Unit504.docx Develop health and safety and risk management policies, procedures and practices in health and social care or children and young people’s settings

Unit504-K/602/3172-Develop health and safety and risk management policies, procedures and practices in health and social care or children and young people’s settings 1.1 The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 is the main piece of the health and safety legislation in Great Britain. It provides the legal framework to promote and encourage high standards in the workplace. The Act when first introduced provided an integrated system dealing with workplace health and safety and the protection of the public from work activities. By placing duties upon employees, employers, to be responsible for every individual accessing the environment. The protection of the law rights and responsibilities are available and given to all at work. An employer has a general duty to, as far as is reasonably practicable to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of employees and visitors by ensuring that the environment is safe. There should be safe handling, storage, maintenance of the environment and fit for purpose for those that use it. Provision for employees of information, instruction, training and supervision should be provided on induction to the workplace also ensure a safe working environment and adequate welfare facilities, safe access and a safe system of work. Where there are five or more employees, an employer has an absolute duty to provide a written health and safety policy and to ensure that all employees have seen it. The legislative framework for health and safety is to understand the framework, the difference between acts and regulations and the roles and responsibilities of the Health and Safety executive role of service managers, team leaders, employees and residents under the law e.g. Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999. (amended 2003) RIDDOR 1995 COSSH 1994 (amended 2002) Manual Handling Operations 1992 Food Safety Act 1990 Food Regulations 2006 Regulatory Reform. Fire Safety Order 2005 Protection of Vulnerable Adults (POVA) 2004 1.2 The company I work for has its own clearly written policies and procedures which are stored within the workplace and updated as and when required. The policies contain information for employees in relation to health and safety practice within the work place and risk assessment and management procedures. The policies and procedures meet requirements by been evaluated on an ongoing basis, with updated information been implemented. Any changes are explained to all employees with clear procedures in place to follow and adhere to. We have a designated individual within the workplace who is responsible for ensuring that any updates to health and safety requirements or risk management is implemented without delay and this is then communicated across the entire staff team during staff meetings, daily handovers and formal supervision. We also have a maintenance team who are responsible for attending to any health and safety issues and we have a clear system in place for reporting any areas of concern to the maintenance team by staff writing any concerns in the maintenance file. This file is checked daily by the maintenance team. In times of problems during out of hours the company has a direct contact number staff can contact regarding any issues 24 hours a day. 1.2 The Essential Standards for quality and safety state that the agency delivering the care has a comprehensive health and safety policy written procedures for health and safety management defining; individual and organizational responsibility for health and safety responsibilities and arrangements or risk assessments under the requirements of the health and safety at Work Regulations (1999) (management regulations). Within my work place we have in place one main health and safety policy and then individual policies and procedures for certain areas such as fire safety, COSHH, first aid etc. Within these individual policies and procedures, most of them have guidelines on how to comply with guidance sheets. These guidance sheets can be anything from posters for the home such as locations of first aid boxes to health and safety checklist for hoists and slings. Also within most of these individual policies and procedures, there are inspection forms for different areas of the home to ensure that you are compliant with health and safety always. Inspection forms are completed on the following areas of the home; kitchen, laundry, housekeeping, bathrooms and toilets, care home (all communal areas), ladders, wheelchairs, bedrooms and all hoists and slings. The manager completes these inspection forms once a month to ensure that the home is compliant. The manager either delegates an individual daily (which I have done through daily walkarounds) to check the home or checks herself and if there are any changes, they can be addressed quickly. FIRE Within the home setting, different assessments for fire safety are completed. Within this area, there is a detailed fire risk assessment. There is also a list confirming where every fire extinguisher is situated, there location and their type. This is to ensure that if one is damaged or goes missing and the location reported it can quickly be replaced with ease. When completing fire drills within the home, each time a different break point is used to ensure that they are working correctly, this is also documented on record sheets. Then the fire safety officer inspects the home, this is then shown that the home is routinely checking the fire safety within the building. Staff are also trained regularly and kept up to date with fire safety to ensure that all are aware of the risks and how to deal with a fire. COSHH Within the home, there is data sheets for every substance that we use. This is to check to see what substances are made of and if there are hazardous. There is a register and within this register, it identifies which of the substances are hazardous to the staff and residents and what the risks are. This register is kept with the substances in the housekeeper’s store. If any of the substances have a risk, a risk assessment is completed detailing what the risk is and how to reduce it and if there are any other special precautions. LIFTING EQUIPTMENT Within the home we have a hoist and an electric stand aid. Each of these pieces of equipment have their own risk assessment and monthly inspection forms. The slings that are used with the equipment are also inspected monthly. This is to ensure that the equipment and the slings are safe to use always and if things are noticed such as damaged strapping, they can quickly be replaced before any potential harm is caused. The hoist and electric stand aid are also inspected regularly by engineers to ensure that they are working correctly and in line with LOLER Regulations. Each piece of equipment that moves, have moving and handling risk assessments and details of how the equipment should be used to move the resident’s safety and what slings the resident should be using. They also detail the risks to the staff and resident and other risk factors that need to be taken into consideration such as the environment and the residents health. It will also detail how many staff will be required to complete the task and will also give detailed information such as if the task is suitable to a pregnant carer. These moving, and handling risk assessments are reviewed monthly and are kept in the resident’s care plan for all staff to see. FOOD SAFETY Within the home the manager completes monthly inspections within the kitchen areas. These inspections cover both health and safety and food hygiene. The health and safety inspections as it suggests covers all areas of the kitchen including the environment, LOLER and pest control. The food hygiene inspection covers all aspects of food safety and is based upon ‘Safer Food Better Business’. 