Report: Health and Safety in the Business Workplace (Unit 27)

This report examines health and safety in the business workplace, focusing on legal requirements, regulations, and risk assessment within the context of the National Health Service (NHS). It begins by outlining the legal framework, including the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, and how they apply to NHS operations. The report then describes the requirements for a healthy and safe physical environment, equipment, and relevant legislation. It further explores the roles and responsibilities of health practitioners and other personnel in maintaining workplace safety, addressing issues such as verbal threats and poor housekeeping. Finally, the report presents a risk assessment plan for an administrative work environment within the NHS, identifying potential hazards and proposing control measures to mitigate risks, including uncertainty and health and safety concerns.

UNIT 27 UNDERSTANDING
HEALTH AND SAFETY IN
THE BUSINESS
WORKPLACE

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1Explain the legal requirements and regulations for ensuring the health, safety and security
of those employed in business ...............................................................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................2
P2) Describing the Requirement of Healthy and Safe Workplace as Applied to the Physical
Environment, Equipment and Legislation Used.....................................................................2
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................3
P3. Roles and responsibilities for health and safety...............................................................3
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................5
P4. Plan a risk assessment for administrative work environment in NHS.............................5
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
..........................................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Health and safety is most essential and important within workplace. Health and safety
procedures are put in workplace to prevent employees from being harmed and becoming ill due
to work. Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 is most important and primary piece of regulation
covering health and safety in the UK. Therefore, health and safety of employees is most essential
and important for success of an organisation. For this project NHS is chosen health and social
care which was established in 1948. This report divided into different parts which covers affect
of health and safety regulations within working environment of business. Requirements for
healthy, safe and productive working conditions will also include in this project. Along with this,
roles and responsibilities of an individual about how to maintain workplace safety is also
discuses in this assignment. At last, different ways about how to assess and manage risk related
with health and safety is also a most essential part of this project.
TASK 1
P1. Explain the legal requirements and regulations for ensuring the health, safety and security of
those employed in business
Legal requirements means entire statutes, codes, laws, acts, judgements, decrees,
injunctions, directions, ordinances, order and neds of all government which nowadays or at any
time period hereafter may be relevant to or needed in relations with the Premises.
I) key features of legislation and regulations on health and safety
Under this, Management of Health and Safety at the Work Regulations 1999 and Health
and Safety at Work Act 1974 are two main necessary acts of health and safety legislations.
These set of standards should be met to assure health and safety of all the staff members which
many impacted through work activity. NHS follows these both the health and safety related
regulations. An execution of these both regulations do not have to daunting, costly affair and
time consuming. In this, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is governmental appointed body
that responsible for enforcing the health and safety legislation at workplace in United Kingdom.
In addition to this, HASAWA permit government to issue the guidance, regulations and also
Approved Codes of Practice (ACOPs) for managers. These set the responsibilities for employer
in each aspects of the workplace safety, hazardous chemicals etc. On the other hand, it is a
responsibility of employer in NHS to protect health, welfare and safety at workplace for all the
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staff members. Employer should provide the better training facilities, information, supervisions
and instructions to staff members. In addition to this, staff should be aware about the instructions
which given through producers and suppliers of equipments.
II)How they are applied to working conditions in a selected organisation
NHS (National Health Service) is health related service provider in England, NHS
Scotland, NHS Wales. In the organisation, different number of employees are work with the aim
of achieving better outcomes within given time duration. Work Regulations 1999 and Health and
Safety at Work Act 1974, both are consider most useful act which must be followed by NHS.
With the help of these act, they can easily retain employees for long time and accomplish better
results within given time duration. For example: while providing better services to the patient,
Work Regulations 1999 and Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 are consider most useful
legislation. All these are identify better legislation which will help employees to treat all patients
in better manner.
III) Their application to the workplace rather than repeating vast amounts of law
Work Regulations 1999 and Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 are identify most
essential and useful laws which are applicable in providing safety to the employees. Data
Protection Act 1998, Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988, Computer Misuse Act 1990,
Freedom of Information Act 2000 etc. All these act must be follow by NHS to provide healthy
and safety working environment to their employees. All these laws are most essential and
effective for the success and development of an organisation within an enterprise.
TASK 2
P2. Describing the Requirement of Healthy and Safe Workplace as Applied to the Physical
Environment, Equipment and Legislation Used
It is important for NHS to take into consideration about the safety and security of their
employees such as by providing them with proper working conditions and good and safe
environment for their working (Almond and Gray, 2017). As the employees will be provided
with good working environment than it will help in the motivation, dedication and efficient
working of the employees of the company. Good physical working environment provided to the
employees will also helps in reducing the number of accidents occurred in the organisation. For
example, sharp edges and cuts leads to unwanted injuries to the employees or the visitors which
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can harm them and can also become reason of loss of goodwill and brand image of the
organisation (Ashkanasy, Bennett and Martinko, 2016). Future is uncertain so the company
should also prepare themselves for reacting to the future uncertainties for the safety and security
of their employees. These are related to the preparation of evacuation assembly areas which will
help the company in making their employees to feel safe at the time of some difficult situation.
