Standard 13
Standard 13
Health and
Safety
What you need to know
Standard
THE CARE CERTIFICATE WORKBOOK
Health and
safety Legislation relating to
general health and safety
in health and social care
Legislation (that is, laws) is made so that everyone in society knows which behaviours are
acceptable and which are not. Laws cover all aspects of our lives including protecting the
health and safety of people at work and those affected by work activities including those
who receive care and support.
Legislation
This term is used to describe laws and the process of creating statutory guidance on
the legal rules that affect people in society.
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 – sets out how employers, employees and the
self-employed must work in a safe way, giving every person on the work premises legal
duties and responsibilities. As this act is very general, subject-specific ‘regulations’ have
also been put in place to help every workplace to be safe.
www.hse.gov.uk/legislation/hswa.htm
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 – are about how
health and safety is managed within a care workplace, including risk assessment, training
and ensuring employees receive the information they need.
www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/3242/contents/made
The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) have
specific requirements relating to work equipment which is used for lifting and lowering
people or loads.
www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery/loler.htm
Most employers have a health and safety policy which sets out how they will protect
everyone who is affected by their business, including employees, visitors, contractors and
individuals who access services. Even if your role involves working in the private homes
of individuals you need to know what health and safety legislation applies there. Ask your
manager about policies that are in place to support your health, safety and wellbeing in all
the places in which you work.
What all policies and procedures have in common is to tell everyone how to do something
or what must be in place to make sure all people are safe.
Policy Procedure
A policy is a formal course of action that A procedure is the way in which a task
everyone must follow. must be completed or carried out.
Policies must give clear instructions so that everyone is kept safe and no one is harmed
through the work that is being carried out. You must familiarise yourself with your own
workplace health and safety policy and procedures.
An example of how you can take reasonable care of those within your workplace would
be to report anything that could cause someone to trip or fall, like a frayed carpet or a wet
floor, and take any action that you are asked to do.
Others
Others could include anyone who could be affected by what you do including your
colleagues, the individuals you support and their friends and family or other visitors.
Employer
The employer has many legal responsibilities; these are likely to be carried out by line
managers. Their overall responsibility is to ensure the health, safety and welfare (or well
being) of all employees. The employer must make sure that this happens by putting in
place policies and procedures and ensuring there is enough time and money to put safety
at the centre of all tasks. Employers must provide:
There are a number of activities that you must not carry out until you have received special
training. Usually such training would include some practical elements and assessment by
a competent trainer. These activities include:
Use of equipment such as hoists and lifts to move people and objects safely: each
piece of equipment that you will use will have instructions for safe use.
Medication: there is legislation and guidance that controls the prescribing,
dispensing, administration, storage and disposal of medicines.
Assisting and moving: it is essential that you know about safe moving and handling
so you don’t hurt yourself or the individual.
First aid: this is the immediate assistance given to someone who has been injured
or taken ill before the arrival of qualified medical assistance. If you have not been
trained you should get help from a qualified first aider or call an ambulance. You
should not attempt first aid without training as you could make their condition or
injury worse. However, you should also know your ‘basic life support’ duties
(see Care Certificate standard 12).
Emergency procedures: for emergency
situations such as fire, explosion, flood,
building damage, etc.
Food handling and preparation: this
will help you to prepare food that
is safe for individuals to eat and stop
you from causing food poisoning.
Competence
To make sure that you are keeping the individuals you support as safe as possible,
you should only undertake certain activities once you are competent to do so.
There may be times when you feel you need to know more about how to prevent accidents
or ill health. Your employer may already have lots of information or procedures so ask your
manager if you can look at these and discuss them.
Also, the workplace may have a designated health and safety person who can help you to
find information or answer a question. Health and safety law posters (displayed in
the workplace) or leaflets (provided to each individual) are other ways of gaining more
knowledge. Additional support and information can be found on the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) website.
www.hse.gov.uk
As well as injuries arising from accidents, the nature of health and social care means that
individuals may have existing conditions which can cause sudden illness. You may be
faced with sudden illnesses including:
diabetic coma
epileptic seizure
fainting (this might also be caused
by an accident)
bleeding (after an operation, or such
as a nosebleed, as well as from
an accident)
stroke
heart attack.
