Placement Information

Finding a Work Placement

It is your responsibility to find a work placement noting that placements can only take place at work sites that AIFL has inspected, approved and has a contractual arrangement with. It is important that placements are finalised well in advance.

If you are unable to find a placement AIFL will work with you to try and secure a suitable workplace. This may take some time depending upon the time of year and other factors such as when a workplace will allow a placement to occur.  It is important to note that may impact your completion duration.

The Work Placement Agreement

All students are required to complete and sign a Student Placement Agreement prior to commencing their placement.

As each workplace has different policies and procedures students may also be required to complete additional documentation at their workplace organisation.

Placement Details

Your Trainer/Assessor will provide you with details about the type of placement, number of hours, assessment tools, contractual arrangements and contact details. Once you have the contact details for your work placement it is important to make contact and find out the following:

• Workplace details required to fill in your placement log
• Information about your Student ID for use at the placement site
• Dress code for the placement work you will be doing
• Starting and finishing times
• Where to meet on the first day
• Contact details of your workplace supervisor/assessor
• Car parking and/or public transport arrangements
• Some workplaces may require some or all of the following to be in place prior to commencing the placement (this is at your expense):
  • First aid qualification
  • Immunisations
  • Police Check
  • Working with Children Check
  • Other requirements as directed by the workplace or as set out in your placement agreement
  • Any other arrangements specific to the placement

Placement attendance

The number of placement hours for each qualification varies from qualification to qualification and 100% attendance is required for each placement by those students where placement is applicable.

Where students miss any placement hours due to poor health or other circumstances, they are required to make up any placement hours that have been missed.

Placement may form part of the assessment process for some of the units in your qualification.

Where placement is a requirement of a unit of competency in your qualification, you will not be deemed competent in the unit of competency until you have satisfactorily completed your mandatory placement hours.

Student Support while on Work Placement

AIFL’s commitment to individualised tailored support for students taking part in their training programs extends to the period of work placement.

AIFL staff will visit your placement organisation to ensure that it is a safe and an appropriate place for a student to undertake their work placement. They also work with the placement organisation to align your work placement experience with your particular training and assessment requirements.

Prior to placement your Trainer will provide details of the placement program requirements and what you can expect from it. If you have any questions about work placement talk firstly with your trainer/assessor. If you have a need for particular support or you have personal concerns, please contact Student Support Services.

During your placement your trainer/assessor will visit the workplace, but you can also communicate with them directly if you have any questions or difficulties.

Our normal student support services are also available so if you want to contact a Student Support Officer while on placement either phone AIFL on 1300 854 987 and ask to make an appointment with a student support officer or send an email to admin@aifl.edu.au ensuring that you include  Student Support on Placement in the subject line,  your full name, contact number, and times that you are available for a phone appointment.

We will contact you as soon as possible to arrange an appointment noting our standard hours of operation are 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday.

All discussions held are confidential.

Work Placement Incidents

While we plan for good work placement experiences there is always a chance that something can go wrong. In the event that you are involved in any form of adverse incident or harassment while on work placement:

• In an emergency call 000 and request the appropriate service
• Follow the policies, procedures and reporting requirements of the placement organisation in managing and reporting an incident
• Notify both your Work Placement Supervisor and your Trainer/Assessor or the AIFL Training Manager if you have been involved in an incident or if you have concerns for your health and wellbeing, or that of others around you
• If you believe yourself to be at risk of physical or emotional harm remove yourself from the situation and notify both your Work Placement Supervisor and your Trainer/Assessor or the AIFL Training Manager and, if necessary, the Police.

AIFL will record the incident using their Critical incident accident report form.

Expectations of Students on Placement

When on placement you are representing both yourself and AIFL and are expected to follow the AIFL Code of Conduct, adhere to the policies and procedures of your placement organisation.

As the majority of AIFL work placements are within health care environments students need to be aware that these are particularly sensitive environments with particular requirements and students are expected to be mindful of the needs of the clients and staff working with them.

Work Placement Confidentiality

A primary consideration in any work placement is confidentiality and this is particularly important in health care environments where there is a responsibility to client confidentiality. You must, at all times be aware of confidentiality in regard to what you see and hear as part of your work placement.

You will be required to sign a work placement agreement that contains a confidentiality clause prior to commencing placement. In health care there are serious legal ramifications for any breach of confidentiality and this is a matter that AIFL takes seriously and may lead to expulsion from the training program as well as potentially to legal action.

Other Work placement Considerations

To ensure your work experience meets your learning requirements, there are several important placement guidelines as follows:

Clothing and appearance

Students on work placement are expected:

• to wear (clothing and footwear) what is preferred by the placement organisation and always wear the identification provided
• to tie back hair that is below shoulder length in clinical environments
• to maintain good personal hygiene, be neat and tidy in appearance and not wear jewellery that can compromise infection control guidelines

Noise levels

Students are requested to keep noise levels to a minimum, especially in client/student care areas. Always consider the client/student and others when talking and using equipment.

Valuables

Please do not bring valuables to your placement. The health service and the AIFL cannot be responsible for your valuables or other personal items.

Smoking

Smoking is not permitted in buildings, surrounds, access points to buildings or motor vehicles. All Health Services has been a smoke free workplace since 1st January 2009.

Phones and photographs

Whilst working at your placement organisation do not use your mobile phone except on breaks or take photographs of your clients or workplace without the approval of your placement organisation.