Health and Safety in Care Homes (England) Policy

Policy Statement

This care service ensures, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of its employees and the health and safety of other persons who may be affected by its activities.

Both the staff and management of the home will work in partnership to ensure that its statutory duties with regard to safety are met at all times.

The service will comply with all applicable legal and regulatory requirements and guidance relating to the safety of staff, people who use services and visitors.

Key regulatory requirements include:

the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014

Key guidance includes:

Guidance for Providers on Meeting the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014
How CQC Monitors, Inspects and Regulates Adult Social Care Services
HSG220 Health and Safety in Care Homes, published by the Health and Safety Executive.

Approach to Health and Safety

This care service will:

always provide adequate control of the health and safety risks arising from our work activities
consult with our employees on matters affecting their health and safety
provide and maintain safe equipment at all times
ensure the safe handling and use of substances
provide information, instruction, training and supervision as required
ensure that all employees and contractors are competent to do their tasks, and to give them adequate training
act to prevent accidents and cases of work-related ill health
ensure that the use, handling, storage and transport of items and substances is carried out safely and that risks to health are controlled
provide, manage and maintain our workplaces, grounds, properties and working conditions so that they are, so far as reasonably practicable, safe and that risks to health are controlled
provide the necessary organisation, expertise and resource — including communication and consultation, planning, monitoring, inspection and auditing procedures — to ensure that there is effective management of health and safety throughout {{org_field_name}}
review and revise this policy, and all associated health and safety policies, as necessary at regular intervals and inform our staff of any changes.

The Organisation of Health and Safety

The overall and final responsibility for health and safety in this residential care service is that of: ______________________________.

Day-to-day responsibility for ensuring this policy is implemented is that of: ______________________________.

To ensure that adequate health and safety standards are maintained and improved, the following people have responsibility in identified areas.

Name	Role	Area of responsibility
		Fire drills and evacuation
		Manual handling
		First aid
		Risk assessment
		Accident reporting/recording
		Accident prevention/prevention of slips, trips and falls
		Health and safety information and training
		Infection control
		Covid-19 coronavirus
		Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH)
		Equipment safety

The following people who use the services have agreed to be consulted and involved in health and safety matters: ______________________________.

Full consultation with staff and people who use the services on health and safety matters will be achieved in the following ways: ______________________________.

Staff Consultative Arrangements

{{org_field_name}} will make arrangements for the establishment of a safety committee. Representation on this committee will cover all appropriate areas of work or special hazards.

The Organisation’s Responsibilities

The organisation will ensure that:

all processes and systems of work are designed to take account of health and safety and are properly supervised at all times
a member of senior management maintains specific responsibility for health and safety
competent people are appointed to assist us in meeting our statutory duties including, where appropriate, specialists from outside of the organisation
all employees are consulted on matters relating to health, safety and welfare
adequate facilities and arrangements will be maintained to enable employees to raise issues of health and safety
each employee will be given such information, instruction and training as is necessary to enable the safe performance of work activities
all arrangements are brought to employees’ attention and are monitored and reviewed to ensure that they are effective.

Employees’ Responsibilities

Employees must ensure that they:

co-operate with management to enable all statutory duties to be complied with
take reasonable care of their own health and safety, and the health and safety of others who may be affected by their acts or omissions
familiarise themselves with the health and safety arrangements that apply to them and their work functions.

Specific Arrangements for Health and Safety

Risk assessments

This care service understands the need for regular risk assessments to ensure that risks and hazards are identified and suitable controls put in place to eliminate hazards and reduce those risks.

In this care service, _____________________ is responsible for performing regular risk assessments of the workplace. The findings of the risk assessments will be reported to _______________________ and action to remove or control risks will be the responsibility of ____________________. Records will be kept of all risk assessments and regular reviews performed to ensure that all actions have been completed.

Emergency procedures — fire and evacuation

This care service understands how dangerous a fire can be. The organisation will, therefore, take all reasonable action to ensure that fire is prevented and that in the event of a fire staff, people who use services and visitors can be safely evacuated.

