Health And Safety In Health And Social Care

Introduction Health and safety management is very vital in any given health and social care setting. There are too many risks associated with health and social care practice and as such, there is the need for effective health and safety management.This essay discusses the best practice of managing health and safety issue in healthcare with regard to legal framework. The first three learning outcome will discuss the best practice of implementing health and safety legislation in HSC. The next three learning outcome will try to Understand the ways in which health and safety requirements impact on customers and the work of practitioners in the health and social care workplace .Finally, The last three learning outcomes will discuss the best practice of monitoring and reviewing health and safety in HSC. 1.1 Review systems, policies and procedures for communicating information on health and social care workplace in accordance with legislative requirements Every health and social care organization have some legal obligation as contained in Health and safety act (1974) to ensure workers and patients are safe. The ability of North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust to meet these legal obligation as contained in the above legislation dependent on how well it communicate all health and safety relevant information to it workers. Below are several Policy, procedure and system that can be used to ensure health and safety related information is properly communicated Health andsafety policy- according to health safety excecutive regulation, every organization that has more that five worker must put in place Health and safety policy which must be displayed to a place visible by all employees. Health and safety Policy is document that commmunicates to employees the employer commitment and arrangement to meet the health and safety of workers, patients and other in a health and social care setting. It usually have three sections. The first section communicate the statement of intent, the second section communicate the responsibilities (i.e. who is responsible for what with regard to health and safety) and the final section communicates the arrangement.i.e., what is to be done in practice (HSE 2015). Incident and accident reporting form- this is a form used to report accidents and incidences. It help in simplifying accident reporting and also provide formal documentation of safety issue as required by RIDDOR Act (1995). The basic purpose of Incident and accident Reporting form is to ensure accident or incidences are properly commyunicated to the relavant authority and record of the same maintained. Induction– another system for communicating health and safety information in health and social care is through induction program. As mentioned by Severson (2013), new employees are the most likely to caused accidents due to lack of experience. They therefore need to be provided with adequate information in regard to health and safety of patients and that of fellow workers through induction process. Regardless of which the system, policies and polices used to communicate health and safety information, preciseness, clarity and simplicity should be used to pass information . This will ensure message is passed and understood by the recepients. 1.2 Assess the responsibilities in a specific health and social care work place for the management of health and safety in relation to organizational structure. Under the various legislation relating to health and safety at workplace include health and safet act 1974, Employers are under duties to ensure they provide safe work place, safe equipment and personal protective equipment to protect both employees and non –employees (e.g Visitor, patients etc) from potential harm. The management at North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust therefore has several responsibilities to fulfil. These include; • ensuring there is adequate system, policies and procedure for identifying and preventing potential accidents • ensure equipments used are safe • ensure the environment in which employees and non-employees work and live in is clean to protected them against infections • ensuring staffs are well trained in excuting their mandate. This help reduce human error that most lead to accidents ( HSE 2014) Failure by management to meet their legal reponsibilities as stipulate by various legislations can lead to severe consequences not just for the organization but also to the board collectively or to the individual members (IOD no date). If an accident or incidence that have negative impact on health and safety to the victim occurs and such incidence or accident is attributed to an omission, negligence or ignorance by directors or a member of director, then the board or the member of the board can be prosecuted under the health and safety Act 1974section 37. Additionally, when the board or member of the board is found guilty of a health and safety offence, they can be disqualified from holding such a position in any company under section 2 ofCompany Directors Disqualification Act 1986. Employees also do have some legal responsibility under health and safety act 1974 in regard to their health and safety . They are required to; • Take reasonable care for themselves and other at workplace • They should not put themselves or others at risks by what they do (or omit to do) • They should aslo coperate fully with their employers on matter relating to health and safety 1.2 Analyse health and safety priorities appropriate for a specific health and social care work place In order to be effective in health and safety management, it is important to identify health and safety needs or potential Risks and then set priorities. In the children care section at North Staffordshire combined healthcare NHS trust; there are several health and safety risks that are likely to mature. One is spread of infection. Many small children lack basic skill on simple hygiene routine such as washing their hand after loo or before eating. Lack of such basic skills and knowledge increases their change of infection. Additionally, children naturally like to explore their environment. They do so by using their sense to touch, smell and taste different thing that are available to them include the most toxic and hazardous one.Also children naturally like playing. All of these and other thing done by children is associated with some risks. It is therefore important for managers at North Staffordshire combined NHS trust to set health and safety priorities in children care services taking into account the various activities done by children. The following priority may be necessary • Create awareness and developing skills relating to hygiene in order to prevent infection • Ensure safe playing ground and children friendly environment. Ensure that equipment used in children care are suitable and are handled and stored wells. For instance, cleaning detergent, medicines, and other toxic and hazardous equipment and chemical need to be kept away from children reach • Training of staffs dealing with employees to ensure their monitor their environment and practice their duties and a manner that promote employees health and safety. 