Health and safety Essay Example for Free

Health and preventative Es labelHow legislation, policies and procedures relating to wellness, precaution and security influence wellness and sociable c atomic number 18 ambits Health and guard duty at organize act 1974 (HASAW) This act provides general guidance abtaboo health and arctic. The duty of the employer is to disembowel convinced(predicate) health and safety of their employees and show that they bear taken every attainable steps to do this. The employer should excessively give training and safety equipment, employers should carry out regular checks and improve and hurl in fix a health and safety policy. If employers rent much than five lag they watch to carry out a risk assessment to find whatsoever possible hazards to employees. Information should be displayed around the croak place for employees to see, for cause, this could be posters. The employees likewise have legal duty and this is to quest after their employers safety procedures, use th e safety equipment that is given, report any hazards, and be aw ar of their own safety and the safety of otherwises.HASAW promotes the safety of individuals in a health or social tutelage ground because employers tell their staff what to rules to follow and they also overprotect training on any safety equipment which makes the attend users to be in a safe purlieu and also that staff wont cause any harm to themselves or their clients as they have intercourse how to use the equipment properly and safely. Control of substances hazardous to health 1994 (COSHH) These orders refer to substances that could be hazardous, such as make clean products. These regulations influence c be scopes as staff be likely to use cleaning products or computer storage these products that could be knockout.Most condole with oscilloscopes allow have a list of all products that could be dangerous and show on how they plant to lower the risk in using them, this is as a lead of COSHH. COSHH 200 2 is to protect quite a little against danger to health, by instantly and long- full term from any conflict to substances found in the workplace. COSHH is to put in place the claimed requirements and a sensible approach for COSHH. Employers should carry out a risk assessment of all work which could put an employee into contact with hazardous substances. There ar important requirements with this legislation Assess the risks that occur when using a hazardous substance Come to a ratiocination on what precautions are neededControl or prevent expo accepted to employees of hazardous substances Make indisputable that all actions are used and maintainedMonitor where needed the employees come into contact with hazardous substances offer out pertinent health controlProduce plans and procedures to serve with chances, possibilitys and emergencies relating to hazardous substances Make certainly that all employees who use hazardous substances are accurately informed, trained and su pervised. COSHH covers the substances you use every day, which you might use at work-examples include adhesives and paint. COSHH also covers you when you come into contact with micro-organisms, biological and fungal and/or viral agents. COSHH risk assessments are to make a decision virtually what actions need to be put in place to wangle the hazards shown in substances. The result of this should be spoken about to all employees and a record has to be unbroken in a safe place, alone is accessible for inspections by enforcement bodies. The actions should be controlled and developed through an pronounce of mea trustworthysRemoving the substanceReplace the hazardous substance with less hazardous substances or the same substance but less hazardous Constructing control mea confident(predicate)s, such as working in a controlled environment To issue individualal protective equipment (PPE) and respiratory protective equipment (RPE) but sole(prenominal) as a last weft or for very haz ardous substances. The employers responsibilities are responsible for finishing COSHH risk assessments and speaking to the employees about the assessments. Employers are in charge of making sure control of exposure to hazardous substances are decorous and employers are also responsible to make sure that intensive examinations and tests of all engineering are followed at regular periods. A record of the inspection has to be unbroken for five years. COSHH promotes the safety of individuals in a health or social thrill setting by making sure that all actions necessary are taken to make sure staff fag outt come into contact with chemicals and peculiarly service users.For example, COSHH would be needed in a care home for batch with learning disabilities, this is because they wearyt always hold up what they are doing and therefor if cleaning chemicals werent put away in a locked cupboard the service user could drink it and become ill. Reporting of injuries, disease, dangerous occu rrences Regulation 1995- These regulations bind workplaces to record any disasters, injuries, diseases or dangerous occurrences. Every workplace should an accident reporting scheme and if an calamity happens toan employee who needs triple or more days off work, this has to be reported to the health and safety executive.In a number of care settings, it is common practice to have two accident books. virtuoso is for accidents that happen to staff and the other is for service users and members of the public. This info has to be stored in an accessible place and alter in accurately and immediately in the event of an accident. If an employee, child, a member of the public or a resident has an accident in the workplaces which leads to death the health and safety executive or local office staff moldiness be reported about this. If an incident occurs and means the employer is off work for more than three days a form needs to be sent to back up the conversation relating to the incident . The people who may be bear on in an investigation after an incident areThe employerThe insurance associationThe health and safety representativeThe enforcing inspectorThe training organisationRIDDOR promotes the safety of individuals in a health or social care setting by reporting any accidents to anyone and writing it in an accident book it means that the incident rout out be looked into and also a risk assessment erect be done on it to prevent it in the future. Manual handling 1992- This regulation includes a liberal range of manual handling activitiesLiftingLoweringPushingPullingCarryingThis regulation needs the employers to avoid the need for dangerous manual handling, assess the risk of injury from any dangerous manual handling that is otiose to be avoided and reducing the risk of injury due to dangerous manual handling. The employees responsibility is to follow the relevant schemes of work put in place for their safety, use equipment properly that is provided for their safety, work with their employers with health and safety issues, allow the employer know if the come across any dangerous handling activities and to take care to make sure the activities they dodont put others at risk. Manual handling promotes the safety of