If an accident or sudden illness happens you must ensure the safety of the individuals
concerned and everyone else who may be affected. All workplaces will have a health and
safety procedure to outline what to do in an emergency and you must ensure that you
are familiar with it. You must also be familiar with the individual’s care plan, for example if
they are known to have a condition that could lead to sudden illness, and how you should
respond.
First aid
There are three levels of first aid training: first aider, emergency first aid at work and
appointed person. If you have not received training in any of the levels, you should not
attempt any form of first aid, but must seek help immediately. Without specialist first-aid
training, you should not attempt first aid as you could make the injury or condition worse.
For example, moving someone into the recovery position could make a neck or spinal
injury worse.
‘Basic life support’ is different from ‘first aid’. You need to be assessed in basic life support
as part of the Care Certificate, see standard 12.
Risk assessment
A risk assessment helps the individual to have their choices met in the safest possible
ways. Risk assessments are not only a legal requirement, they also provide clear guidance
and information on how to keep people safe and prevent danger, harm and accidents.
They identify hazards in a workplace, evaluate the level of risk and put in place measures
or procedures to reduce the risk.
There are five steps to a risk assessment which you will need to understand:
1. Identify the hazards of an area, a specific task or situation.
2. Identify those who may be harmed, such as individuals being supported, visitors,
other workers and contractors.
3. Evaluate the risk by looking at what methods are in place to control risks or reduce
them.
4. Record the findings of the risk assessment to help to remind everyone of what the
risks are and how to reduce them.
5. Review and modify the risk assessment if and when changes happen to the tasks
or workplace. Changes may increase risks or reduce them.
The most important part of hazard reporting is that you act quickly and tell a manager or
supervisor who can take action to prevent an accident or harm. It is a legal requirement
that you do this. Once a hazard is identified, a risk assessment needs to be carried out.
You should be familiar with your agreed ways of working for reporting health and safety
risks.
Your role may include moving and assisting people and will certainly involve moving and
handling objects. There are laws specifically about tasks that involve lifting, putting down,
pushing, pulling, carrying or moving by hand or bodily force. These tasks are governed, in
particular, by the last three regulations in the list of legislation at the start of this standard in
this workbook.
Some work roles require the use of assisted beds and hoists to help with moving and
assisting individuals. You must have proper training before using this equipment, to ensure
that you use it properly and do not injure yourself or the individual. Other tasks that require
training and an assessment of competence include:
supporting an individual to transfer from a bed to a chair
helping with daily assisting routines like bathing
moving on and off the toilet.
You should always carry out moving and assisting tasks in the agreed ways found in your
policies and procedures and the individual’s care plan.
Over a third of injuries in the workplace, which lead to time off work, are due to moving
and handling. It is extremely important that specialist training on moving and handling is
provided. This will prevent accidents and minimise the likelihood of injury to the individuals
you support, yourself and others.
THE CARE CERTIFICATE WORKBOOK STANDARD 13
8
Medication and healthcare activities and tasks
Some of the people you support may use medication and require support to store and take
it correctly. Others may be able to manage their own medication safely. Individuals who
can manage their own medication safely should be encouraged to do so as this promotes
their independence and makes mistakes less likely to happen. Information about the
support each person requires will be included in their care plan.
Whenever you are dealing with medication you need to be aware of the main points of
agreed procedures about handling medication:
It may be that your role does not require you to work with medication and therefore you
won’t be required to undertake any specialist training. However, it is important to know
what your employer’s ways of working are.
Tasks like cutting or filing fingernails or toe nails, continence maintenance and assisting
with medication can be carried out only if they have been written in the individual’s care
or support plan. That’s why it is vital that the individual’s needs and wishes are agreed
and clearly written down as a care plan, so all workers know when and how to provide
support for that particular person, as well as whether the person has the mental capacity
or mobility they need to manage themselves.
You always have to obtain the individual’s consent before carrying out healthcare tasks
or assisting with medication.
You are not allowed to remind about, assist with or give individuals their medication
or carry out related healthcare tasks unless it is part of your role and until you have
completed and satisfactorily passed the appropriate training. This applies to inhaled
medication, any medication that needs to be swallowed, medical creams or ointments,
drops, cutting or filing nails or prompting or helping with injections (for example EpiPen).
cleaning materials
disinfectants Consent
body fluids This means to get the
medication individual’s permission.
clinical waste such as dressings
contaminated clothes, towels and bed linen.
