Scope

  • Policy Statement
  • Positive Risk Taking
  • The Policy
  • Risk Assessment Policy
  • Health and Safety Risk Assessments
  • Related Policies
  • Related Guidance
  • Training Statement

Policy Statement

This organisation recognises its responsibility to ensure that all reasonable precautions are taken to provide and maintain working conditions that are safe, healthy and compliant with all statutory requirements and codes of organisation, including the statutory duty for employers to conduct regular health and safety risk assessments.
This organisation is committed to ensuring the health, safety and welfare of its staff, so far as is reasonably practicable, and of all other persons who may be affected by our activities including service users, their relatives and visitors.

Positive Risk Taking

This organisation is committed to incorporating positive risk taking into its assessments and plans of care. We recognise that service users have a right to make decisions about their lives and there is a balance to be found between participation in everyday activities, the duty of care to both workers and service users and our legal responsibilities.

All this good practice will be embedded for every user, including self-funders.

The importance of good information, advice and guidance cannot be underestimated, and, under the Care Act, LAs have a duty to provide such a service.

The Policy

This policy is intended to set out the values, principles and ethos underpinning this organisation’s approach to risk assessment and health and safety.

Risk Assessment Policy

The following points constitute the policy of this organisation:

  • A risk assessment should be undertaken, by a trained and qualified person, and identifies the potential risks to service users and staff associated with delivering an agreed package of care before the staff member commences work. Where appropriate, this should include risks associated with assisting with medication and other health-related activities, and it should be updated annually or more frequently, if necessary.
  • The risk assessment should also determine the risks entailed by service users maintaining their independence and daily living within the home.
  • How the risk assessment is undertaken should be appropriate to the needs of the individual service user; their views, and those of their relatives or advocates, should be taken into account.
  • A separate moving and handling risk assessment should be undertaken, by a member of staff who is trained for the purpose, whenever staff are required to help a service user with any manual handling task, as required under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992.
  • A comprehensive plan to manage risks (including manual handling and risks to service users) should be drawn up, in consultation with the service user, their relatives or representatives; this should be included in the service user plan and kept in the home of the service user for staff to refer to; a copy should also be placed on the personal file kept in the company office. This risk management plan should be implemented and reviewed annually or more frequently, if necessary.
  • Any new risks that arise (including defective appliances, equipment, fixtures or security of the premises) should be reported by staff to their line managers or supervisors, or otherwise identified during regular reviews or the service user plan.
  • Only staff who are both trained to undertake risk assessments and competent to provide the care should be assigned to emergencies, and in situations where the pressure of time does not allow a risk assessment to be undertaken before the provision of the care or support.
  • Two people fully trained in safe handling techniques and the equipment to be used should always be involved in the provision of care when the need is identified from the manual handling risk assessment.
  • The name and contact number of the organisation responsible for providing and maintaining any equipment under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 and the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 should be recorded on the risk assessment.
  • Any manual handling equipment provided should be maintained in a safe working condition and be subject to regular inspections by the manufacturers; records of all such equipment and their maintenance schedules are kept in the central office. In this organisation Registered Manager and individual Case Managers are responsible for ensuring that equipment is maintained adequately.
  • A responsible and competent person will be on call and contactable at all times when staff are on duty.
  • Staff should comply with the organisation’s staff travelling policy.

Health and Safety Risk Assessments

The organisation recognises that risk assessments are a legal requirement under Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSWR). The organisation believes that risk assessments should identify hazards and resulting risks to employees and other persons who may be affected by work activities. The organisation understands a hazard to be the potential for harm, with the risk being the likelihood of that harm occurring and the severity of the harm (e.g. slight injury, major injury, death).
This organisation will fully implement Regulation 3 of MHSWR which requires employers to:
1. Assess risks to employees.
2. Assess risks to others who might be affected by work activities such as service users, contractors, visitors and the public.
3. Identify the measures needed to protect the persons in points 1 and 2 above.
4. Review the assessment and make necessary changes if:
          o There is any significant change that affects risk (e.g. a new employee, machine or service user).
          o There is reason to believe it is no longer valid.
5. Where there are five or more employees, keep records of:
          o The significant findings of the assessment
          o Any group of employees identified by it as being particularly vulnerable.
The organisation will include the following as areas of potential hazard or risk in the office premises or service user and their premises:

  • Hazardous substances within the scope of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH), e.g. chemical hazards, drugs, sharps, body fluids, hazardous waste, and others not currently covered by COSHH, e.g. lead, asbestos and substances that are hazardous for reasons other than their toxicity, i.e. those which are flammable, or which enhance combustion, react violently, etc.
  • Manual handling and the moving of service users.
  • Use of display screen equipment, e.g. computers.
  • Electrical hazards.
  • Work equipment and machinery.
  • Workplace hazards, e.g. space, clutter, lighting, heating, ventilation, tripping hazards, safe access and egress, and inadequate sanitary facilities, e.g. toilets, drinking water.
  • Emergencies, e.g. fire, injuries requiring first aid, dangerous spillages.
  • Violence or threats and abuse.
  • Service user property.
  • Falls.
  • Medication.
  • Pressure areas.
  • Nutrition.
  • Lone working.

This is not an exhaustive list and any other potential hazard risk relating to a specific service user will be assessed.

Related Policies

Assessment of Need and Eligibility
Care and Support Planning
Dignity and Respect
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
Equality and Diversity
Health and Safety
Mental Capacity Act 2005

Related Guidance

Health and Safety Executive:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/healthservices/sensible-risk-assessment-care-settings.htm

NICE Guidelines [NG6], March 2015: Excess Winter Deaths and Illness and the Health Risks Associated with Cold Homes:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng6

NICE Quality Standard [QS117], March 2016: Preventing Excess Winter Deaths and Illness Associated with Cold Homes:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs117

Gov.UK: Cold Weather Plan for England
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cold-weather-plan-cwp-for-england

Gov.UK: Heatwave Plan for England
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/heatwave-plan-for-england

Training Statement

All staff, during induction, are made aware of the organisation’s policies and procedures, all of which are used for training updates. All policies and procedures are reviewed and amended where necessary, and staff are made aware of any changes. Observations are undertaken to check skills and competencies. Various methods of training are used, including one to one, online, workbook, group meetings, and individual supervisions. External courses are sourced as required.

Date Reviewed: May 2021
Person responsible for updating this policy: Carly Fortune
Next Review Date: May 2022