s a night worker I have a great deal of responsibility in relation to health and safety. I am a lone worker and by night I am primarily responsible for the health and safety of myself, the service users that are accessing our service at the time, the member of staff that is sleeping in as well as the safety and security of the premises.
The health and safety at work act 1974 is the main legislation that applies to us in the care setting. The act has been updated and supplemented by others sets of regulations that are relevant to care they include;
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH)
Reporting of injuries, Disease and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 ( RIDDOR)
Health and Safety First Aid Regulations 1981
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulation 1999
The main points of Health and Safety policies and procedures agreed with the employer are;
Ensure Health and Safety and welfare of all employees
Employers must prepare a written statement of safety policy.
Must provide and maintain equipment which is safe.
Must provide information, training and supervision relating to health and safety matters at work.
My responsibility of health and safety is to;
Adhere to safety policies and producers
Make sure equipment is used according to guidelines
As staff we are accountable for our own health and safety and service users.
I may identify an issue that I am unable to deal with myself but it is not an emergency, this could be for example faulty or damaged equipment. In these cases it is my responsibility to report these findings to my manager and the responsibility is then passed to them to resolve the problem. I must ensure that I have recorded my findings in the Information Diary and on the correct check sheets, this is so that there is evidence of the problem being detected and when it was detected.
The responsibilities of others within the work setting for health and safety is;
The same as myself
Its...