Hazards and Harm in Health and Social Care Settings: Unit 3 Report

This report, focusing on Unit 3, meticulously details potential hazards and the resulting harm within health and social care environments. It identifies hazards stemming from electrical wiring, equipment, glass, chemicals, infections, toxic substances, hazardous working practices, waste, and medication errors. The report provides specific examples and real-life scenarios to illustrate each hazard, including the importance of infection control, safe handling of equipment, and medication safety. Furthermore, the report outlines the influence of legislation, policies, and procedures on health, safety, and security within hospital settings, including data protection, RIDDOR regulations, and how these measures promote individual safety. The report emphasizes the importance of adhering to safety protocols and the consequences of non-compliance, promoting a comprehensive understanding of risk management and patient safety within the health and social care sector.

All Unit3 Fatuma Ahmed
P1 – Explain potential hazards and the harm that arise from each in a health and
social care setting.
Hazards can be anything that can cause harm to someone. As per definition, hazard can
be identified as any variable or activity that has the potential origin of harm or adverse
effect to the health and wellbeing of an individual a group of people.
Hazards can be found everywhere, such as in care homes, residential home, home care,
day care centre , hospitals working place s where houses, cleaning workplace, shopping
centres and even in your own home. For example, the things can cause,
1: Hazard from Electric wire
www.foodsafety.gov accessed at 27.04.2017
www.foodsafety.gov accessed at 27.04.2017
Electric wiring and electricity hazards can be considered by far the most possible and
frequently reported source of hazards and causes the maximum harm to the individuals.
The most of the threat to the health and safety of the people working in an organization is
the most with the misplaced and unprotected wiring in the office environment. It is crucial
for the office environments to avoid any electric wire overloading and short circuits as these
twp hazards are by far the most important factors facilitating the most of the hazards. Along
with that electrical outlets left uncovered is also another great source of the safety hazards
hence it is crucial for all the unused electrical outlets to be covered.
Don’t leave cords dangling anywhere where they can be pulled down and tripped over

because might they are in wheelchair user or in their house and need working around
do pit and pieces before their next care arrived .perhaps some service user has care 2
times day, one in the morning one in the evening but in between they help themselves.
So anyway pulling down or tripping over an electric wire could cause the poor service
user falling down get bruises or injury.
2: Hazard from Equipment
If you are care or nurse and working with elderly or patient then it’s likely that you
spend a significant amount of your time moving and handling residents, patients, and
service users. Whether you’re using specialist equipment, such as hoists and EPBs, or
simply assisting a person to move into and out of a wheelchair, it’s essential that you
understand how to carry out the task safely and correctly. Always keep your service
users’ comfort and safety otherwise you can cause in dangerous such as the service user
could fall and injury, bruising and you, care will be in prison.
3: Hazard form Glass
In the present age, glass is considered to be one of the most hazardous object which can
potentially cause a large number of injuries. In case of a health care organization the
threat is even more elevated and any sharp object injury in a health care setting
increases the risk of blood-borne infectious conditions. There is need for personal
protective equipments for the safety of the workers such as cut- resistant gloves and
footwear as a protection against cuts and injuries (Fares et al. 2014)
4: Hazard form Chemicals
The health care environment can be considered a ripe place for all the hazards and
adverse health events and the hazards caused by the reaction of exposure to a chemical
substance is definitely one of the most plausible one. There are a vast variety of
chemical substances that are used in the health care setting and every single one of
them demands a specific safety storage and control. Any mishandling or unwarranted
and unprotected exposure to the chemicals can cause significant hazard to the different
individuals. The severity of the impact of the chemical hazard will depend on the type of
chemical and the site of exposure. For instance, in case of a eye contact severe reaction
and even loss of sight is a possibility and in certain cases, the person exposed to the
chemical hazard can even die (Chudasama et al. 2017).
5: Hazard form infection
The hazard of infection is the service user or the care could get bacteria or viruses. For
example if the care or even other health care such as doctor or nurse did not wash their
hands well, can get infected very easily. Along with that, the exposed health care staff
can even carry the pathogen in clothing or hands, which can then eventually be passed
on to their patients. The entire course of activities can gradually contaminate the entire
health care environment of the facility and increase the possibility of rapid spread of