individuals in a health or social care setting because staff leave behind be trained on how to pick things up properly and therefore they wont hurt their back and by discriminating about manual handling means you wont harm any service users, for example if you was in a care home and you had to help an elderly person up from their chair, you would know how to do it correctly. info protection act 1998- This act s purloins that people who collect and use personal information follow rules of good practice for managing information. This act provides rights for individuals who have given their information and the information they use. Information that is collected should only be kept for a certain time frame. Confidentiality must be adhered to the strictest of confidence in health and social care environments, for example, patients may not want their family and friends to know their diagnosis. In this act it lays down that after someone dies there records have to be kept for eight years and cant be destroyed until the eight years is over. Treatment that children are given and maternity records have to be kept until they are 25 years of age, this changes if they die, and therefor will be destroyed at eight years. Data protection act 1998 promotes the safety of individuals in a health or social care setting by ensuring that all patients information is kept confident and isnt passed on to anyone.This way the service users are protected as they are not vulnerable from people because no one knows there details. elegant contingencies act 2004- This act refers to the chemical reactions of public run in crucial emergencies. This act gives instruction on anticipation, assessment, preparation, response and recovery before, during and after a serious threat to the public well-being. The law demands all the emergency services work together, for this to be done, simulation situations are set in motion to make sure that everyone involved are aware of their roles. This act promotes the safety of individuals because they are given support during an accident and after the accident and all services working together means the individual who is the victim gets all the help they can. wish well home regulations All care homes have to have a manager that is qualified in leaders and management in care services or are registered a managers award.This person is important because they make sure that all parts of a care home to which service users have access to be free of hazards and if there are any risks to the individuals risksassessments must be carried out to lower the risks that have been identified. If the manager believes that one of their staff is becoming incompetent or could on purpose cause har m to a service user, the manager can suspend that member of staff during an investigation. The care quality commission must be informed immediately by the manager if this situation arises. This regulation promotes the health and safety of individuals in a care home by making them less at risk of harm, so doing regular risk assessments ensures that all service users are safe. Care minimum standards- The study minimum care standards were written in 2003 following on from the care standards act 2000. 38 standards are set out under the care standards act 2000 by the secretary of state for health, along with the care home regulations.National minimum standards are only guidelines for providers, commissioners and users to assess the quality of care. Standards of care cover several(prenominal) services care homes for 65+ year olds, care homes for 18-64 year olds, domiciliary care, adult placement schemes and nurses agencies. from each one of these services should have a care plan for the ir clients which identify particular needs. Staff should get comme il faut training to make sure that their patients receive the identified care. Care minimum standards promotes the safety of individuals in health and social care settings by making sure all their needs are being met and their rights which makes them tonus safe. Management of health and safety at work regulations 1999- The management of health and safety at work regulations explain what employers are asked to do to maintain the health and safety at work act. They put into habitude for every work activity. When employers have more than five staff they have to carry out a risk assessment for the management.Employers have to ensure that all the health and safety preventative measures identified by the risk assessment are carried out, they have to make sure the capable people are selected to help put health and safety precautions emergency actions in place and employers must give clear information and training for the ir staff. This regulation promotes the safety of individuals in a health or social care setting by making sure that all employers have taken necessary steps to identify any risks that may cause harm to service users. Food safety act 1990- This act gives control to environmental health inspectors to inspect food and confiscate food that is unfit for human consumption and dispose of it. each organisation violating food hygienestandards can be served a notice of improvement and in primitive cases can be closed short term or long term if the practices are thought to be a health hazard. Organisations can be sued for breaching standards. This act promotes the safety of individuals in a health or social care setting by making sure all food is satisfactory for humans and if its not food will be confiscated or the service will be shut down temporarily. Food safety (general food hygiene) regulations 1995-This regulations goal is to prevent cases of food poisoning by laying down that Food champaigns are kept clean and acceptable standards of personal hygiene are controlled Food is thoroughly cooked throughFoods are stored at the right temperatureCross-contamination is preventedFood has to be stored correctly and use-by dates must be strictly followed. In health and social care settings the kitchen should meet all the requirements of the regulations. The kitchen should be docile to clean, meaning that the surfaces should be smooth stainless steel. There should be a separate sink to clean hands and to prepare foods. Anyone who has had an infection, such as being sick and had diarrhoea should not come into contact with food until they are free of symptoms until 48 hours. This regulation promotes the safety of individuals in a health or social care setting by making sure all food is thoroughly cooked so no service users get food poisoning and by preparing food properly will ensure that no infections are caused.Policies and proceduresSafeguarding- Legislation, policies and procedures for safeguarding vulnerable children and adults have made health and social care staff a lot more aware of what is known as pervert, and how to know that abuse may have already happened. These regulations will help you to understand what to do if you believe someone is being abused or a person tells you that they are. Procedures are in place to find people who have committed offences before to understate the risk to vulnerable groups. Safeguarding promotes the safety of individuals