Reviewing Health and Safety in the Health and Social Care Workplace

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of health and safety within the health and social care workplace. It reviews systems, policies, and procedures for communicating health and safety information, aligning with legislative requirements such as the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Health and Safety Offences Act 2008. The responsibilities of medical staff and management in maintaining a safe environment, including honesty with patients, professional competence, and confidentiality, are assessed. The essay also analyzes health and safety priorities, such as hygiene and proper waste disposal, and examines how risk assessment informs care planning, highlighting the impact of health and safety policies on medical practices and the dilemmas encountered during implementation. Furthermore, it discusses methods for reviewing health and safety policies, assessing their effectiveness, and addressing the consequences of non-compliance with health and safety legislation, emphasizing the importance of training and continuous improvement in healthcare settings. The document is available on Desklib, a platform offering a wealth of study resources for students.

Health and Safety in the
Health and Social Care
Workplace

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Reviewing systems, policies and procedures for communicating information on health.....3
and safety in hospitals in accordance with legislative requirements.........................................3
1.2 Assessing the responsibilities in a special health and social care workplace for the............4
management of health and safety in relation to organisational structures..................................4
1.3 Analysing health and safety priorities appropriate for a specific health and social care......5
workplace....................................................................................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
2.1 Analysing the way information from risk assessments informs care planning ....................5
2.2 Analysing the effect of health and safety policy on medical practices and customers.........7
2.3 Analysing the way dilemmas encountered in context of implementing system as well as
policies .......................................................................................................................................7
2.4 Effect of non compliance with respect to health and safety legislation in health and social
care workplace............................................................................................................................8
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
3.1 Methods to review health and safety policies and practices.................................................8
3.2 Assessing the effectiveness of health care policies and practices in promoting healthy and
safe culture in health care set up.................................................................................................9
3.3 Own contribution to place health and safety requirements of individuals............................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
All internal as well as external stakeholders such as medical staff , investors, suppliers ,
contractors in health and social care institution are accountable for detecting risks. It is the duty
of medical staff or nurses in Hospital to take appropriate action for eliminating the risk. There
are several types of laws as well as regulations are formed by the government related to medical
practices. These legislations have direct as well as significant impact on the operations or
activities conducted by the medical professionals. Regulations or norms are designed by
government for controlling the risks as well, as hazards which have negative effect on the
physical or mental health of patients. It is required by management in health and social care
institution to establish Occupational Health Committees for resolving the health and safety
problems of people. Manager in an organisation should provide training to workers. As this
strategy will assist business entity in reducing the chances of accidents or occurrence of other
type of risk.
Present report has focus on reviewing systems, policies and procedures for
communicating information on health and safety. It also emphasizes on analysing the effect of
some legislation on medical practices.
TASK 1
1.1 Reviewing systems, policies and procedures for communicating information on health
and safety in hospitals in accordance with legislative requirements
There are different laws related to medical practices in health and social care institution
such as :
Health and Safety work act, 1974- It is the law which is created by the legal authority
in the nation. As per this legislation, it is required by employer or management in healthy and
social care institution to provide safe, healthy and effective environment to all employees.
Manager should ensure that all the workers in an organisation are complying the set standards.
Health and safety offences Act, 2008- As per this law, it is required by manager in an
enterprise to create some rules as well as regulations considering the safety of employees at
workplace. Human resource manager should make proper training arrangement for an employees
and should inform about the risk associated with conducting specific activity.
Employment Medical advisory service act, 1972-As per the norms , employer is
required to provide all the essential facilities to workers such as medical examination,. It is

