Remembering Health and safety is essential
Health and safety may not be the most exciting topic to think about, but it’s an essential part of working in public services. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states that it is everyone’s responsibility to take reasonable care for the health and safety of themselves and of other people who may be affected by actions and omissions.
This means that should something serious – or even a near miss – happen because you were tired, stressed, or because you forgot to do something important, none of these ‘reasons’ will be a valid argument.
Of course, it tends to be more complicated than that, often with several factors that add up to an incident taking place. But, if you are able to follow general common sense guidelines around things like
- infection control,
- food safety
- medicines management
- and stress management
you will be able to stay within the law in most cases, even if an incident does happen.
Infection control
Preventing the spread of infection is not difficult in most cases; however, that can be hard to believe when you’ve been part of a team that has quickly dropped from 14 carers to 2 due to an outbreak of D and V. Stomach upsets are amongst the most common infections to affect older people who are being cared for in their own homes, and carers can be a big part of the problem.
Good practice for infection control includes things like always wearing gloves, using new gloves for each person that you see every day, and binning them safely after use.
In addition, you should always wash your hands right up your wrists even if you wear gloves, because you never know what microbes can make their way into your gloves.
Infections should always be reported immediately, and if you yourself have suffered from a stomach upset, you should check with your manager for when you can start back at work. Because these bugs often linger for a while after the person recovers, there will usually be a minimum length of time where you should stay away from work.
Food safety
Food safety – or the lack of – is often a likely source of a stomach bug, and this means that as well as always checking that food is ‘in date’, you also have to monitor its appearance and smell when you open it. Ready-made food that has been kept in a cupboard or a shopping bag, rather than in the fridge, may not be fresh even if it is still in date.
Hot food should always be cooked through and adequately heated, including if it is being reheated. This is because bugs find semi-warm food to be a very good breeding ground!
You can help your clients by monitoring fresh food in the fridge, and asking them if it is okay if you throw out anything that has gone off or is out of date. They may not wish you to do so, but you can strongly advise them so that they understand the issues. Most people do not like to eat food that is past its best before date, so this will not usually be a problem.
Medicines management
If you administer medications to someone you must always ensure that the meds are the correct ones at the dosage that is stated on the med sheet. You must not administer medications if you have not done the appropriate medicines administration training. Do not give in to any pressure from anyone else to do so until you have had the training.
You must also ensure that you understand how to fill out the medicines sheet, including what to do when a box is finished, and what to do with any left-over medications.
If you are ever in the position where you are unsure which medication to prompt or administer, you should phone your supervisor or senior carer for advice. It is always best to be safe rather than sorry. For example, you may find that someone has returned from a hospital stay with different medication.
This may be correct, but it may be so different from what they had before that it makes no sense. If it makes no sense, you should ask for assistance.
If you have made a mistake, forgotten to give someone their essential medication, forgotten to sign the medications sheet, or anything else, the most important thing is to admit to the mistake!
It is so important to be honest about this kind of thing. This way, the person or their family can be notified, their doctor can be told if necessary and if it results in a hospital visit, the relevant medical staff will be in full receipt of the facts.
Stress management
Your stress levels are just as important as anyone else’s, particularly as you may find that under stress you are more likely to make mistakes. Take medicines management for example.
“Just after I learned that my mother had breast cancer, I forgot to prompt someone to take his tablets. Some of his medications were very important, but I was so distracted that it was 2 hours later when I realised. Unfortunately, due to his medication, he had very bad memory problems, so there was no hope that he would remember himself.
I told my senior carer, who sorted out the situation, and no harm was done. I then took a few days off work so that I could bring my own stress levels down without putting anyone else at risk.”
You are responsible for yourself, and you have a duty of care to the people you look after. Even if they are able to look after themselves quite well, letting other people into their homes creates risk factors around health and safety that may be beyond their control.
Your job in part is to ensure that no situation is made worse by your actions or omissions, just like it says in the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Leave a Reply