Safety report failure over injection room impact on primary school
The state education department failed to conduct a safety and risk assessment of the North Richmond injection room’s impact on the neighbouring primary school.
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The state education department failed to conduct a safety and risk assessment of the North Richmond injection room’s impact on the neighbouring primary school.
The only security assessment report produced for Richmond West Primary School was in May last year and in relation to the needle exchange program which had already been running for three years at the North Richmond Community Health building.
The medically supervised injecting room opened on June 30 last year for a two-year trial in response to a spate of drug deaths, mostly heroin-related, in the suburb.
But no specific safety assessment and risk management plan was produced for the school over the possible impact of either the temporary facility in the centre or the permanent extension at the building which opened in July.
About 300 addicts daily use the injection room which fronts Lennox St, about 20m from the front gate of Richmond West Primary.
Staff in the injection room have safely managed more than 1800 overdoses but residents say that the service has attracted more dealers and users to the neighbourhood, and increased incidents of public drug-taking, violence and property destruction.
David Horseman, spokesman for residents’ group MRAC, said the absence of a specific security report was “an obvious and significant gap” that needed addressing.
“It’s incredulous that you would take the steps to locate an injection room next to a primary school and not do the safety and risk assessments,’’ he said.
MRAC wants the injection room moved to another location.
The injection room was set up in North Richmond because it was the epicentre of the drug trade.
Documents, obtained through Freedom of Information laws, show that the needle exchange security report identified safety issues for the school such as the need for CCTV cameras, better lighting and car park security.
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It is believed the needle exchange report’s recommendations were applied for the school’s upgrades and security procedures, but there was no specific response to the injection room operations.
A Department of Education spokesman said: “Like every other government school in the state, Richmond West Primary School has very clear safety supports and procedures that take into account the local context.
“These arrangements are under continuous review to ensure they are appropriately meeting the safety needs of the school.’’