essential for management in an enterprise to make special arrangement for dealing with
emergency situation.
Policies
Health and safety regulations 1981 : This policy highlights the several activities which
are required to be executed by employer or manager in an organisation. As per this policy , it is
the duty as well as responsibility of employer to provide First aid equipment, Analyse the
situation around working area , conduct risk assessment etc. In addition to this, employer should
provide facility of first aid treatment to the victim who got injured when performing their task at
workplace.
Management of Health & social Regulation 1999 : This policy mainly covers several
aspects these are important elements those manage about health and safety in an enterprise. It
includes- Performing activities according to requirement, Providing valuable arrangements
((Cox, 2014)
Mental health Care Act 2007: As per this policy , an individual suffering from mental diseases or
special kind of disabilities should be provided with special care and proper treatment.
1.2 Assessing the responsibilities in a special health and social care workplace for the
management of health and safety in relation to organisational structures
Employees or medical staff working at different level of management in health and social
care institutions have certain types of duties as well ass responsibilities towards patient. Some
liabilities of medical staff or professional towards patient are :
 Honesty with patient – management in Slade house company is responsible for ensuring
that patients or their families have complete information about the disease an individual is
suffering. In addition to this medical professional are also accountable for diagnosing
patients and providing them with treatment. It is the duty of medical staff or nurses to
provide detail about treatment and to provide patient accurate medical report.
 Professional competence- There is the necessity for the medical professional to have the
commitment towards lifelong learning and having the obligation of providing effective
treatment regarding health care that is medically recognized (Harrell, 2011)
 Maintaining the confidentiality of information related to patients- As per information act, it is
the duty and responsibility of medical staff to maintain the confidential information about

patient. Data or information about the patient can be disclosed only in case of emergency
that with the permission of family member of patient.
 Professional responsibility – It is the responsibility of medical professional , develop the care
for patients and participates in self – regulation of procedure.
 Maintaining code of ethics – Medical staff and nurses should conduct ethical practices and
follow code of conduct
1.3 Analysing health and safety priorities appropriate for a specific health and social care
workplace.
It is the liability of management team in health and social care institution to provide
adequate training to employees in context of health and safety issues within an enterprise. The
first priority should be given to maintaining hygiene which is the duty as well as responsibility
of both employer and employee. As these are considered to be risky factors which has negative
impact on the health as well as safety of people working in an organisation. It is required by
manager in an enterprise to employ safe system for disposal of wastage , as this will help in
reducing the chances of accidents. In addition to this, fire extinguish system should be
purchased in order to avoid risk. In context of healthcare, medical staff or professionals should
provide immediate treatment to patient in case of emergency. Medical professional is required to
facilitate an enquiry in relation to the condition of the patient (Griffin, 2015). Some prior duties
as well as responsibility of employer is to provide healthy and safe environment to employees
and patients .
TASK 2 ESSAY
2.1
Risk assessment is the procedure conducted by medical professional in health and social
care institution for measuring the chances of uncertainties. It is also recognised as the technique
of seeking information towards the identification of particular risk related to the service user. In
context of given case scenario, a young man has got hurt due to the compressor fell from its
chains and onto him. It has been analysed from given case scenario, this accident has taken place
due to negligence of staff. If proper risk assessment had done before, then such types of risk can
be avoided. Risk assessment process helps in recognising the are which includes high chances of
accidents (Darragh and et. al., 2016) In context of health and social institution,information
collected from the risk management process supports manager in making proper plan in terms of

providing high level of safety and security to patient as well as their family members during their
stay in hospitals. It is required by management team in health and social care institution to
develop the understanding about the importance of facilitating risk assessment. As the
continuous rise in accidents can have the negative effect on the reputation of company.
Information accumulated by conduction the risk assignment procedures assist manager in
making suitable business decisions. Procedures involved in acre planning are assisted by
information that has been collected and share from evaluation of risk. Risk measured during the
time of assessment has direct as well as significant influence on the judgement or decision made
by the management in heath and social care organisation in context of patient care within in
hospital (Grasso,2016)
Information gathered by conducting risk assessment process from the suitable basis for
making the decisions related to improving the services and increasing the facilities for patient.
Such types of information help manager in making suitable plans for controlling as well as
managing hazards. It also assists manager in recognising the are which required change or
improvement. Information assimilated by facilitating risk assessment process helps management
in creating the healthy as well as safe environment for workers and patients (Colosio and et. al.,
2017) It also aids an enterprise in eliminating legal obligation. It has been identified from the
given case scenario, it is required by Slade house company to make proper arrangements for
meeting the uncertainties. Management team in an enterprise should conduct the risk assessment
before implementing new system , technology, procedures , equipment etc. It is required by the
human resource manager in an organisation to after the evaluation of risk , inform the patient as
well as workers about the area where there are chances of accidents. Manager in an enterprise
should provide medical facilities as well as proper training to employees (Harrell, 2011) As this
activity will help workers ion gaining the high potential for dealing with and managing complex
or difficult situations. if in case. the information related to care planning states that the service
Patient need quick or long term treatment, then the healthcare and social care institution is
required engaging increased number of medical professionals or nurses. In case of minimising
the mortality or death rate, it is needed by manager in organisation to introduce new treatment
and make changes in policies.