These will prove to be useful for the company in some harsh or emergency related to situations
that will make the employees safe and secure.
Additionally, it is also important for NHS to make the focus over the equipment of the
organisation. In case of dealing in the emergency situations, the company could have some safety
guards which are also important for the safety and security of the employees. Warning Signals
that could help the employees in knowing about some harsh or emergency situations should be
implemented in the organisation so that with their help it will be possible for the employees to
know about the situation. Additionally, NHS could also make some emergency exit points away
from the main entry and exit points of the company that could help the employees in getting out
of the employees from the Premises to the safer place. Protective Clothing will also prove to be
useful for the business to provide to their employees so that they could be made free from germs
or any other hazardous substances (Aziz and et. al., 2015). Fire extinguishers and sprinkler
system will also prove to be helpful for the business looking upon the safety and security of their
employees. There are also some legislations made which are provided as under:
Data Protection Act, 1998: According to this act, it makes illegal for the companies in case they
fail to keep the data of their customers and employees to be safe and secure as there are chances
that they could be misused by other individuals.
Computer Misuse Act 1990: the following act is introduced looking upon the concern to protect
the computer users against wilful hacks and theft of information. In case anyone found in these
situations, the individuals will be liable to legal compliances (Balch, 2015).
TASK 3
P3. Roles and responsibilities for health and safety
Health and safety is one of the vital sector which deals to well being of human beings and
also their health and medical concern. In the NHS trust, health practitioner role has been taken
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into consideration to have discussion on obligation and responsibilities of the key personnel in
NHS trust are as follows:
Obligation: In context of the NHS trust, an obligation of health practitioner are as given
under:
 To maintain flow of the patient in health care organisation to ensures on their treatments
effectively.
 To keep checklist of all patients which are to be supervised or they noticed previously
regarding the health problems.
 To listen patients and other treat need person to take care of their needs or wants in given
point of time.
 To maintain records of a person which needs to be treated in an effective manner to make
health regulation to be treats effectively.
Responsibilities: In context of the NHS trust, responsibilities of the health practitioner
are as given under:
 The main responsibilities are to maintain ethics, values and vision for an effective service
in growing time period and also ensures about effective conduction of health services I
given time period.
 The responsibilities is to makes regulation to enhances working environment into NHS
workplace in an effective manner,
 To ensure on service composite to the health and safety to ensures about welfare of the
people in NHS trust.
Health and safety related issues
There are different kind of issues are raised at health and safety workplace. In NHS ,
there are different kind of problems are generated at workplace some of them are as following:
Verbal threat- In NHS, it is one of the most important issue which can be raised on
health & safety workplace. If the employees of the organisation will not make effective
communication with the visitors and clients. They will not have information about the issues and
problems of them.
Poor housekeeping- It is an another issue which is highly faced at workplace of health
and safety firms. Clutter blocking fire exist, aisles and emergency exits is housekeeping problem
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which is mostly faced on work place. In NHS, these all things are effective in the situation of
emergency but lack of them affect the health of employees and workers.
In context of NHS, health and safety may be verified on regular basis with the help of
health management system. For this the management of the company should formulate an
occupational and health policy program under which employees can check their health on the
basis of a specific time period. During the time of recruitment, the management of the company
should take a medical report of candidates so that they can have information about the health and
disease of the person. This help in pay attention to health and safety verification of the workers at
workplace. By organising medical and healthcare program, the firm can also make concentration
on the health and safety of employees.
TASK 4
P4. Plan a risk assessment for administrative work environment in NHS
Risk Assessment is an important part of the administrative initiatives undertaken by the
management of an organisation. It helps in the identification as well as addressing of risks arising
at the workplace in a proactive manner. In the context of given case scenario, it is the legal
obligation of NHS to ensure that proper health and safety measures are taken into consideration.
It is worthy to note that effective risk assessment practices are mainly inclusive of a series of
steps or processes that ensure that potential hazardous incidents are averted through prompt
recognition of such situations as well as their mitigation.
Essentially, a risk assessment procedure includes the following steps:
 Identification of Hazard
 Determination of Causes that may lead to such hazards
 Evaluation of Risks attached to such incidents
 Recording the findings through accumulation of documentations and give necessary
recommendations
 Propose Action and record the date of implementation of such actions
 Review Assessments
The following table shows the risk assessment proforma for NHS that recognises Verbal
Threat and Poor Housekeeping as potential hazards in NHS. Thus, exhibiting the control of risk
in the administrative work environment of NHS by giving necessary recommendations regarding
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the same. It is important to note that due to the issues identified, two risks have been recognised
which are uncertainty risk and Health & Safety Risks. Again, for a healthcare facility such as
NHS, this can prove to be hazardous if not taken seriously by the management in an appropriate
time period.