infections among both the patients and the care staff. In my placement experience as a
double up service or care provider, I had been responsible for providing care while the
co-worker of mine was working without any protective equipment. When I had
enquired her about the lack of gloves she simply mentioned that she had run out of
gloves and had decided to carry one with the caring procedure. However, in order to
safeguard the health and safety of the patient, I requested for another care worker to
accompany me and ensured that optimal infection control and safety protocol was
employed during the care process o my patient. I had been ecstatic for the reward i
received as the carer of the year for my intervention and i ensured that I myself will
always adhere to safeguarding protocols (Chartier 2014).
6: Hazard form toxic
Toxic can cause injury or death when inhaled, swallowed, or eaten. There are a variety
of different toxic substances that are present on the health care environments and each
one of the toxins can cause both long term and short term conditions like skin irritation,
epidermal injury, eye injury, infection and even death depending on the type and
severity of the exposure.
For example in my experience when I used to do home care job.
One day I went to my second call in lunchtime which
I already have been in the morning this service user Mrs. W.
I gave to her all her personal care morning, such as helped undress/ dressing shower,
breakfast with her chose, medication left her comfortable. So even I remember I always
treat the service user like how I would to myself. I mean like rinsing the plats or kettles
before use them so I washed rinsed the kettle well before I use it in the morning but at
lunchtime, the service user asked me to make another cup of tea and I didn’t wash the
kettle I just threw the water into sink and poured cleaning water into it.
The service user had privet cleaner once a week and the cleaner lady cleaned the kettle
with a chemical which is called kettle cleaner and she left it to boiling with the
chemical which I didn’t know that she did. When I arrived the service user’s house the
cleaner lady was cleaning the bathroom and Mrs w told me that her cleaner lady is
around and she is cleaning the bathroom. Ok, then I made the tea and serviced Mrs. W.
The lady heard that I and Mrs. W are talking and she came to see us, she saw that Mrs. W
has a cup of tea and she picked up the tea said oh God!! Has she drunk yet? Me and Mrs
w said no why at the same time? She said I put and left a chemical in the kettle, I didn’t
think you will come in. I said to her you shouldn’t leave the kettle in till you finished
cleaning it completely or leave a note to worn to other people because you knew she
got care three-time day and this time is her lunchtime any minute the care could come
into the house. She also got friend and family might come to visit her and make tea like I
just did for Mrs. W or themselves. You!! Could cause a death. What about if she would
drink now before you came to us. I said to her I am going to report that and I did it.

7: Hazardous working practices
After all training still the new care got to shadowing how to follow the procedures
correctly such as manual handling hoisting, assisting to getting up or setting down the
service user safely. Otherwise, they could put themselves at unnecessary risk and many
care workers are still suffering injuries or back pain related to moving service user they
care for in.
Wet floors are also a considerable reason behind the workplace hazards and can cause
severe injuries and threats to the health and safety of the patients by tripping and
falling. In case of my own personal placement experience i have noticed patients pilling
water during breakfast and lunch, and then cause accidental falls which has severe
consequences for the patients. Hence its a considerable health hazard and has to be
taken seriously.
8: hazardous waste Corrosive
Can burn the skin on contact and eat away the surface of other materials so then care
worker must take particular care when disposing off the hazardous waste including
incontinence pads, and soiled dressing. It has to be mentioned that these corrosive
waste products should all be disposed off in a yellow clinical waste bag and these
objects should never be handled without protective equipments like gloves and masks.
9: Hazard from medication
It has to be mentioned that the medication errors are also a significant danger to
the patients and can cause further deterioration and illness of the patient and can even
lead to death. The most frequent medication error hazards are overdose, giving wrong
medication, missing dosages, anaesthetic error, and giving the patient medication
without checking the allergies. Along with that, another incidence where the patients
can be subjected to medication error in case a care provider is providing care to more
than one members of a family in a residential setting. In such cases, there carer has to be
very careful that the medicine are not switched between both patients. Such mishap can
be very hazardous to the health and wellbeing of the patients and can cost the health
care provider to make that error as well (Chakravarthy et al. 2015).
P2: outline how legislation, policies, and procedures relating to health, safety and
Security influence health and social care settings.
M1: describe how health and safety legislation, policies and procedures promote
the safety of individuals in a hospital setting.

