Module 13 of 15 · 50 minutes
Standard 13: Health and safety
By the end of this module you will be able to
- Explain your duties and your employer's under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974
- Apply the principles of safe moving and handling, and refuse an unsafe manoeuvre
- Handle substances, sharps, fire risk and lone working safely
- Report accidents and near misses, including under RIDDOR
Amara Health and safety has a reputation as the box ticking module.
Nadia And musculoskeletal injury is the biggest cause of sickness absence in this sector. People leave care work with backs that never recover. So let us treat it as the module about whether you can still work in ten years.
Amara Start with the law. Who owes what?
Nadia The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 puts the main duty on your employer, to ensure your health, safety and welfare so far as is reasonably practicable. But section 7 puts duties on you too. Take reasonable care of yourself and of anyone affected by what you do or fail to do, and cooperate with your employer.
Amara So if I go along with an unsafe practice?
Nadia Then part of it is yours. And the flip side of that is the bit workers rarely get told. You have the right to refuse work that is unsafe, and to report it without detriment. Refusing an unsafe manoeuvre is a lawful act, not insubordination.
Amara Let us get concrete. Moving and handling.
Nadia The hierarchy first. Avoid hazardous manual handling where reasonably practicable. Assess what you cannot avoid. Reduce the risk so far as reasonably practicable. That order matters, because most services jump straight to lift carefully.
Amara And on a shift?
Nadia Use the equipment in the handling plan. Use the number of staff in the handling plan. Check the equipment and the sling before use, including the LOLER inspection date. And never improvise.
Amara Here is the real world though. It is a two person hoist and there is one of me, and she needs the toilet now.
Nadia Then it does not happen. I know exactly how that sounds. But a two person hoist with one person is how people end up on the floor with a fractured hip, and how you end up with a back injury and no job. Get the second person, or the person waits and you escalate the staffing as an incident.
Amara Which feels like failing her.
Nadia It feels like it. It is actually the only version where she does not get hurt. And I would put in writing that it happened, because a service that is short enough for that to arise needs the incident report far more than it needs your heroism.
Amara What else goes wrong with hoisting?
Nadia Slings. They are person specific and size specific, and the wrong sling is a fall waiting to happen. And never drag anybody under the arms, never let somebody hold on to your neck, and never manually lift a fallen person from the floor if a hoist is indicated.
Amara Substances next.
Nadia COSHH. Cleaning products, disinfectants, some medicines, clinical waste. Each hazardous substance has an assessment and a safety data sheet, stored locked and labelled. One rule I want to underline. Never decant into an unlabelled bottle. That is how somebody drinks thickener remover out of a lemonade bottle.
Amara Sharps?
Nadia Never resheath a needle. Dispose at the point of use, into a bin that is not overfull. And report any injury immediately, because post exposure prophylaxis is time critical. Hours matter.
Amara Fire. What is different in a care setting?
Nadia You usually do not evacuate the building. Progressive horizontal evacuation is the norm, meaning you move people into the next fire compartment through fire doors. Which is exactly why wedging a fire door open is not a small sin. That door is the plan.
Amara Reporting. Do near misses really matter?
Nadia They are the cheapest safety information you will ever get. Same lesson as an accident, no injury attached. And some incidents go further, under RIDDOR, to the Health and Safety Executive. You will rarely be the one submitting it, but you are the one whose report triggers it. If you do not write it, it does not exist.
Amara Last one. Lone working. I am in somebody's home and something feels wrong.
Nadia Then leave. Not after the call, not once you have finished. Leave. You can escalate from the pavement, and you can go back with a colleague. Follow the check in system, keep your phone charged and on you, and know the route if somebody does not answer the door. Nobody has ever been disciplined for leaving a house that felt unsafe.
The written material
Who owes what
The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 places a duty on employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of employees. Section 7 places duties on you: to take reasonable care of your own health and safety and that of others affected by your acts or omissions, and to cooperate with your employer.
That means an unsafe practice you go along with is partly yours. It also means you have the right to refuse work that is unsafe, and the right to report it without detriment.
Moving and handling
Musculoskeletal injury is the largest cause of sickness absence in the sector, and most of it is avoidable. The hierarchy is: avoid hazardous manual handling where reasonably practicable, assess what cannot be avoided, and reduce the risk so far as is reasonably practicable.
In practice: use the equipment specified in the handling plan, use the number of staff specified, check the equipment and the sling before use including the LOLER inspection date, and never improvise. Do not drag under the arms. Do not let a person hold on to your neck. Do not lift a fallen person from the floor manually if a hoist is indicated.
- Plan the move and tell the person what will happen, at each stage
- Keep the load close, feet apart, knees soft, back in its natural curve, no twisting
- Two person hoist means two people, every time, without exception
- Slings are person specific and size specific; the wrong sling is a fall waiting to happen
- If it is not safe, stop and report. A refusal is a lawful act, not insubordination
Substances, sharps and fire
COSHH covers cleaning products, disinfectants, some medicines and clinical waste. Every hazardous substance should have an assessment and a safety data sheet, and it should be stored locked and labelled. Never decant into an unlabelled bottle.
Sharps: never resheath a needle, dispose at the point of use into a sharps bin that is not overfull, and report every injury immediately, because post exposure prophylaxis is time critical.
Fire: know your evacuation plan, your assembly point, and the personal emergency evacuation plans of the people you support. In care settings progressive horizontal evacuation, moving people to the next fire compartment rather than outside, is usual. Fire doors are not to be wedged, ever.
Reporting, RIDDOR and lone working
Report every accident and near miss. Near misses are the cheapest safety information available, because they carry the same lesson as an accident without the injury.
RIDDOR requires the responsible person to report specified injuries, dangerous occurrences, over seven day incapacitation and certain occupational diseases to the Health and Safety Executive. You are not usually the one who submits it, but you are the one whose report triggers it.
Lone working is normal in domiciliary care and carries specific risks. Follow the check in system, keep your phone charged and on you, know the escalation route if someone does not answer the door, and leave if you feel unsafe. Leaving is always the right call; you can escalate from the pavement.
Knowledge check
The knowledge check and your certificate need a free account, so that your progress and results can be saved as evidence.
The learning itself stays free and open. You are reading all of it right now without an account.