in a health or social care setting because understanding the rules will mean staff will be able to protect service users from abuse and other issues. Health and safety policy- All employers have to show their ownhealth and safety policies and procedures to say how they will operate under the law. The health and safety at work act 1974 declare that organisations have to have a health and safety policy.This promotes safety of individuals in health and social care settings by following the r ules correctly no one will come to any harm. Reporting accidents- An accident/incident book keeps records and has to be kept. This promotes the safety of individuals in a health or social care setting by recording any accidents means it can be risk assessed and prevented for in the future. Disposal of form waste- Any waste that is a potential threat of infection has to be disposed of correctly. Disposing waste safely you have to have had the right training, you have to wear person protective equipment and keep on top of good hand hygiene, report any hazardous handling and disposal of clinical waste to your manager, tend body fluids down the sluice or bags yellow bag is for infected waste and used swabs and dressings-these have to be incinerated and a clear alginate bag inside a red plastic bag is for sordid and infected clothing and line to be laundered.You should not try to clean up any spillages or collect and handle specimens until you are trained fully. When cleaning any spil lages you should make sure you are have on PPE. When you collect and handle specimens you should wear PPE, ensure the containers are suitable, sterile and dont leak, Containers should be labeled with relevant information and any forms accompanying it should be completed, and the results should be wrote in the patients records as soon as possible and highlight any unusual findings to the relevant people. This promotes the safety of staff in health and social care settings so they dont get any infections or diseases from handling other peoples body waste. Storage and dispensing of medicines- Staff who are in charge of medication should make sure that the drug trolley and cupboards are locked. The trolley should be locked against the wall when it is not being used.Medication that service users give to themselves should be in a personal cupboard and locked so no one else can access it. This promotes the safety of service users in many health and social care settings so they dont get th e wrong medication or so they are not given in addition little or too much so it doesnt cause any long term problems. Lone working- Lone working is filled with risks so therefore it is important that there are actions in place to protect and support them in work. There are policy and procedures which state how your safety will bemanaged. Mobile phone policy and procedures suggests to you how and when to use your mobile. Communication policy and procedures summarise about checking in and out of each visit and letting the office know when you have got home safely. Staff welfare policy and procedures ensure you are supplied with personal safety alarms. Staff learning and development policy and procedures supplicate you to go to personal safety and awareness training. Your main job when working alone is to know your purlieu and the likely threats to your personal safety.A disciplinary policy will lay down procedures for disciplining you if you are done for(predicate) to follow acti ons set up to protect you. This promotes the safety of service users and staff who use health or social care services by making sure the staff know what they have to do and by this it is keeping the service user safe. Security of premises, possessions and individuals- All workplaces will have procedures that are in place to protect the employer and employees and clients and their family. Sign in and out book for visitors to state the time they arrived and departed, security codes, staff ID badges and any other professional in that environment and chains on doors are ways to punch the premises. Personal possessions of service users should be kept at a minimum and leave all valuables at home but if valuable are needed to be stored they should be put in a safe and signed by 2 people. Individual security includes CRB checks and CCTV.The workplace will have procedures put in place to tell you how to deal with potential breaches in security, report and record these breaches and support o ther after the breach, Deal with bomb scares, theft and missing persons, manage challenging behaviour. This promotes the safety of service users in a health or social care environment by making sure no unauthorised person is in the building who could potentially cause harm to service users. CRB checks have to be done to make sure anyone who works within a health or social care setting arent going to cause any harm. When cleaning PPE should be used, COSHH, Storage, Risk assessments and health surveillance should all be thought about when cleaning in health and social care settings. This promotes the safety of individuals in a health or social care setting because it means the environment will be clean which means service users wont get any infections and the staff are protected by all the guidelines.Food safety- All things that should be considered with these policy and procedures is to make sure electric refrigerator and freezer temperatures arethe correct temperatures, Personal hy giene is up to a good standard, different dismal chopping boards for different kinds of foods, allergies are to be known, Records should be kept, utensils should be clean, be aware of cross-contamination, HASAW and food safety regulations should also be considered. This promotes the safety of individuals in a health or social care setting because it makes sure food is prepared correctly, cooked correctly and makes sure no cross-contamination or food poisoning occurs.Fire evacuation- If a go off was to occur, closing doors as you evacuate is a good idea as this will bleak down the fire by minimising the amount of oxygen getting to the fire, and this might even cause the fire to go out itself. When you are outside you should check that someone has called the fire service. You should look after others, more if they are confused or distressed, these people could be children or people with dementia. You should also make sure that no one is standing to close to the building, as it coul d collapse.Fire alarms should be tested regularly, staff should know what to do during an alarm, fire exits should be clear and easy to get to and there should be a designated area to go to. This promotes the safety of everyone in any health or social care setting by making sure everyone is out of the building safely when being evacuated and also by testing alarms make sure that everyone is aware of what has to be done when an evacuation has to be done.BibliographyHealth and social care, level 3, hand One, BTEC national book Publishers Carolyn Aldworth, Marilyn Billingham, Peter Lawrence, Neil Moonie, Hilary Talman. Published by Pearson education limitedPublished in 2010My notes from lessons and PowerPoints on Moodle.