In this task, I will be outlining three different legislation, one policy and one procedure
relating to health, safety, and security influenced in the hospital setting. Afterword, I will
be describing on how those promotes the individuals in the hospital setting.
The legislation is defined as laws that consider collectively.
The policy is a course or principle of action adopted or proposed by an organisation or
individual.
The procedure is instructions on how the duties are carried.
Data protection 1998 is legislation that influences the health, safety, and security in a
hospital. This act becomes law in the UK on the 1st March 2000. This act discusses how
important it is to keep data. Data protection is when personal information is held on
paper or in electronic format. The aim of this act is to keep personal information kept
safe and obtained for lawful reasons. Keeping the data secure and safe is important
because it means that the information is protected against any unauthorised access.
This is essential in the hospital setting because safeguards the patient in terms of
protecting their home address or disorder they been diagnosed from being
unauthorised accessed. This act promotes safeguarding for the patient as it protects the
patient’s house address is kept safe and locked from authorities s access because the
patient could experience possible robbery which could lead to harm to the individual.
RIDDOR 1995 stands for reporting of injuries, disease and dangerous regulation. This
act becomes law in the on the 1st October 2013. This law was set out to report any
incident within the hospital setting to health and safety executive or local council.
Incidents such as; a potential dangerous occurrence that may not lead to injury or
disease, any incidents that can lead to the health professions being absent more than
three days and death or major injuries. The role of the employer is to carry risk
assessment in order to identify any that could expose any harms their employee The
role of the employee is to report any incident such as slippery floor to the employer to
put sign up to warn people and prevent injuries in within the hospital setting. The
correct procedure to this law is that the hospital organisation to report the WHY,
WHERE, and HOW the risk occurred. If this procedure is not followed them correctly, it
was difficult to prevent further incidents. This promotes the safety of the patient in the
hospital as it prevents any injuries or harms towards them while they are in the hospital
getting treatment. COSHH 2002 stands for control of substances hazardous to health
regulation. This act was first introduced in 1988 and was updated in 2002. This act is
more to the employer then the employee. This law requires the employer to assess,
prevent and provide instruction and training about the risk. The role of the employer is
to control substances hazardous such as; chemicals, products containing chemicals,
germs that could cause diseases such as leptospirosis and biological agents (germ) that
needs hazard symbols. This law requires the employers to prevent or reduce employees
exposing any hazardous substance. This includes; providing control measures to reduce

harm to health, planning emergencies, providing information and training for their
employees and providing monitoring and health surveillance in appropriate cases.
This is major in hospital setting because it is all type chemicals are exposed. The role of
the employee is to report immediately when they see and recognise any substances that
posing threat to the both staff and the patient, this could include cleaning the chemical
after they used. One of the procedures for this act is that s \not followed correctly it will
pose harm to children because children can have access to it and use it. The bins are
colour code.
 Yellow bins for body liquids such as urine and blood
 Red bin: plastic waste such as bottles, injection, and catheter
 Blue bin: For hazardous waste such as broken glass and outdated medicines.
The way this act promotes safeguarding to the individual is that the employer is
controlling any substance hazardous that appose threat to the well-being of the
individual.
Fire evacuation is very important in any work placement. The people that are
responsible for fire safety are the employers such as building managers, facilities
manager, managing agent or risk assessor. Those are called the ‘responsible person’.
The ‘responsible person’ must make sure there enough fire extinguishers and fire
alarming the building. The responsibilities are;
 Carrying out risk assessments and reviewed regularly
 Notifying the staff members their representative about risks that were
identified.
 Plan for an emergency
 Provide information and training
 Practice the fire drill and provide sign for visitors to follow
This policy is very important in hospital setting because it safeguards the people within
the hospital when a fire occurs. The health safeguarding to this law is preventing burn
or death to the person or even getting trapped in a fire. The hospital setting should
educate their staff about the different types of fire extinguishers. This includes;
• Water fire extinguishers are used for fire that caused by sold objects such as paper,
wood, and plastic. Used for fire where electricity is used. The colour for this
extinguisher is red.
• Foam fire extinguishers are used for fires that involve flammable liquids such as
petrol, oil, paraffin, etc. This extinguisher is not recommended to use for fire involved
electricity but ‘are safer than water if inadvertently sprayed onto live electrical
apparatus'. The colour for this extinguisher is cream