______________________ is responsible for ensuring the fire risk assessment is undertaken and implemented and kept up to date, also for ensuring that the emergency evacuation procedure is in place, is kept up to date and is appropriately communicated to all people who use services, staff and visitors.

Escape routes in the offices will be checked every day by __________________ and fire extinguishers and fire-fighting equipment will be checked by ___________________ every _________ and the results recorded. Alarms will be tested by _________________ every __________ and a fire drill will be held every _____________.

The following staff have been identified and trained as Fire Wardens: ______________________________.

Fire safety arrangements, practice and guidance are documented in the organisation’s Fire Safety Policy.
All required maintenance and checks on fire detection and warning systems will be carried out by a competent person and recorded.
Detailed evacuation procedures will be displayed in prominent positions in the premises, with notification of evacuation points placed in all corridors and stairwells.
Regular fire drills will be carried out with records kept.

Equipment

This care service understands its responsibility to ensure that all equipment is safe to use and appropriately maintained and serviced.

____________________ will be responsible for identifying all equipment that needs regular maintenance and servicing. Defective equipment should be taken out of service by staff and any problems found with equipment should be reported to ___________________ who will prioritise and order repairs or replacement as appropriate. Full procurement, servicing and maintenance records will be kept.

Safe handling of hazardous substances (COSHH)

This care service understands the need to ensure that staff and people who use services are protected from potentially hazardous substances.

___________________ will be responsible for identifying all substances which need a COSHH assessment and for ensuring that those assessments are completed and kept up to date. Product information sheets for each identified substance will be kept in a file that is accessible to staff.

Health and safety information, training and supervision

___________________ will be responsible for ensuring that an up-to-date Health and Safety Law poster is prominently displayed in the home and that all relevant health and safety information is passed on to staff.

___________________ is responsible for co-ordinating health and safety training, including induction training, manual handling training, fire training, first-aid training and specialist training in risk assessment and health and safety management. {{org_field_name}} will keep records of staff training and all staff will be held responsible for ensuring that they attend any training required.

Specific jobs requiring specialist training are as follows: _______________________.

In this service, all staff will be adequately appraised and supervised. Supervision of young workers and trainees will be arranged, co-ordinated and monitored by ________________________.

Accidents and first aid

This care service understands the need to ensure that all accidents and incidents are reported and adequate records kept and reviewed so that trends and patterns can be identified and action taken.

________________ is responsible for ensuring that accident records are kept and monitored and that any appropriate actions resulting from reviews are put into action.

The Accident Book/Accident Forms are available here: ______________________________.

________________ is responsible for investigating accidents and for reporting accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences to the enforcing authority if required.

The following staff are qualified as first aiders: ______________________________.

The following staff are trained to act as “appointed persons” for first aid: ______________________________.

First-aid boxes are placed in the following locations: ______________________________.

Covid-19 risk mitigation measures

Like for all other adult social care organisations, the Covid-19 pandemic that started in the UK early in 2020 has had a serious impact on the running of {{org_field_name}}. With people identified as particularly vulnerable to the virus, {{org_field_name}} has acted throughout the pandemic to take whatever action is necessary to ensure that, wherever possible, they are protected.

___________________ is responsible for leading on and co-ordinating the Covid-19 response. However, it is up to all staff to work closely together and to support each other through these difficult times.

{{org_field_name}} will keep up to date with the latest public health and national government information about the risk of coronavirus in the UK. The infection control lead for the home will maintain close links with local health protection teams and will be responsible for circulating essential information to staff and people using services and their families. They will also update the organisation’s management team.

In {{org_field_name}}:

a Covid-19 risk assessment will be maintained throughout the pandemic — this will be periodically updated as required and whenever a new threat emerges
the risk assessment will inform a range of Covid-19 policies and procedures designed to ensure that both people who use services and staff receive the maximum possible protection and support
all risk assessments, policies and procedures will be based on the latest official public health best practice and guidance.

