Healthcare Workplace Health & Safety Audit Assignment Ireland

You are required to submit a written assignment which details your understanding of health and safety in the Healthcare/Social Care work place and include a health and safety audit.

You should use the following criteria to complete the assignment:

1. Workplace Policies and Procedures (15 marks):

Review the policies and procedures in relation to health and safety that are in the Healthcare workplace, pay particular attention to the following (15 marks):

1. Employers and employee duties in relation to the legislation – Health, Safety and Welfare at Work Act 2005.
   1. Emergency planning & reporting procedures – how are the emergency procedures documented, what reporting procedures are in place for accidents and incidents in the Healthcare setting.
   1. Policies in relation to safe working environments (Healthcare)
2. Workplace Safety Statement (10 marks)

You should carry out an analysis of your Healthcare workplace safety statement – what are the elements and functions of the safety statement.

• Safety Audit (18 marks):

You are required to conduct a Safety Audit on your workplace to include the following:

1. List and Classify 3 hazards in the Healthcare work environment – include hazards in relation to work practices, human hazards (alcohol/medication), and housekeeping. (6 marks)
2. Provide a detailed risk assessment conducted in relation to the hazards identified above with recommended actions to minimise or eradicate risks listed. (6 marks)
3. Appropriate control measures recommended in relation to the above hazards, with a view to improving the level of health and safety in the workplace. (6 marks)

Ensure you are using a safety Audit layout that is measurable

• Recommendations and Personal Learning (14 marks):
  • Include 3 recommendations on how to promote safe and healthy work places. (3 marks each)
  • Reflection on your personal learning and development achieved throughout the module. (5 marks)

Experts Answer on Above Questions on Workplace Health & Safety

Employer and employee duties under the safety, health and welfare at Work Act 2005

According to the safety, health and welfare at work act 2005, an Irish Healthcare employer has the primary duty to protect the employee’s health safety and welfare. The employers are required to prepare emergency procedures and report any kind of dangerous incidents to the health and safety authority. Employees also have statutory responsibility as they are required to undertake reasonable care of their own safety and that of others.

Emergency planning and accident reporting

According to section 11 of the 2005 act it is important for the employers to prepare emergency plans, designate responsible employees and make sure that employees get proper training and equipment. Any kind of accidents need to be reported through the internal incident reporting system of the organisation, properly investigated and recorded so that the causes can be identified.

Policies for a safe healthcare workplace

It is important that the healthcare workplace policy should address manual patient handling, infection prevention, PPE, medication safety, fire safety, violence and aggression and workplace housekeeping.

Workplace safety statement

It is an important document required legally and written according to section 20 of the safety welfare and work act 2005. It clearly indicates the ways in which a healthcare organisation manages and protects the health, safety and welfare of employees. A healthcare safety statement should comprise of identified workplace hazards, preventive and protective measures, emergency plan and procedures, employee duties and responsibilities, person responsible for the health and safety and proper arrangement for consultation and supervision.

Safety Audit

The three healthcare workplace hazards are unsafe patient handling, employee working while impaired by alcohol and wet floor or equipment left in the patient walkway. The unsafe peasant handling would pose the risk of excessive physical load and it may result in back injury or musculoskeletal disorder. The hazard of employees working while impaired by alcohol would result in reduced judgement and concentration, and may result in medication error or employee injury. Finally, the hazard of a wet floor would increase the risk of fall or slip and may result in fracture, head injury or other physical injury.

Risk assessment

The unsafe patient handling has a high likelihood and high severity which would increase the initial risk and it is recommended to have proper patient handling assessment and staff training process in advance. With respect to alcohol impairment its likelihood is low, but severity is high and it is recommended to have fitness for work policy and removal from safety critical duties when impairment is suspected. Finally, the wet walkway has a high likelihood and high severity, which would increase the initial risk and it is recommended to have immediate spill response, clear walkways and scheduled housekeeping inspections.

Control measures

With respect to unsafe pacing handling these control measures can be to use appropriate transfer equipment, provide manual handling training, make use of sufficient number of staff, maintain lifting equipment and avoid lifting the patient manually. For the second hazard of medication impairment, the control measures can be to implement a clear fitness for work policy, make it compulsory for employees to report medication that may affect their ability to work safely, provide confidential access to support services, train managers to recognise any kind of impairment. Finally, with respect to the hazard of poor housekeeping It is important to have control measures like cleaning spills immediately, using warning signs when floors are wet, secure training cables, conduct documented housekeeping inspection and assign responsibility for correcting any kind of hazards.

Recommendations and personal learning

The recommendations considered appropriate are to strengthen routine safety auditing, to improve staff training and reporting and make managers accountable for safety controls. With respect to my personal learning, I have learnt that healthcare health and safety is not limited to responding to accidents after they occur, and risk identification and prevention are very important to safe care. I have also learned about differentiating between a hazard and a risk and also developed greater awareness of my responsibility under Irish health and safety legislation.

Want Detailed Answers with References?

The analysis of Irish Healthcare Safety including the safety statement, workplace hazards, risk controls and personal learning through a health and safety audit above indicated crucial findings which can be utilised in preparing a safe and healthy workplace environment for healthcare personnel. If you need a similar kind of analysis, get in touch with our nursing assignment help experts by visiting our assignment help Ireland page. You can also explore the solved assignment answers from the Chevron College as included by our experts.