2.1 Analyse how information from risk assessments informs care planning for individuals and organizational decision making about policies and procedures Under health and safety act 1974, organizations have duty to assess the health and safety risks that might arise from their operation. Risk assessment is an in-depth examination of the work of the organization to identify factors that can cause harm to employees, patients and their families (HSE 2013). Risks assessments provide valuable information for care planning. Care planning involves making decision on how to deliver safe, responsive and effective care to patients (NHS choice 2015). The information collected during risk assessment help in identifying risk factors that may arise during care delivery such as wrong drug prescription, falls, among other. This information is vital in the care planning as it inform the protetcive measures that need to be taken into account when offering care to avoid, minimize or isolate all the potential risks. In our case scenario, risk assessment could have detected the potential risks of using large sling on transferring 90-yr old Alice Belle. This could have informed the choice of sling size to be used by nurses on such a patient hencepreventing the accident that occured. 2.2 Analyse the impact of one aspect of health and safety policy on health and social care practice and its customers In health and social care practice, a lot of lifting, moving and transfer activities take place. These may involve laundry, patients, and other objects. All these activities have the potential of causing harm to employees as well as the patients. It is therefore important to manage such risks effectively. According to HSE (2015a), leadership support is required for effective management of risks associated with handling and transfer activities. This support need to be clearly expressed in health and safety policy on lifting and handling. Having in place a health and safety policy on lifting and handling have several benefits for the organization. To start with, it help prevent potential risks that may result for use of inappropriate equipment in handling and lifting patients ( British safety council 2014). In our case scenario, Such policy could have provide adequate Guidenace to staffs on the type of hoits and the sizes of sling to to use on each patient.This could have helped prevent the fatal fall accident that occurred when handling and trnafering the 90 year old alice Belle. 2.3 Discuss the dilemmas care workers will encounter in carrying out health and safety policies and procedures In a healthcare setting, there are several dilemma care worker may encounter when implementing the health and safety policies and procedures. One of the dilemma occurs where an employees is required to make a decision of either to promote patient rights or address the health and safety issues. The health and social care practice in done in manners that promote patients rights including right to privacy, right to freedom and autonomous. Employees are required to promote all of these rights. Equally, they are also required to provide health and safety protection to their employees.However, in some cases a health and safety concern may occurs and for it to be address one or more of patients’ right will be breached. For instance, when person with a history of lighting fire is allowed to take a walk outside the healthcare facilities unsupervised, it would be necessary to search her/him upon returns to ensure they don’t have matches or any lighting tools so as to protect other from potential risks of fire. While such action may be deemed necessary in order to protect others from fire it may also constitute breach of servicer user privacy. When such a scenario occurs, employees find themselves in a dilemma of either addressing the health and safety concern or promoting the rights of the patients. Since care worker are responsible for ensuring patient right are promoted and also there are protected from any health and safety risk,it is important that a balance between the two conflicting role is found. This can be done by creating awareness to the patient about the risks and the need to address it as well as the potential impact it can have on them. Let the patient know the role of employees and employer in management of the risks and also discuss with them the process required to address the risks and the potential breach of their rights that might occurs in the process. 