{{org_field_name}} has supported and will continue to support the Covid-19 vaccination programme for people who use services, staff and visitors. In {{org_field_name}}, in compliance with the law, all care workers will be expected to be vaccinated against Covid-19 unless they are officially exempt.

All staff must carefully follow the home’s policies on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks.

Contingency plans will be kept up to date covering actions to be taken in the event of a Covid-19 outbreak in the home or in the local area. These plans will include access to local public health advice and support.

Staff health and wellbeing is considered a key priority and all reasonable actions will be taken to ensure that staff are protected and kept informed. Staff who become ill with coronavirus or who test positive for infection will be expected to inform their line manager and stay at home in accordance with government restrictions.

Infection prevention and control (IPC) measures

The infection control lead for {{org_field_name}} is _________________________.

{{org_field_name}} believes that general adherence to high standards of infection prevention and control is the best way to prevent the person-to-person spread of pathogens such as coronavirus and maximise the safety of staff, people who use services and visitors. To achieve this the organisation’s infection control policies and procedures will be implemented in full, especially those related to:

compliance with national guidance on the admission of new people to the services
regular testing of staff and people using services for coronavirus
prompt isolation of symptomatic people or those who test positive for coronavirus
strict self-isolation of symptomatic staff or staff who test positive for coronavirus
appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE) as recommended in relevant official public health guidance
appropriate use of masks and face coverings as recommended in relevant official public health guidance
enhanced environmental cleaning, including more regular cleaning of frequently touched surfaces (eg door handles, taps, etc)
support for appropriate respiratory hygiene (eg tissues, bins, etc)
support for effective hand hygiene (eg additional hand washing facilities, availability of hand sanitiser, etc).

Staff should comply fully with all policies and procedures, including those relating to PPE wearing and hand sanitisation. Managers will ensure that policies are supported by the provision of appropriate resources such as PPE and hand sanitiser gels.

The infection prevention lead will be responsible for supporting {{org_field_name}} manager in ensuring timely supplies of necessary resources, especially hand hygiene products, disinfectants, cleansers and suitable PPE.

Work-related ill health

This care service is committed to taking any reasonable action to ensure the health and wellbeing of its staff. The service understands that sickness rates can indicate underlying occupational health problems and issues.

________________ is responsible for ensuring adequate and appropriate facilities and arrangements for welfare at work.

_________________________ will provide occupational health advice and services.

Health surveillance (the monitoring of staff health) is required for employees doing the following jobs: ____________________________.

Health and safety policies

This care service has the following policies:

Fire Safety Policy
Emergency Evacuation Policy
First Aid Policy
Moving and Handling Policy
COSHH Policy
Infection Control Policy
Accidents Policy
Prevention of Slips, Trips and Falls Policy
Health and Safety Training Policy
Working at Height Policy
Employing Contractors Policy
Record Keeping Policy.

___________________ is responsible for ensuring that policies are made available to staff, are kept up to date and that any changes are communicated to staff as required.

Training

Providing adequate health and safety training to ensure employees are competent to do their work is the responsibility of __________________________.

Training will commence on the first day of employment so that employees are familiar with basic procedures once they are at their place of work. All new staff will be expected to attend induction, which will include the provision of statutory information designed to ensure safety at work. Following induction, a programme of health and safety refresher training will be agreed with staff representatives.

All new care staff will be expected to complete the Care Certificate, including Standard 13: Health and Safety.

A requirement to attend any of the courses will be agreed with each member of staff during their annual appraisal. The need to attend a specific course will then be added to their personal training plan.

Signed course attendance registers and details of training attended by staff will be kept.

Full details will be included in the organisation’s Health and Safety Training Policy.

Responsible Person: {{org_field_registered_manager_first_name}} {{org_field_registered_manager_last_name}}

Reviewed on: {{last_update_date}}

Next Review Date: {{next_review_date}}

CH145. Health and Safety in Care Homes