Describe how health and safety legislation, policies and procedures promote the safety of individuals in a health or social care setting (M1)
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zaira (student)
Outlining how key legislations, policies and procedures in relation to health, safety and security influences health and social care settings (P2): Legislations, policies and procedures:How this influences health and social delivery in health and social care settings:Health and Safety at Work Act – This act is one which is applicable to employers and employees in a specified organisation. However, the employer has the responsibility to ensure the health and safety of their employees whilst on the premises. The employer has to carry out a risk assessment of the whole premises before the opening and should be checked and updated on a regular basis. A health and safety policy has to be written so employees are aware and therefore the employer should designate an individual to have the responsibility of the health and safety of the organisation. Records of accidents which take place on the premises should be recorded. The employees on the other hand, have part-responsibility for their own health and safety as they should take care of themselves as well as their colleagues and hence not act in a way which would put their own or another individual’s health and safety at risk.In relation to infant’s school, the Health and Safety Act would apply to the heat teacher, staff and students. Due to infants not being able to tackle health and safety on their own, it would become the responsibility of the staff to ensure that students are safe and at no risk. A health and safety policy should be produced and displayed at various aspects in the school to make staff aware of the policy and therefore in the case of an individual being at risk they would know what procedure should be followed. An example of this is the fire policy which outlines the procedure that has to be followed in the case of a
fire. Food Safety Act 1990 – The food safety act enables environmental health inspectors to inspect food to ensure food meets consumer’s expectations. However, if food is found in breach to the hygiene standards, improvement notices or closure can take place if the food is found to be hazards to health. In infant’s school, this legislation would need to be followed by the school ensuring that members of staff who are responsible for food safety, receive appropriate training and cooking is risk assessed in order to identify any risks to health.Food Safety (General food hygiene) Regulations 1995 – The aim ...
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fire. Food Safety Act 1990 – The food safety act enables environmental health inspectors to inspect food to ensure food meets consumer’s expectations. However, if food is found in breach to the hygiene standards, improvement notices or closure can take place if the food is found to be hazards to health. In infant’s school, this legislation would need to be followed by the school ensuring that members of staff who are responsible for food safety, receive appropriate training and cooking is risk assessed in order to identify any risks to health.Food Safety (General food hygiene) Regulations 1995 – The aim of this legislation is to identify and prevent food safety risks at all stages in preparation for example this legislation would help to prevent cases of food poisoning. The requirement to achieve this aim is to keep food areas clean and maintaining good standards of personal hygiene. Also, to prevent food poisoning and keeping food safety risks to a minimal, foods have to be cooked thoroughly, kept at correct temperatures and lastly, preventing cross contamination through using different utensils and equipment for meat.In infant’s school, kitchen staff have to be trained before being given permission to enter the kitchen. Through training, they will learn to keep personal hygiene so washing hands, tying hair back etc. as well as kitchen hygiene to prevent cross contamination which would be achieved through using different chopping boards, utensils and equipment for meat and other food ingredients.Manual Handling Operations Regulations – Under this regulation, it is stated that employees should avoid hazardous manual handling operations that could potentially cause injury, Also, employees are informed to assess any hazardous manual handling operations which cannot be avoided and reduce risks of injury as much as possible. To reduce risks of injury, it is important that when lifting objects, it is done in the safest manner and if required, use lifting aids when moving objects which cannot be handled manually. The head teacher in an infant’s school has the responsibility to ensure that members of staff are physically capable of handling objects without injury. The head teacher has to also ensure that manual handling risk assessments are carried out and therefore updated as of when necessary to do so. Before members of staff are allowed to manually handle any objects, they have to be given information and training so they use the correct procedure to do so to reduce the risks of injury. If a staff member has an accident or becomes injured due to manual handling, they have the responsibility to report this by using the accident and injury report system which is following The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR).Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) – This regulation states that any occurrences such as the following are reported to the Health and Safety executive or local council. These include deaths and major injuries, incidents causing an individual to be off work for 3 or more days, reportable diseases and finally, dangerous occurrences. By reporting occurrences which take place, it enables the local council and HSE to investigate further into the occurrence as to why, where and how it occurred. By doing this, such authorities can inform and provide advice to various organisations as to how to prevent or reduce the risks of injuries.In infants school, any incident to staff which requires treatment by a general practitioner or hospital, any dangerous occurrences or an event that could cause an accident for example a gas leak are the types of occurrences which are reported to the HSE. Once informing the HSE, the dangerous occurrence’s also recorded in the schools incident book. Infant schools have to have telephone numbers for emergency services as this would be the most appropriate procedure to follow in the case of a dangerous occurrence in order to address health and safety of everyone in the schoolData Protection Act 1998 – The data protection act involves personal information retained about an individual electronically and manually. Such information under this legislation should be kept confidential and therefore unauthorised access should be obtained. Personal data should be accurate, kept up to date and not stored for longer than necessary.The Data Protection Act in relation to infant’s school has to be obeyed to as personal information of the infants and staff has to be stored securely and only shared with other people on a need-to-know basis. This information has to be kept locked away and if in an electrical format it should be password protected. Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 – This regulation requires employers to carry out assessments, make arrangements to implement necessary measures, appoint competent people and arrange for appropriate information and training. This regulation also elucidates what employers have to do in order to manage the Health and Safety at Work Act. Risk assessments of the organisation have to be carried out and therefore the employer is responsible for ensuring the health and safety precautions are carried out which are recognised through the risk assessments. Training is another element under this regulation which has to be addressed by the employer in order to ensure that employers are fully aware of health and safety provision as well as emergency procedures.The head teacher in infant’s school is responsible for ensuring all employees in the school have undergone training so they are attentive of emergency procedures and health and safety provision. Due to infants not having the capability to always keep safe, it becomes the accountability of the staff members to keep the infants safe and free from risks of harm.Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) – COSHH entails employers to assess risks from hazardous substances and take appropriate precautions. If an employee is exposed to hazardous substances, health surveillance has to be carried out in the workplace. Also, employers have to prepare plans to tackle emergencies and accidents and train employees so they are aware of policies and procedures. COSHH is a regulation which has an influence to infant’s school as it has to be put into place for control measures. Staff have to control substances that can cause harm to students health. In infant’s school, staff should be given information, instructions and training before handling hazardous substances in order to keep themselves safe from harm. The main hazardous substances which are present in infant’s school are cleaning chemicals and therefore regulations under COSHH should be followed for example keeping hazardous substances locked away in cupboards which are out of the reach of the infants. Also, another regulation under COSHH which would be relevant to an infant’s school would be only allowing designated individuals to handle such substances ensuring that they are closed properly in order to prevent the smell reach students and staff as this would have an effect on their health if the smell of such substances is inhaled.
by
zaira (student)
