UNIT 208: Understand Health & Safety in Social Care settings Assessment criteria
[1.1] All businesses, of which social care is no exception, must abide by the Health & Safety at Work Act, commonly known as HASAWA, which started in 1974. This act outlines that all places of work should have a legal obligation to protect the health and safety of employees and protect them as much as is reasonable and proportionate from potential risks. This being the case the following legislation was put into place; COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health), RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations), Manual Handling, Food Safety, PPE (Personal Protective ...view middle of the document...
Any accidents, injuries or near misses are to be recorded in our accident book, issues with the home are to be recorded in the maintenance book and any marks observed on service users are to be body mapped in case of further complications or issues.
[1.3b] The main responsibilities of the employer/manager of a social care setting is to provide the home with policies and procedures that are kept up to date with current government legislation, and that all policies and procedures reflect new initiatives and changes to legislation. All staff are to be made aware of changes and should be made to understand their own responsibility for health and safety through training and the creation of designated roles which distributes individual responsibility for key tasks. The place of work must be kept safe and clear of hazards to ensure a good working environment for staff and a good living environment for service users.
[1.3c] All individuals that come into the home must follow the policies and procedures of the company in line with legislation. Anyone from a relative to a district nurse to a CQC inspector must follow all health and safety protocol, and in doing so record or report any accidents, issues or concerns through the relevant paperwork or to the home manager.
[1.4] Specific tasks that relate to health and safety which new staff should not attempt before relevant specialised training are anything relating to food preparation, personal care, manual handling, physical interventions, clinical waste disposal, medication administration, first aid or fire safety because these are all high risk areas that can compromise the standards of the home. Even if the individual has a current certificate from a previous employer which is in date, they may still need to be re-trained under the new company so they can ensure that their standards are met.
[1.5] To access additional information relating to health and safety you can access information on websites such as the HSE, GOV or CQC. You should have access to all policies and procedures in the home if you would like to read something yourself, you can ask other staff, ask questions in supervisions...