It’s important that care homes are pleasant places that respect the freedom and dignity of the people living there but also, a place in which everybody’s health and safety is prioritised and effectively managed. Here are 5 tips to ensure health and safety for care workers.
1. Review Who Helps Who with Different Duties
In order to meet the requirements of your health and safety strategy, it needs to be a team effort.
Delegating certain roles to different members of the team is beneficial to both the team and the residents in the home. Not only will everybody understand their roles and responsibilities for if there is unfortunately an accident, but it also will help the residents know who they can go to for help should they need it.
Clearly assigned roles and responsibilities gives clear accountability so if there are any issues, you know who to turn to. Ask whoever is responsible for the home’s health and safety strategy to make this more clear if it isn’t already so.
2. Be Prepared to Discuss Safety Concerns Openly and Together
You must speak comfortably with each other if you want things to run as smoothly as possible. This should be a two way process which allows staff to raise their concerns and influence different decisions on health and safety – and not just leave it to senior management.
There are various issues which should be able to be discussed openly. These are:
- Risks arising from care work – this could range from the movement of equipment or residents to something as simple as a loose tile on the hallway floor. It all matters, regardless of the size of the issue.
- Proposals to manage and/or control these risks – each person is different and will have different preferences to how they want to work and be dealt with. For example, due to previous injuries, you may not be able to properly assist a resident when evacuating. You’ll need to control this risk by making sure it’s raised and procedures are updated.
- Request training when it’s needed – because, without it, the care home you work for won’t be able to give the best possible care it’s capable of.
3. Control Your Risks by Raising Any Issues
Everybody on the premises is exposed to some type of risk. You’ll need to assess the risks and decide whether or not you’re doing enough to prevent harm to yourself or your residents. If something feels too unsafe, your procedures and policies may need revising and this should be flagged to whoever is responsible for this at your home.
It’s a shared responsibility to keep the care home safe, so here are some risks to think about:
- Common risks to everybody – this could include something such as moving vehicles in the car park. Challenging behaviour from residents could pose a threat to you, your colleagues and other residents.
- Risks to the residents – unfortunate incidents such as falling, scalding or lack of physical activity due to low staffing should be watched out for. You have a responsibility to also raise an issue if the home, as a whole, is incapable of preventing harm to the most vulnerable.
- Risks to you and your colleagues – this covers things like moving/handling a resident and responding to challenging behaviour. Other things included in this section could range from handling hazardous substances to pre-existing injuries that could hamper your work.
4. Make Sensible Risk Assessment Decisions
When considering the care needs of an individual, it’s everyday tasks that can sometimes prove the most difficult and will put you or them at some level of risk. This requires a nice balance of considering the freedom and dignity of the individual, but also having their safety in mind too. You should enable residents to live fulfilled lives safely, not provide reasons for restricting them.
A people-first approach to a risk assessment for the resident may be an effective and nice touch. That way, you’re considering the real needs of the resident, which will no doubt empower them and form a healthy relationship with you and your colleagues.
5. Request Proper Training and Equipment
Everybody who works on the premises at the care home needs to know how to work safely without putting their own or other’s health at risk. You should pay particular attention to:
- If new equipment arrives or new standards are put in place, it’s only right that you receive proper training in order to be able to conduct your job properly.
- You’ll likely be provided with elements of a uniform and will be given protective clothing for particular tasks. But are you wearing appropriate footwear? Care workers tend to be on their feet for the majority of their shift, so you should wear practical, yet comfortable shoe. This will reduce the chance of slips, trips and falls, and will cause less back, feet and leg problems.
The safety of everybody on the premises of the home is absolutely paramount. Without a proper health and safety policy in plan it could lead to unhappy residents and workers creating a sour environment or even worse a tragedy. Don’t let the focus stray away from the safety of everybody on site, follow these simple steps and you won’t be far wrong.
Tom Larkin is Marketing Controller with Shoes For Crews (Europe) Limited. Previously Tom held senior marketing roles on the client and agency side for companies in both London and Dublin.
Shoes For Crews (Europe) are one of the world’s leading manufacturers of slip resistant and safety footwear. They are an industry leader in safety for over three decades and to date have kept over 100,000 workplaces safe worldwide. Shoes for Crews unique slip-resistant outsoles are developed with the distinct mission of keeping workers safe across multiple industries. A recent relaunch of its brand has seen more stylish and comfortable shoes being introduced, including new innovative features such as spill and trip resistance.