• Dry powder fire extinguisher can be used for flammable liquids, solids, and
flammable gases. But it’s best for running liquids fires. However, it can be dangerous to
extinguish a gas fire without first isolating the gas supply. The colour for this
extinguisher is blue.
• A CO2 fire extinguisher is ideal for any fire that involves electrical apparatus and
liquid fires. This is colour coded and the colour for this extinguisher is black.
Hand washing technique:
Hand wash is very important in hospital setting because hospital is where all
disorder and infection is been treated and that can be spread. Hand procedures are
giving in form step by step to be followed these steps are divided into 7steps.
The most important action in this case is the rotational rubbing of the thumbs that are
clasped into palm. Followed by that, the fing4ers are supposed to be interlocked with
the palm and then the wrists are supposed to be rubbed and cleaned rigorously. It has
to be mentioned that the hands should always be washed for more than 20 seconds and
it is also advisable to wash the finger nails and the upper arm as well to avoid the
infection hazards optimally. Post rubbing the hands with the soap suds it is advisable to
wash the hand properly under running tap water for at least 20 seconds. Post, which the
hands should be dried using a towel or electrical drier.
References
www.gov.uk accessed at 24.08.2017
Risk assessment chart

A risk assessment is a systematic process of evaluating the potential risks that may be
involved in a projected activity or undertaking. Risk assessment is very important
because it help us identify the potential hazards and way to prevent it. Furthermore,
risk assessments help to create awareness of hazards and risk, as well as identifying
who may at risk.
Fatima Ahmed p3, m2
And D1
Setting
Potential
health,
safety and
security
hazard
What is the
risk and who
is at risk?
Curren
t risk
level
Assess the
hazards you
have identified
What needs to be
done to reduce the
risk? Make
recommendations to
minimise the risks of
the hazards identified
to service user group
in your identified
setting
Who and how will
recommendations be
monitored?
New
risk
leve
l
cctv
system not
well
functionin
g
The risk is
there is fire
at care home
and the
residential
are in risk.
There is also
alarm every
room the
service user
can pull and
be
recognised
where they
are and if
they’ve been
left alone in a
room and it
comes out
the room
number.
6 The fire hazard
is a significant
hazard that is
very common
and can cause
severe
destruction if
not attested
within the time.
In this case the
intensity of the
fire hazard is
multiplied
several folds
due to the
absence of the
surveillance
Footage. It has
to be mentioned
that in case of a
fire emergency
The very first actions
that the present
hazard situation
demands is the fire
alarm which will
notify the residents of
the nursery
immediately of the
fire and can prepare
them, for the
evacuation process.
As the surveillance
system is out of order
and there is no way
for the administrative
and fire management
team to check the
situation of the
patients, they will
have to resort to
checking the list of
2

There also
‘Closed-
circuit
television
(CCTV), also
known as
video
surveillance
’1. CCTV is
very
important in
nursery
because it
can be used
to find out if
the residents
are being left
in dinner
room or
hallway.
Within the
place, or if
any service
user walked
away or is
missing.
Furthermore,
it could also
be used to
detect
robbery or
unknown
person
visiting the
place
without
anyone being
aware of it.
Hence, it has
to be
mentioned
that the
surveillance
system is a
safety
necessity and
in the
in a care home
or nursery it is
crucially
important for
the residents to
be very carefully
and very quickly
evacuated.
However,
evacuation
technique to be
used has to be a
significant
concern for the
manger or the
administrative
team without
any knowledge
regarding which
patient is in
which level of
the facility and
what are their
mobility
conditions. Both
of the hazards
are considerably
high and
demand
immediate
attention
(Chakravarthy
et al. 2015).
people from charts.
It has to be mentioned
in this context that
that the managerial
team needs to be co-
operative and
participate in team
work so that the
adverse event can be
avoided and the
horizontal evacuation
technique is the best
plan to follow in this
situation. It is very
important that the
manager checked the
list of the people
service user and staffs.
Check all the time to
make sure It’s catching
footages of the
building. The reason
why this issue is for
example, unwanted
visitor came to the
building and can kill the
venerable . The manger
or care were
confirmed that
someone else came
and kill someone.,
however the manger
does not have
knowledge on the
person or have picture
on the person who’s
the killer. Therefore, if
something goes wrong
about the residents,
call a police and knows
how the person looks
like and the police can
run identity identifying.
CCTV helps the care
home in every way
1 Wikipedia

