Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995
There regulations apply to employers, self-employed people and people who are in control of the premises. Their duty is to report incident, work-related deaths and disease, major injuries and dangerous happenings to the local council or the Health and Safety Executive – HSE. These serious accidents are then investigated and ascertained as to why, where and how it is occurred. They can then advise the organisation on what to do to prevent or reduce such incidents.
Employees and employers at a care settings need to make sure that the incidents occurred in the setting are recorded and investigated properly. This can help that care settings to develop in the sense of safety as the staff and the service users will be more aware of the dangers and risks
Pre-school students are not really careful about their actions, and it is really hard to monitor them all the times because they always get up to something. It is quite easy to spot if something is wrong with the students because they would normally be crying if they are injured or and occurrence has happened. The school should make sure that they have enough staffs and teachers, who are trained and qualified, to look after the pre-schoolers.
Policy: record keeping, when somebody is injured, the employee needs to record all the details about how, when, who saw it, where it happened so that other staff member can know about it without misunderstanding. When Health and Safety Executive comes for investigation the employee can prove this record as evidence.
Procedures: you must report every incidents or accidents that have occurred in the work area properly and precisely, for example, it could be deaths; major injuries or over seven day injuries. By doing this the employer would be able realise all the factors that are present which causes accidents or incident and then they would be able to risk assess and minimise the threats.
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (CHOSHH) 2002
It is formed to make sure that employer control exposure to hazardous substances in the work place. Employer need to make sure that they have provided information, instruction and training for employees. They have to provide proper equipment to employees so that they will be safe from hazard. For e.g. they need to provide gloves if they are allergic to the cleaning spay. Employee need to make sure that they have put all the equipment in right order and stored in a safe place. They should not re-use containers designed for a different substance. They need to make sure that the storage areas should be locked and out of reach if the children are present.
If you are a care worker and you have an allergy to a certain kind of chemicals then this legislation helps you to get that safety equipment that will help to prevent your allergies. If you did the risk assessment then you will find out the hazards and you will know how to overcome it, and it also helps to make everybody safe including yourself as well. People get infected really quickly therefore this legislation helps to reduce it by proving policies on how to dispose used material such a gloves, aprons, marks, needles in its appropriate clinical disposal bin.
This act instructs how to store hazardous substances such as bleach, cleaning liquids, substances that are highly inflammable, in its proper place so it does not affect the health of anyone in the area.
Chemicals and cleaning products should always be locked away in the storage room when there are children involved. It is highly dangerous because children can, without knowing, drink the chemical which can have high consequences, also they can get the chemical in a sensitive area such as the eyes which can cause blindness. Chemicals should be only used when the students are not present, and it should be thoroughly cleaned after use.
Policy: in the work setting the employee designated as the health and safety regulator needs to do the risk assessment regularly so that all the other employees feel safe and secure. If they did the risk assessment then they can easily identify the hazards and find a solution to overcome it. Employer need to provide safety equipment to the employees, also they need to be fully trained and qualified for the job.
Procedures: if there are more than 5 employee then risk assessment must be written so that the information can be shared. They can do risk assessment by making a table. While doing the risk assessment they need to identify the hazards first and analyse how high the risk is and what they need to do to minimise it. They also need to write about how to monitor it. Every employee must be made aware of correct use and storage of hazardous substances.
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 is about security and welfare of every person at work, for protection others against risks to health, also prevent the unlawful acquisition, procession and use of dangerous substances. It is the responsibility of all employers to health, safety and social wellbeing of that staff contractors, visitors and members of the public on their premises at all times. The main requirement of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations is that employers must carry out risk assessments to eliminate or reduce risks. Employers with five or more employees need to record the significant findings of a risk assessment. It is recommended that staff receive health and safety training to assist in achieving their aims. In every work place maintenance of a working environment for employees that is safe, without risks to health, adequate as regard facilities and arrangement. Employers to minimise the health risks associated with manual handling which involves lifting, carrying, moving, holding, pushing, lowering, pulling or restraining an object or person.
Employers should:
- Avoid the need to life, carry, push, pull, lower or support loads wherever possible
- Mechanise task where they cannot be avoided by the use of trolleys, barrows, lifts or hoists
- Carry out risk assessments, which take into account the work task, the activity involved, individual capacity, working environment and other factors.
- Provide a safe work place
- Ensure there is a safe access to and from the work place
- Provide information on safety training
Employees have to:
- Take reasonable care for their own safety and others
- Co-operate with the employer and respect health and safety matters
- Not intentionally damage any health and safety equipment or materials provide by the employer
Health and Social Care Level 3
Unit 3 – Health and Safety and Security in Health and Social Care