2.2
The risk assessment procedures in health and social care institution is considered to be as
a significant aspect of health and safety policy which have direct effect on the medical practices.
Results drawn from Evaluation of risk assessment process has major influence on the customer
behaviour or perception towards company (Furnham,2012). Risk assessment is defined as a
process which is conducted by management team in an enterprise for recognising the area which
have high chances of occurrence of hazards. It also includes determination of nature of risk and
its impact on health of service user .
The information obtained by executing risk assessment formulation of suitable plans or
strategies for reducing as well as managing risk which has been measured during the assessment
process. health and safety policy helps management in creating secure environment for patients
as well as workers in health and social care institution (Lundgren and McMakin,2013) Risk
assessment process and policies developed by government helps health care organisation in
improving their business performances .
2.3
In today highly competitive business environment, many health care organisation are
facing issues related to the execution of the systems and policies in context of health, safety and
security. The possible problems which might be faced by health and social care institutions such
NHS are:
Heath and safety risk in supply chain- it is very much important for the health care
institutions to follow certain methods as well as safety procedures in order to ensure safety at
workplace. Companies might face difficulty in complying with the norms due to continuous
change in the laws related to the health and safety.
Maintenance of Technology- Health and social care institution might face difficulty in
implementing technology at workplace due to high cost of installation as well as maintenance.
There are various issues faced in implementation of the systems when it is tried by the
management to implement policies with respect to health, safety and security. There are various
possible dilemmas that can be faced by the organization are:
Health and safety risk linked to supply chain: The organization can face issue in certain method
opted by it and safety procedures in order to ensure safety at the work place. There are chances

that supplier may not go through its unsafe aspect and can prove to be dangerous to the health
care set up.
Maintenance of high end technology: Technology always help the health care industry in
enhancing the methods used by the health care set up in treating patients. Enhanced methods and
procedures are required to be adopted by the health care department so as to ensure that
machines are appropriately being working and it is in the good condition to provide services to
the ultimate customers (Care Quality Commission, 2012).
Public negligence: It is another important dilemma generally faced by the health care set up,
where, some of policies are required to be ensured by public. Any negligence from their side can
have greater impact on overall functioning of the organization.
2.4
UK government have been able to successfully formulate and implement various health
care related legislations that can have greater impact on working operations of the organization.
It is important for the health care set up to ensure that it abide by all the rules, regulations and
policies. Some of the aspects are mentioned below:
Health and safety at work act, 1974: It helps in ensuring that the employees, which are working
in the organization are healthy and safe (Costa-Font and Greer, 2012). Non compliance of this
legislation indicates low commitment of health care set up towards employees and workers. It
can also affect the overall image of management and the hospital which has chosen for the non
compliance of health and safety at work act .
Mental health act 1983: It is important that all the hospitals must treat mentally ill patients as
well. Non compliance of this can make them non operational in the country.
Public health act 1936: It states regarding charge on the patient can be initiated if false treatment
has been extended to the patient by the doctor (Ham, 2012). Non compliance of the same can
make the health care professional chargeable towards punishment and penalties
TASK 3
3.1 Methods to review health and safety policies and practices
It is important for the health care set up to indulge in continuous review of health care
policies and procedure adopted by the health care set up. Reviewing can help in bringing
continuous improvements in compliance with the knowledge and information induced by
inspecting authority in UK. Some of the methods that can be adopted are mentioned below:

Quantifying health and safety practices: It is important for the organization to analyse its own
performance and assess various areas of threats and opportunities. Focussing upon the same can
help in ensuring that the practices have been adopted by it (Pea and et.al., 2012).
Inspections and audits: It helps in identifying the loopholes, where actions ca be taken by the
team to ensure appropriate maintenance of services. It can be in the form of, cleanliness, use of
equipment, fire safety systems, etc.
Proactivity: It is important for the organization to assess the targets and measure that whether it
has been achieved in the specific period or not.
3.2 Assessing the effectiveness of health care policies and practices in promoting healthy and
safe culture in health care set up
It is the prime duty of management to ensure that it promotes healthy and safe working
culture for the employees or the other care provider. Hence, effectiveness in policies can be
promoted in the following manner: Structure and responsibilities: It is important to ensure that the responsibilities are
appropriately being delegated so that each and every individual is aware of his / her duties. It
helps in reducing the clashes that may crop up due to ineffective delegation. Adoption of appropriate procedure: As it has been illustrated in health safety policies, it is
important to analyse appropriate procedure to report any type of incident or hazard that
actually took place in the organization (Perrin, Siegel and Committee on Psychosocial
Aspects of Child and Family Health, 2013).
 Risk Assessment: Assessment of risk is the major concern of health and safety policies that
can help in preparation of service plan for each patient as per his / her health conditions
(Stanca, 2012). It helps in preparing better revision of policies and ensuring that the best
possible set has been adopted so as to meet any type of contingency situation arising in the
health care set up .
3.3 Own contribution to place health and safety requirements of individuals
It is the duty of each and every individual to ensure that all the health and social services
adopted are effective enough that the ultimate service user, that is patient, is able to receive
positive change out of it. In this scenario, my contribution will be to ensure that best set of care
planning aspect is adopted for each and every patient so that ultimately delivered treatment is
effective enough. I also try to arrange house keeping facilities, when required, so as to ensure

cleanliness at the workplace. I also try to assist patients regarding their health care routine in
such a manner that they are able to get the treatment in a well defined manner and ensuring their
effective recovery in least possible time. I also try to assess the risks and hazards that can be
faced by the patient during their stay in the hospital so that best possible treatment can ultimately
be extended to them in the end. Hence, it can be stated that I try to make contribution in this
manner to the health care organization.
Conclusion
It has been concluded from the report that law related to health and safety has direct as
well as significant impact on the business of health care institutions .Report has also concluded
that the policies related to health and social care also have great influence on customers. Study
has also highlighted dilemmas encountered in relation to
implementing systems and policies for health, safety can be addressed. It has also been
concluded that policies plays significant role in promoting a positive healthy and safe culture
within a health and social care setting. Assignment has also concluded that Health and safety is a
important consideration foal all medical staff in heath and social care organisation. The firm
might also have to face technical issues. It is required by management team in an organisation to
import better technology.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Cox, S.,2014. Managing Information in Organizations. Palgrave Macmillan.
Harrell D., G., 2011. Marketing Management. Simon and Schuster Pub.
Griffin, R., 2015. Fundamentals of Management. Cengage Learning.
Furnham, A, 2012. The Psychology of Behaviour at Work: The Individual in the Organization.
Psychology Press
Colosio, C. and et. al., 2017. Workers’ health surveillance: implementation of the Directive
89/391/EEC in Europe. Occupational Medicine. 67(7). pp.574-578.
Darragh, A. and et. al., 2016. Slips, Trips, and Falls in Homes: Home Health Care Workers at
Risk. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 70(4_Supplement_1),
pp.7011515236p1-7011515236p1.
Grasso, M., 2016. Work health and safety resources and advice.
Lennon, P. and et.al,. 2017. Root cause analysis underscores the importance of understanding,
addressing, and communicating cold chain equipment failures to improve equipment
performance. Vaccine. 35(17). pp.2198-2202.
Lundgren, R. E. and McMakin, A. H., 2013. Risk communication: A handbook for
communicating environmental, safety, and health risks. John Wiley & Sons
Care Quality Commission, 2012. The state of health care and adult social care in England in
2011/12 (Vol. 763). The Stationery Office.
Costa-Font, J. and Greer, S. L. eds., 2012. Federalism and decentralization in European health
and social care. Palgrave Macmillan.
Ham, C., 2012. Transforming the delivery of health and social care: the case for fundamental
change. King's Fund.
Pea, R. and et.al., 2012. Media use, face-to-face communication, media multitasking, and social
well-being among 8-to 12-year-old girls. Developmental psychology. 48(2). p.327.

Perrin, E. C., Siegel, B. S. and Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health,
2013. Promoting the well-being of children whose parents are gay or
lesbian. Pediatrics. 131(4). pp.e1374-e1383.
Stanca, L., 2012. Suffer the little children: Measuring the effects of parenthood on well-being
worldwide. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. 81(3). pp.742-750.