2.4Analyse the effects of non-compliance with health and safety legislation in a health and social care workplace As mentioned earlier, health and social care organizations have legal responsibilities for ensure their employees or anybody else that might be affected by their activities is safe. These responsibilities are place on them by a number of legislations the major one being the health and safety act 1974. Failure to comply with these legislations can have severe legal and professional consequence for the organizations or care worker involved. To start with, an organization can be sued both under criminal and civil law. For instance if due to it negligence, death of patient occurs, a care organziation can be prosecuted under criminal law for murdering the patients. These can attract severe consequences including improsement of director or employee involved and in some case it can led to fine. In our case scenario, the failure by south Birmingham PTC to comply with section 3 (1) of health and safety act 1974 led to their prosecution where they were found guilty of failing in their duty to protect patients from risks that arise from their operation. They were fined £20,000 and had also to pay £17, 500 as costs of case. Secondly, Non-compliance can also led to statutory closure of business/operation. Under the care standard act 2000, any health and social care organization that demonstrates consistent failure to meet the necessary national standards of health and social care (including health and safety standards) should be de-licensed and should cease to offer health and social care services Thirdly, Non-compliance with legislations can also lead to professional consequences. In cases where organization’s directors are found guilty of failing in their duty to protect employees and other in their organization, they can be disqualified to be director of any Company under Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986. 3.1Based on the information given in the document explain how health and safety practices are monitored and reviewed Monitoring health and safety practice is very vital in health and social care setting. It helps in detecting and preventing problems before they become serious health and safety accidents or incidences. Evidence has shown that proper monitoring of health and safety practice led to significant reduction in accident rate, insurance premium, injuries, sick leaves and absences (IOD n.d).In the given case scenario, proper monitoring by the nurse helped prevent possible health and safety issues (especially falls) that might have arisen due to inability of the hoist to stand firm and move smoothly in the carpet. There are numerous ways in which health and safety practice are monitored and reviewed. These include risk audits, reflective practice, safety drills. Risks audits refer to a formal procedure of assessing and reporting potential health and safety risk in the organization (Reason 2007).Risks audit help in identifying potential health and safety risks hence better prevention.For risks audits to be effective, it needs to be carried out by competent individual who is trained to do so. Reflective practice involves take time to think how a task could be done better or could have been better. Reflective practice is a skill that can be learned. Care worker should be trained to put logical thinking in the process (either before or after) delivering care services to evaluate how best the service is to or could have been offered. This practice help identify possible risks in the practice which help to prevent them. According to AHS (2010),thismethod always led to continuous improvement in health and safety practice. Health and safety policies and procedure in the organization as they guide care worker behaviour and decision in relation to health and safety matter. They therefore need to be reviewed regularly to ensure they are led to best practice. 3.2 Analyse the effectiveness of Health and Safety policies and practices in the workplace in promoting a positive health and safety culture For effective health and safety management in healthcare organizations, there must exists a culture where everybody is aware and play his and her role and responsibilities in promoting healthy and safe working environment. Health and safety policy are very essential in promoting such culture. According to HSE (2015c), the health and safety policy promote a positive culture by clarifies roles and responsibility as far as health and safety is concerned and also by providing a practical arrangement of ensuring health and social care services are practiced in a manner that is healthy and safe for everybody in the organization.This creates awareness among care worker of what need to be done for healthy and safety purpose. Additionally, healthy and safety policy is an implementation of the various legislations relating to health and safety issues in an organization. For instance, health and safety policy on handling of patients by specifying type of eqipment to be used for safe handling and lifting of patiens is an implementation of health and safety act 1974 that requires organization to use safe equipment (Stranks 2010). Therefore, since most health and safety policy in care organization need to be based on various health and safety legislation, they promote a culture of compliance with law. 3.3 Evaluate own contribution in placing health and safety needs of individuals at the centre of your practice. As a health and social care professional, I have the responsibilities of putting patient healthy and safety need at the centre of everything I do. First of all, I have to behave in a manner that does not put my own health and safety at risk as well as those of my patients. According to IOSH (2014) majority of health and safety accidents and incidences on patients are contributed by staff behaviours. In acknowledgment of this fact, I always observe carefully my behaviours by avoid omission as much as possible, following procedure and policies where applicable and executing my duties diligently to avoid negligence. Moreover I avoid assumption and trial and error approach in executing my duties and as such I always asked where I do not know. In addition, to ensure that I do not contribute to accidents, I watch my behaviour by ensuring I use suitable equipments to execute various activities and make sure I inspect them before use. I also ensure I place them in a safe place during or after use to ensure they do not cause harm to patients and other. For instance, when using a hoist to move patients, I first of all check thehoist to ensure it working properly. After uses Ialways keep it a designated area. Furthermore I always consult widely with my patients to understand their health and safety needs. I also carry individual patient risks assessment to identify and prevent possible health and safety risk. Conclusion It is very clear from this essay that health and safety management is crucial and should be at centre of care delivery.For implementation of health and safety practice should start top to bottom. Manager should play their role which includes establishing and communicating system, policies and procedure for safety and health.