2.3 If there is ever any doubt that health and safety/risk management procedures and practices are not being adhered to, then immediate action is required. Within my workplace we have a responsible individual who ensures that risk assessments are up-to date and are factual. However, the staff and management team have an overall responsibility for reporting any areas or issues, which may jeopardize the safety and well- being of individuals. The usual course of action taken when a health and safety issue is highlighted is to contact the company maintenance team who will address any issues without delay and ensure that necessary steps are taken to amend the problem. There are however at times, instances whereby a staff member may not be following basic procedures or may be taking unnecessary risks in relation to health and safety issues. This again is dealt with swiftly and without delay, usually through formal supervision or immediate action by the management team. At times, simple refresher training is all that is required to ensure that a repeat of the same action does not occur again. If non-compliance is down to a resident, then advice and support is offered, and clear expectations and guidelines are explained, to prevent further occurrences the information is logged, recorded and shared with any necessary parties such as, family and social workers. 4.3 As a Senior Carer, I constantly evaluate my own practice by promoting a balanced approach to risk management. I do this by walking around the unit I work on observing for any hazards that may pose a risk. I then if possible remove the hazard myself, if unable I report the hazard to maintenance, domestic staff and management. Daily walk rounds are part of our daily schedule and a designated member of staff will walkaround the whole building giving a second set of eyes in case some hazards had been missed. Health and Safety is top priority and is mentioned daily in flash meetings and all staff and resident’s meetings when they occur. There are times when a hazard posed by a resident may not be suitable, such as, a resident wanting an extension lead for more electrical sockets. A full explanation would be given as to why this would not be practicable, and a compromise would be made if possible. I evaluate my own practice by ensuring that I continue to hold regular consultation with my manager to discuss issues as they arise and forward plan. 4.4 Helping others to understand the balance between risk and rights greatly improves practice, as it shows that you are not just making decisions, but you are consulting people about why a certain decision may have to have been made and explaining the reasons for this. Formal supervision with staff members, and regular resident’s meetings creates a forum for discussion and allows for reasoning, explanations and understanding to take place. Once somebody understands the reason why a decision may have to have been made, they then begin to understand that it is for the benefit of themselves and in the best interests of all concerned. This in turn greatly improves practice as it creates a more open environment for future discussion to take place and compromise to be achieved. The Human Rights Act was brought in to ensure that people’s rights were upheld always. To help people understand and guidance about helping others to understand the balance between risk and rights, alongside The Human Rights Act, other legation such as The Mental Capacity Act is used. Also alongside this the Deprivations of Liberty guidelines are also used to ensure if for any reason someone in our care who lacks capacity and is being deprived of any of their liberties, they reasons are analyzed and the rights vs. risk to the resident are managed accordingly. This ultimately will help others to understand that even if there are risks to a resident, this does not mean that they must stop doing a task, it means that the task needs to be managed effectively and the risk reduced as much as possible for the resident. All staff are made aware of this as documented within the resident’s care plan. 5.2 All health safety and risk management policies, procedures and practices within the work setting are evaluated regularly. The risk assessments regarding the residents are a live document and may fluctuate on a regular basis, according to the needs of the individual. Any updated information is recorded appropriately, and all necessary parties are informed, social worker, the individual and their family. The staff team is then given guidance on how to ensure that any updates are adhered to through the flash meetings and daily handovers. Health and safety policies and procedures are reviewed and evaluated annually, or before if required and any areas of concern are addressed without delay and reported appropriately. It is good that staff are involved in flash meeting and handovers, this means that any concerns are known by all and that can be acted upon immediately to reduce harm to others. There is always room for improvement as Health and Safety is amended as and when needed. So, then all staff are made aware of any amendments to any Regulations or homes policies and procedures and to adhere to the changes. 5.3 An area of improvement was to add codes to the top floor lift. Top floor is a residential floor but also houses some Dementia residents who are unable to understand the risks of leaving the building unescorted. There have been occasions when a resident had made their way to ground floor any was let out of the building by a visitor who did not know the individual was a resident. Therefore, in the best interest of all involved a code was added to the lift. This decision was made by the company, management, DOLS team, maintenance, Fire chief, all staff and residents and family input. It was also added that cameras be placed in main reception area to monitor movement to and from. All residents who have capacity are aware of the code and the reasons it was put in place and are not restricted in any way. Julie Weldrake