBS Tutor, said there are five experiences that staff can complete.
“The VR experiences provide a number of different learning opportunities, including how to improve the quality of life for our customers, and practicing ‘keep safe’ strategies,” Tash said. “It allows us to be immersed in an environment where we can put into practice what we learn, building up confidence in our skills in a safe and supportive environment.”
Josphat Maina, a service delivery team member who completed the training, said it was “a great experience”. “This course was an eye-opener in many areas – I am more confident and patient with the customers to meet their needs, unlike before where task took priority,” Josphat said.
Troy Booker, another DSW, said he felt comfortable to have a go without the risk of harm to himself or customers.
“I was free to make a mistake, no one was judging;” he said.
Scope collaborated closely with Swinburne University’s Embodied Movement Design Studio team to create this industry-leading course, which aligns to the Certificate IV in Disability.
The $1.7 million project was funded through a grant by the Department of Education and Training.
John Scahill, Innovation Manager, said the Safety at Work program will be invaluable to the workforce and the sector in general.
“We have a great PBS syllabus, great VR experiences, and great tutors, so now it’s all about delivering it across our workforce,” he said.
“Researching with our frontline team – asking, listening, testing, and responding – is essential to doing this right and better; the opportunity is huge.”
Our People
Scope prides itself on employing a workforce diverse in gender, age, culture, and ability.
6,608 Employees
2,300
2,667
1,641
Scope Group Age Profile
Percentage % (Y) Years (X)
Were you born in Australia?
Learning and
Development
We are committed to building successful teams through an ongoing investment in learning and development. Key activities have included:
- Reintroduction and significant increase of available First Aid and CPR programs delivered in-person. This includes the successful Request for Proposal process for an introduction of a national provider. This has resulted in a reduction of 20 hours per week admin effort and 30 per cent fee reduction on previous agreement.
- Successful delivery of a new Developing Leaders Program providing core leadership skills to our frontline leaders across Scope, Home@Scope, and Disability Services Australia.
- Significant investment in our onboarding of new Disability Support Workers (DSW) with more than 1,200 DSWs entering the business over the course of the last 12 months. This resulted in a total of over 14,000 learning objectives (formal, informal, online, and peer-to-peer programs) completed by this group alone.
The below training equates to 36,268 hours of training or 1,511 days. The total investment equals $1,416,419.66 and is a combination of labour cost and direct training fees.
FY22 — Investment in Learning and Development
Cost (000) (Y) Month (X)
PPE
Together with our COVID-19 response team, service delivery teams, and government, Scope has worked to ensure the safety of our customers throughout the pandemic. In order to best protect staff and customers, Scope invested in millions of Personal Protective Equipment units. This includes face shields, gloves, hand sanitiser, isolation gowns, P2/N95 masks, safety glasses, shoe covers, and surgical masks.
The total number of individual units provided by Scope in the last financial year was 9,390,757.
| PPE | Individual Units | |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Face Shields |
20,844 |
|
|
Gloves |
7,271,090 |
|
|
Hand Sanitiser |
2,558 |
|
|
Isolation Gowns |
88,621 |
|
|
P2/N95 Masks |
145,190 |
|
|
Safety Glasses |
6,939 |
|
|
Shoe Covers |
192,870 |
|
|
Surgical Masks |
1,662,645 |