Risk Assessment Pro-Forma Date: June 29, 2019
Section/Task: To assess risk for administrative work environment in NHS
Description of Issue to be analysed: Verbal Threat and Poor
Housekeeping
Risk Assessment
Team: Internal
Current
Risk
Causes Consequences Safeguards Recommendations
Uncertainty
Risk
Ineffective
Communication
between the
employees of
NHS.
Due to poor
communication,
conflicts and
stress may arise
in the
workplace.
Predictability in initial
interaction can help in
reduction in uncertainty
risk arising due to the
presence of
uncertainties in
information exchange
at the workplace.
To reduce the level
of uncertainty
arising due to the
Verbal Threat, it is
recommended that
the communication
channel must be
revised thoroughly
so as to
accommodate a
much smoother
transition of
information between
the organisational
levels.
Health and
Safety Risk
Poor
Housekeeping
especially in
regards to clutter
blocking aisles,
Due to
housekeeping
issues, health
risks will result
in the inducing
Housekeeping can result
in workplace hazards
especially during a fire.
Hence, in order to
safeguard one from such
It is highly
recommended to
have periodic clean-
ups in the workplace
under strict
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fire and
emergency exits.
of diseases
which may
prove to be
harmful for the
patients
admitted in
NHS Facility.
incidents, it is important
to ensure that the
workplace is kept free
of clutter or debris at all
times.
supervision.
CONCLUSION
From the above given information, it has been concluded significance of health and
safety in working environment of an organisation. Different number of rules and regulation
related with workplace safety have been applied by an organisation. As it will support them in its
success and growth within given time duration. In order to retain employees foe long time,
company have been followed different number of legislation related with Health and safety.
Data Protection Act 1998, Computer Misuse Act 1990, Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988,
Freedom of Information Act 2000 etc. acts have been followed by company to maintain health
and safety of workers. Thus, workplace safety is most essential for an enterprise to retain
employees for long time and gain better results within given time duration.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Almond, P. and Gray, G. C., 2017. Frontline safety: understanding the workplace as a site of
regulatory engagement. Law & Policy. 39(1). pp.5-26.
Ashkanasy, N. M., Bennett, R. J. and Martinko, M. J. eds., 2016. Understanding the high
performance workplace: The line between motivation and abuse. Routledge.
Aziz, A. A. and et. al., 2015. An initial study on accident rate in the workplace through
occupational safety and health management in sewerage services. International Journal
of Business and Social Science. 6(2).
Balch, A., 2015. Understanding and evaluating UK efforts to tackle forced labour.
In Vulnerability, Exploitation and Migrants(pp. 86-98). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Bruening, R. A. and et. al., 2015. Understanding small business engagement in workplace
violence prevention programs. American journal of health promotion. 30(2). pp.e83-
e91.
Burke, R. J., 2016. The fulfilling workplace: the organization's role in achieving individual and
organizational health. Routledge.
Cooper, D., 2015. Effective safety leadership: Understanding types & styles that improve safety
performance. Professional Safety. 60(02). pp.49-53.
Dimoff, J. K., Kelloway, E. K. and Burnstein, M. D., 2016. Mental health awareness training
(MHAT): The development and evaluation of an intervention for workplace
leaders. International Journal of Stress Management. 23(2). p.167.
Fabius, R. and et. al., 2016. Tracking the market performance of companies that integrate a
culture of health and safety: an assessment of corporate health achievement award
applicants. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine. 58(1). pp.3-8.
Guthrie, S. and et. al., 2017. Understanding mental health in the research environment.
Legg, S. J. and et. al., 2015. Managing safety in small and medium enterprises.
Loeppke, R. R. and et. al., 2015. Integrating health and safety in the workplace: how closely
aligning health and safety strategies can yield measurable benefits. Journal of
occupational and environmental medicine. 57(5). pp.585-597.
McCleary, K. and et. al., 2017. Employer and employee opinions about workplace health
promotion (wellness) programs: Results of the 2015 Harris poll Nielsen survey. Journal
of occupational and environmental medicine. 59(3). pp.256-263.
Pescud, M. and et. al., 2015. Employers’ views on the promotion of workplace health and
wellbeing: a qualitative study. BMC public health. 15(1). p.642.
Quach, T. and et. al., 2015. Identifying and understanding the role of key stakeholders in
promoting worker health and safety in nail salons. Journal of health care for the poor
and underserved. 26(2). pp.104-115.
Shea, T. and et. al., 2016. Leading indicators of occupational health and safety: An employee
and workplace level validation study. Safety science. 85. pp.293-304.
Sinelnikov, S., Inouye, J. and Kerper, S., 2015. Using leading indicators to measure occupational
health and safety performance. Safety science. 72. pp.240-248.
Wyatt, K. M. and et. al., 2015. Understanding how healthy workplaces are created: implications
for developing a national health service healthy workplace program. International
journal of health services. 45(1). pp.161-185.
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