absence of it
the fire in the
nursery has
represented
a significant
hazard that
has the
potential to
serious
injuries and
even life loss.
possible as well as
knowing if there is
abuse is occurring
within the staff or with
the staff and the
service user, where the
manager is not aware
of it. Another thing
that the CCTV helps is
by avoiding another
false accusation that
can lead problem to
the person that’s been
accused. I recommend
that the manager
should check regularly
and reports if she sees
any suspicion that
could lead to the CCTV
system not functioning.
Entry/exit
gates left
open
Most care
homes
including the
nursery
home, which
I’m doing my
placement at,
have the
same door for
entry and
exist. Usually
the handles
or lock are on
the top of the
door. This
causes risk to
both the
service user
and staff.
8 I believe that this
hazard is very
important to be
aware of it
because it can
lead to service
user could walk
out without staff
or manager
knowledge.
Furthermore, if
one of them
walked out the
place without
any one being
with them, can
cause problem to
the business to
the care home as
the manager as
it lead to bad
reputation as
well as dealing
with missing
service user
under their
watch.
My recommendation of
this issue is making
sure that the
entry/exist gate should
be closed at all the
time. The way to
monitor is that anyone
who comes in the care
home should close the
door whenever they
entre. This reduce the
risk of residents
walking and wondering
around outside without
any care assisting them
and as well as reducing
service user missing.
Another way to reduce
this risk is by having
the door code
numbers. Which the
staff can know and use
to open the doors This
is very important
because the stranger
cannot open
themselves. The entry
1

Therefore, it’s
major to the care
to be aware of
each steps of
where a service
user goes to.
It has to be
understood that
having a single
door for both
entry and exit
can be a
significant risk in
case of
emergencies. In
case if any
immediate
evacuation
having a single
gate for both the
entry and exit
can cause
stampede and
injuries. Along
with that, apart
from any
disastrous
emergency,
having only a
single door for
both entry and
exit can increases
the difficulty
level of the
patients of going
in and out and
increases the
time required for
the entire
procedure
(Arbury et al.
2017).
Along with that,
it is also another
concern that the
or exit door after
anyone who comes in
or out the building, if
the service user
themselves can open
or close the gate. If the
door just has handle is
located where the
residents can reach
means that they can
work out anytime
without anyone aware
of it and leads to them
walking outside by
themselves and being
exposed to kidnapping
or being killed.

gate is t be left
open all the time
and hence it can
be very difficult
to monitor who
is coming in or
out at any point,
and it can be a
significant risk to
the residents and
the staff that
work in the
facility. Hence, it
is a significant
safety hazard
and actions
should be taken
to rectify it
immediately.
Potential
health,
safety and
security
hazard
What is the
risk and who is
at risk?
Curren
t risk
level
Assess the
hazards you
have identified
What needs to be
done to reduce the
risk? Make
recommendations to
minimise the risks of
the hazards identified
to service user group
in your identified
setting
Who and how will
recommendations be
monitored?
New
risk
leve
l
Wet floors In a care home,
wet floors
usually occur
after the
residents have
their breakfast
and lunch.
Both staffs and
residents are
risk at the
hazards but
more mainly to
the residents
because the
10 This hazard
usually is big
problem in care
home because
they are
vulnerable
elderly help
themselves form
a fire. If that is
possible they can
quicker away
from the fire
floor as soon as
possible but
My recommendation
to this issue is that as
soon as the care sees a
fire , set out the fire
alarm or something
that’s slipper which
could lead to a person
to trip. Put a tissue on
the top of it as well as
putting sign on the
area so the other staff
members are aware it
and make sure that
there is an a care on
8