Hi Renata – Clients attending our community centre often attend with their animals. Staff are divided on this issue, but our employer doesn’t have a procedure in place to manage this. Can you share some advice for policies or procedures on this issue to raise when consulting with management about this?
It's great that your employer is proactively looking to develop a procedure. Compliance codes do recognise animals as a potential workplace hazard, and it’s worth ensuring the procedure includes clear restrictions and controls, rather than just general guidelines.
In a community centre, these risks may be amplified because of the environment and the presence of vulnerable people. There are several categories of risk worth considering:
- Physical hazards: manual handling (if staff need to manage or restrain animals), tripping, being knocked over, and bites or attacks, especially where elderly people or children are present.
- Environmental hazards: chewing cables, knocking over medical equipment, and noise (barking, squawking).
- Psychosocial hazards: anxiety or stress for workers and patients who are uncomfortable around animals.
- Biological hazards: animal dander and waste, allergens, parasites, bites and scratches, zoonotic diseases, and contamination of surfaces and equipment.
In terms of good pointers, policies/procedures, I think the following:
- What is the ambit of the policy. Is it to prohibit or restrict animals. Is it predominantly for dogs or does it aim to be broader?
- How will staff go about enforcing the policy, especially since clients may be accustomed to having their pets accompany them?
- Clear rules on access (for example, restricting animals to certain areas, requiring them to be kept on leads or in carriers, or excluding them from the premises altogether).
- Clear procedures for aggressive or unrestrained animals, incident reporting, how to protect workers or other clients with allergies/phobias.
- Clean up procedures for when a mess is made.
- A reporting process to record incidents and injuries.
- Making it clear that the owner is responsible for the behaviour of their pet and may be asked to leave if staff feel there is a risk.
I am sure if you consult with members of your DWG, they will be able to add to this list.
One thing to remember is that legally recognised assistance animals (e.g. guide dogs) have access rights under equal opportunity law, so for the sake of clarity the procedure should distinguish this distinct situation.
These are some resources that could provide a framework to build from:
- Hazardous manual handling compliance code
- First aid compliance code
- Model Code of Practice for the Healthcare and Social Assistance Industry (2025)
Getting these controls right from the outset will make the procedure far more effective and easier to enforce.
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