a)Review the way in which, in your own workplace, the systems, policies and procedures for communicating information on health and safety comply with legislations. In order for health and safety policies to be effective, it is vital that the employer promoted good awareness by using different types of communication such as written, graphics and verbal. The Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulations 1989 (HSIER) puts a duty on all employers which is to display an approved health and safety law poster in every workplace or to make sure that all the employees receive an approved leaflet with the same information.
In my old workplace, all employees received health and safety training before they started. It included simple training such as a fire evacuation procedure which is usually a mix of verbal and written material. It is important that every employer has a policy for training their employees which is based on an assessment of the risks that can occur within the workplace and training needs to be relevant to the risks within the workplace. For example, in my old workplace, staff help when each other when it comes to moving the residents and training is required about safe ways of moving and handling.
Verbal communication is good for situations that need a quick reaction, but only very simple information should be communicated verbally only. For example, when I hand over my shift I give the 24-hour report (which is a report of my shift) to the person who is taking over and I tell them details about the most important things that have happened that they need to know about. When there is something that everyone needs to be aware of in my workplace it is sometimes communicated in a staff meeting at the start of a shift – for example when there is a ater leak in one of the bathrooms that is making the floor slippery and dangerous to the residents they can tell us in the staff meeting that no one is allowed to use that bathroom until the plumber has fixed it. Anything that has to be reported outside the company has to be written down, so incident reports about workplace injuries always have to be written down. RIDDOR puts a duty on employers to record and report some types of accidents or injuries, and they have to be able to show that they have been keeping appropriate records if the HSE come and ask.
It also says what sort of records need to be kept about incidents in the workplace, for instance there is an online form that you can fill in with details of workplace accidents to report them to the HSE and it also gives you a copy to print for your own records. RIDDOR also tells you what sort of incidents need to be recorded and reported. The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals Regulations) 1996 state that it is vital that employers display safety signs where there is a hazard that hasn’t been controlled or avoided by other means.
They also have signs in the form of pictures, for example, the “no smoking” sign with a red boarder and a diagonal red line crossing through the picture meaning you are not meant to do this within the premises. It is important that staff are all instructed and made aware of the different meanings of the signs in the workplace. They should act as reminders for the staff training they have already taken part in. The Health and Safety at Work Act 19774 (HASAWA) is the primary piece of legislation that covers occupational health and safety.
L01. 2 b)Again, for your own workplace, assess responsibilities for the management of health and safety at each level within the organisation’s structure. A diagram would be a helpful addition here. The responsibilities when it comes to managing health and safety in Dulwich Care Centre begins with the Health and Safety Executive, also known as HSE which is known to be a national body established by the Health and Safety Work Act 1974.
The HSE is also responsible for ensuring that he act works on a day o day basis, this means carrying out inspections of workplaces when a major incident has occurred or when it is believed that regulations have been breached. If they think that there are any problems when it comes to health and safety in a workplace that they have inspected, they can issue a notice for improvement, telling the employer that they need to fix the issues within a certain amount of time. If they fail to follow this, it can lead to a prohibition notice which is closure of the workplace.
The Care Quality Commission, also known as COC is responsible for ensuring that the care homes have a sufficient standard to provide safe and dignified care to their residents. Part of this is about ensuring that appropriate health and safety measures are used in care homes. The CQC’s essential standards have two sections that impact on health & safety: “Safety & suitability of premises” and “Safety & suitability of equipment”.
The CQC leads investigations where residents have been hurt because of unsafe conditions or poor-quality care and if it finds that the workplace is not being kept safe then it can even shut it down. At my old workplace, Dulwich Care Centre, when the CQC inspecting the home in 2013, there were many failings when it came to health and safety, including ones which put residents at a high risk. This care home was caring for patients with dementia who had no registered mental health nurse. Also, it was very understaffed and there had been several incidents that had resulted in injuries to the residents.
The inspectors believed that due to the workplace being understaffed, it would make it a lot easier for the residents to injure themselves in the future. At the end of the inspection, a notice was issued demanding that the floor with the dementia patients needed to be shut down. A notice for improvement was also issued and they were told they would be inspected again in a year. This showed that non-compliance with health and safety regulations can have very serious consequences for everyone.
The centre is owned by TD Bailey Investments, and the management and board of this company are responsible for ensuring that health & safety law is followed throughout the business. They are supposed to perform a risk assessment of their business, write a health & safety policy, arrange for protective measures to reduce any risks, arrange for employer’s liability insurance, and make sure they have access to competent advice about health & safety and consult with their employees about it.
They are also responsible for monitoring health & safety in their business. ADD HERE WHO HAS RESPONSIBILTY FOR COSHH RIDDOR, FIRE MARSHALL, FIRST AIDER SAY WAS NOT GOOD ORGANISATION L01. 3 GO TO SHARE POINT, THE HSE BOOKLET ON CARE HOME SAFETY, PAGE 32 c)Give examples to show how, in your own activities, you analyse and give priorities to, specific aspects of health and safety. You should think about conflicting priorities. The HSE publishes guidelines about all of the different risks that are common when it comes to care homes and how to manage these risks.
In Dulwich Care Centre, this guidance is very useful when it comes to thinking about the health and safety priorities for the workplace. This first priority is making a health and safety policy and carrying out a risk assessment due to the fact that it is important that the risks are understood so carers know how to avoid or reduce them. It is also important that having a system of reviewing incidents is in place so staff can learn from their mistakes and improve health and safety in the workplace and also comply with RIDDOR.
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) puts a requirement on people in charge of workplaces to record and report certain type of serious accidents, diseases and near misses (for example if some machinery falls down and lands next to someone, although they are not harmed they could have been killed if they were standing a foot more further forward). The HSE has an online form for reporting incidents, which will also print a copy for the employer’s records.
This is important because if HSE come to inspect the workplace they will need to see evidence that the employer is keeping a record of accidents and dangerous incidents. In a workplace like a care home, it is usually the manager’s job to report incidents to the HSE for RIDDOR. Things that have been reports to HSE include someone dying, someone being injured at work. These include most fractures, serious burns or scalds, amputations, injuries that cause damage to the eyes and more, someone who is unable to work for more than 7 days because of an accident and occupational diseases such as carpal tunnel syndrome or repetitive strain injury.
TASK 2 An incident took place in a specialist residential unit for adults with learning disabilities which resulted in the death of an 18year old service user – Connor Sparrowhawk. Connor, who was epileptic and had autistic traits was admitted to the unit on 19th March 2013 and dies 4th July 2013 after having been found submerged in his bath. LO2. 1 a)How information from risk assessments carried out for Connor Sparrowhawk immediately after he was admitted to Slade House could have resulted in better care planning for him and in improved organisational policies and procedures.
Risk assessments are a systematic process of evaluating the potential risks that may be involved in a projected activity or undertaking. For example, hazards that could cause harm to people and what to do to avoid them to get hurt. The importance of risk assessment is to improve the completeness and accuracy of work and control measures to avoid loss, damage or injury in the workplace. LO2. 2 b)The impact of the risk assessment policy and practice in place at Slade House on Connor and his family LO2.
c)The effect of non-compliance with RIDDOR at Slade House Compliance means adhering to the requirements of laws, industry and organisational standards and codes, principles, of good governance and accepted community and ethical standards. Non-compliance with RIDDOR can lead to convictions for breach of this legislation. L02. 4 d)Finally, to complete task 2, you should discuss the likely dilemmas related to Connor’s care at Slade House and how they could have been addressed.
