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Insurance - Schools

Planet Ark Public Liability Insurance:

  • Planet Ark Environmental Foundation has Public Liability Insurance (PLI).
  • In relation to National Tree Day, PLI is there to protect the public from injury caused by the actions of volunteer tree planters. For example, the jogger who sustains personal injury after tripping over a shovel left on the ground/pathway by a volunteer participating at a planting site.
  • Volunteers are no longer (generally) covered by Public Liability Insurance, prompting a need for some sort of volunteer insurance coverage.

Planet Ark Volunteer Insurance Information for Participants in National Tree Day:

  • National Tree Day (NTD) is a volunteer event, which each year sees up to 350,000 volunteers planting at approximately 4000 locations around Australia.
  • Whilst Planet Ark are under no legal obligation to provide volunteer insurance, ‘Voluntary Workers Personal Accident Cover’ has been organised for Tree Day participants as follows:

The essentials:

  • Planet Ark has arranged volunteer insurance cover for all National Tree Day and Schools Tree Day participants on July 31, 2009, and, August 2, 2009 respectively, and 12 alternate days throughout 2009.
  • This insurance policy includes cover for death and disability and personal injury.
  • For this cover to be effective each participant (including the site coordinator themselves) must sign in on the petition-style ‘Volunteer Registration Form’. These forms should be supplied at each Tree Day site by the Site Coordinator. ‘Volunteer Registration Forms’ for children under 18 years of age must be signed by their parent or guardian. This form can be downloaded from our web site.

Schools Tree Day Events:

Volunteer Insurance has been provided for Schools Tree Day, Friday, 31 July 2009 and 12 other dates.

The dates are:

  • Sunday 24th May
  • Friday 5th June  (World Environment Day)
  • Sunday 21st June
  • Saturday 25th July
  • Sunday 26th July
  • Saturday 1st August
  • Sunday 2nd August (National Tree Day)
  • Saturday 8th August
  • Sunday 9th August
  • Sunday 6th September
  • Saturday 10th October
  • Sunday 6th December

Also in early 2010:

  • Friday 19th March 2010

Schools plantings on other days:

Planet Ark have received legal advice on the issue of volunteer insurance for schools planting for Tree Day. Our advice is that plantings taking place as part of school’s curriculum activities are the responsibility and therefore the liability of the school.

Most schools are covered under the larger insurance umbrella of the Department of Education in each State. It would be a good idea to check the status of your school’s insurance and student cover when you chose to take part in Tree Day plantings.

In recognition of the planting site being the school’s responsibility, we do not require any proof of insurance or a Certificate of Currency for school plantings on ‘other’ days.

We do require that a school representative acknowledges that, whilst Planet Ark is the promoter of National Tree Day and Schools Tree Day, it takes no active part in the organisation or supervision of individual planting sites and that by choosing to plant on a date not insured by Planet Ark, activities are undertaken at the schools own risk and under the schools own insurance. This acknowledgement can be made by either signing a Schools Site Registration Form (download from our forms page) or by agreeing to this statement regarding insurance if registering on-line.

Safety and Accidents

  • The site coordinator should ensure that the planting site is as safe as possible to minimise the risk of any injury occurring
  • Where possible the site coordinator should hold a first aid certificate or have a nominated qualified first aider on site and must have at least a basic first aid kit available to treat any injuries that may occur.
  • Any injuries that do occur must be documented on an ‘Accident/ Incident Report Form’ and reported to Planet Ark as soon as possible. ‘Accident/ Incident Report Forms’ are available from the website, or by calling the National Tree Day Hotline on 1300 88 5000
  • Never admit liability – an incident is an accident until proven otherwise.

If you have any other questions about National Tree Day and Volunteer Insurance, please call the National Tree Day Hotline on 1300 88 5000.

This information can be downloaded as a pdf document by clicking on the link below.

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