These substances can enter the body via inhalation (breathing in), ingestion (swallowing),
injection (needle stick) or absorption (through the skin). For all products you use, read the
hazard information found on the label; this will inform you about their hazards and help you
to keep yourself and others safe.
The workplace must have a secure and specific area especially for the storage of
hazardous substances.
Some hazardous substances should only be handled when the worker is wearing personal
protective equipment (PPE). Your employer will have policies and procedures which set
out when PPE should be worn which will normally include handling clinical waste and
some chemicals.
You must always work within agreed ways to protect your own health and wellbeing as well
as those around you.
Fire safety
Fires are a hazard in any workplace and can lead to injury or death.
Basic fire prevention measures include:
If you are supporting someone in their own home these measures may not apply. You
can support individuals to get advice to make their homes safer but you must respect the
choices that they make; for example they may choose to smoke or not to have smoke
alarms. (See also Care Certificate standards 3 and 9 on supporting independence and
managing risk.)
THE CARE CERTIFICATE WORKBOOK STANDARD 13
11
A workplace will have their own specific procedures and actions to be taken in the event
of a fire and you must make sure that you familiarise yourself with these procedures. If
you work in someone’s home make sure you familiarise yourself with escape routes and
agree with your employer what you would do in the case of a fire. Sometimes there may
be increased risks in an individual’s home that you need to be aware of; they may choose
to smoke for example.
In order to stop intruders and prevent individuals from becoming victims of crime, good
security measures are important. Your organisation will have security procedures in place,
so ensure you familiarise yourself with them. Your employer may also have guidance or
advice about safe working. Ask you manager about this.
If your workplace is small, outside doors should be locked and fitted with a door bell to
ensure no unauthorised access. Never let in visitors or give out information unless you
have consent to do so.
If you are working in an individual’s home you can support them to get advice about how
to make their home more secure, for example by accessing information on the internet
https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/care/home-safety/
Stress, depression and anxiety lead to millions of lost working days. Stress can be both
positive and negative. Some pressures and challenges are good as they can help us to
work more effectively, but negative stress such as undue pressure, overwork or
difficult working conditions can affect our wellbeing and cause illness. Challenging events
themselves are not the root cause of stress; it is the way that we see and think about the
event or challenge that leads to feeling stressed.
Stress
Work-related: Stress is defined by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as:
‘The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand
placed upon them’.
The circumstances and situations that can trigger stress vary from person to person. Some
people can take on lots of pressures and demands before they will show signs of stress
whereas others may be affected by situations and events more easily. This can depend on
their personality, their ways of coping with stress and their personal history.
We all deal with and respond to ‘stressors’ in very different ways and our reactions and
strategies for responding to them will vary greatly. Some helpful strategies to deal with
stress are:
Think about the events and situations that tend to cause you to feel stressed. It is very
important to be aware of these so that you can develop positive ways of coping and
managing stress. Sometimes it might not be possible to remove the thing that causes
stress but if you develop ways of coping then you are able to take the time to look after
yourself so that the stress does not have too much of a negative impact on your health
and wellbeing. Managing stress well will reduce the negative effects on others including
the individuals you care for, your colleagues, family and friends.
Health and
Safety
Standard
THE CARE CERTIFICATE WORKBOOK
Activity 13.1a
Legislation
relating to general
health and safety
1.
2.
3.
4.
1.
2.
3.
Part i)
Write a list of different
types of accidents and List - this term means to identify the
sudden illness that could main points which can be written as
occur in your workplace. bullet points.
Types of accidents and sudden illnesses that may happen at work include:
Part ii)
Complete the table below to describe
three different types of accidents and
three different types of sudden illness that
Describe - to describe
could happen in your workplace.
means to create a picture
For each one, describe the procedure
with words but not simply
you should follow.
writing a list of bullet points.
2. 2.
3. 3.
A
Set specific requirements relating to work
The Manual Handling
equipment used for lifting and lowering
Operations Regulations 1992
people or loads
B
The Lifting Operations
Specifically cover all movement or support
and Lifting Equipment
of any load by physical effort
Regulations 1998
C
The Provision and Use of Ensures that the equipment employers
Work Equipment Regulations provide is suitable and safe for its
1998 intended use
Tasks I must
not carry out
until trained and
competent
Emergency first aid actions I can do... Emergency first aid actions I must not do...
1.
2.
3.
4.
1.
2.
3.
4.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
1. 1. 1.
2. 2. 2.
3. 3. 3.
Stress triggers
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.