Understand health and safety in social care settings.
1.1 legislation relating to general health and safety in a social care setting would be
Health and safety at work act,
Manual handling operations regulations,
Control of substances hazardous to health regulations
RIDDOR
Health and safety first aid regulations,
Management of health and safety at work regulations.
1.2 The main points of the policies and procedures are to ensure everyone follows the same guidelines, is safe and to minimise the chance of accidents.
1.3 The main health and safety responsibilities of
The social care worker –
- To participate in health and safety training.
-To report any potential and actual hazards and risks to the employer.
-Be responsible for their
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-gloves and hair nets should also be worn in a kitchen and before any contact with food.
-plasters must be worn over any cuts.
5.1 The legislation that relates to moving and handling is …
-The manual handling operations regulations 1992.
-Provision and use of work equipment regulations 1998
-lifting operations and lifting equipment regulations 1992
5.2 principles for safe moving and handling
-ensuring there are enough staff available to lift or handle someone safetly.
-to ensure the appropriate equipment is available and used correctly.
-to ensure a pain free and dignified transfer.
5.3 & 6.1 moving and handling tasks must only be carried out following training because of the risk of injury to the client or the staff if equipment is not used correctly or the procedures followed.
6.2 you must always follow an individuals care plan and engage with them with assisting with mobility to ensure they are as relaxed as possible, not frightend. You must tell them step by step what is happeneing or going to happen. All equipment must be used as directed by care plan to ensure the client is safe and as pain free as possible whilst moving them, use of the correct equipment will also prevent any further injuries to the client and also to the staff doing the move.
7.1 hazardous substances that may be found in the social care setting would include..
The main aim is to make sure that no one gets hurt or becomes ill. Accidents and ill health can ruin lives, and can also affect business if output is lost, machinery is damaged, insurance costs increase, or if you have to go to court. Therefore carrying out risk assessment, preparing and implementing a safety statement and keeping both up to date will not in themselves prevent accidents and ill health but they will play crucial part in reducing their likelihood.
Outcome 1 Understanding the different responsibilities relating to health and safety in social care settings.
It is important to follow the care plan and communicate with each individual when moving and handling at all times as it promotes health and safety and safety of the service user and staff. Always explain to the service user what you are going to do, so they know what to expect. A care plan has all the information on the service user, for example, risk assessments, if they bruise easily or any injuries which could cause distress when moving and handling.
You have a great initial post for this week’s discussion. I agree, that using good body mechanics and assistive devices when lifting patients will decrease the risk for injuries and MSDs. Good body mechanics should be taught and used by all healthcare workers. As nurses we must take care of ourselves and stay healthy so that we can safely take care of our patients. Societal trends, such as aging and increasingly obesity of both healthcare recipients and healthcare workers have aggravated the problem of injuries and MSDs (American Nurses Association, 2013, p. 2). As the RN you can encourage the staff to work together as a team when transferring or lifting the patients. Working as a team will decrease the strain that is put on the body
To adhere with policies and procedures of organisation and health and safety legislation; emergency first aid tasks carried out incorrectly can be dangerous/ increase risks to the individual.
With the help of the support worker I transferred the patient from the ward to the anaesthetic room. Before moving the hospital bed I made sure all the safety checks on the bed were done, for instance, the brakes, the wheels and bed side rails. I also checked if the bed was going up and down, for example I could need to put a patient on the Trendelenburg position in case they vomited. According Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Health and Safety Act at Work 1974 (HASAWA), under the Provisions and Use of Work Equipment regulations (PUWER) which place duties on people and companies who own, operate or have control over work equipment.
Safe moving and handling will be achieved by following care plans, all policies and procedures, using all equipment provided. This ensures that both patients and staff are safe and reduces the risk of injury.
Your Policy manual should provide a review of the systems and policies for communicating information on health, safety and security to staff, clients and visitors in accordance with the legislative requirements (Diagrams and flowcharts can be used here).
Powered stretchers and stair chairs are an excellent way to move patients, but the added weight of the devices has caused other problems. When using powered transport tools, they must be married to a lifting system. Ramps and winches, powered lift gates, loading systems and no-lift cots are all necessities. We have to stop moving patients with a sheet drag. Responders cannot continue to poison their body with inflammatory foods, dehydrate themselves, consume high sugar and unnatural processed food products and expect to be in good health. The only way to really decrease injury is to have good mobility and flexibility, adequate job specific fitness and have access to the right
Beginning my research with brainstorming numerous problems that exists in nursing today, the problem of safe patient handling and mobility remarkably stood out the most. Having countless experience with nursing assistants, family members, and other nurses using incorrect body mechanics techniques have given me an urge to research this topic further. (American Nurses Association, 2015), “Injuries and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are common in nurses and are often caused by manually lifting and moving patients. This is more than just an inconvenience; these injuries are often life altering and career ending. The American Nurses Association (ANA) works to prevent injuries and protect nurses and other healthcare workers through Safe Patient Handling and Mobility (SPHM) programs and
Musculoskeletal injuries represent a significant occupational problem among nurses. In health care settings, injuries are very common among nurses and other healthcare workers on the job. In the U.S. healthcare industries, the rates of injuries in the healthcare profession is highest. Unfortunately, healthcare workers are always at risk of suffering many different types of physical harm on the job. Workers can also be injured by a variety of people or things they encounter on a daily basis in their jobs. These injuries usually occur from manual lifting, moving and repositioning, or ambulation of patients. Nurses Association (ANA) has declared that Safe Patient Handling and Mobility (SPHM) is a top health and safety concern for both nurses and
Ensure such direction conforms to existing enactment, controls and models. (Informed decision making in healthcare - new policy and guidelines, 2012). Have an unmistakable arrangement in regards to physical limitation just being utilized to forestall genuine damage in the administration of high-hazard practices when every single other option has been depleted. Ensure care staff is suitably prepared to ably actualize the framework and that refresher training is given all the time. Ensure individuals from staff know about the hazard related to the exercise of physical self- control. Give adequate help and supervision of staff (Nixon,
These occupations will be greatly impacted if the employee of this facility is not properly training on how to conduct safe lifting techniques. \
Within a health care facility, nurses and staff support perform patient handling such as transferring, positioning, and lifting patients, all of these which can result in overexertion injuries in health care workers.
Healthcare works are experiencing injuries from moving and handling patients. Research by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, shows healthcare workers often experience musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) at a rate exceeding that of workers in construction, mining, and manufacturing). Injuries are becoming a problem due to repeated manual patient handling activities. The patient handling usually involves heavy manual lifting associated with transferring and repositioning patients. The problem of lifting patients is compounded by the increasing weight of patients to be lifted due and the rapidly increasing number of older people who require assistance with the activities of daily living. This is such an important issues affecting healthcare that