26/04/2024 14:02:37

World Day for Safety and Health at Work | Healthcare

Blue Stream Academy

Sunday 28 April 2024 marks the World Day for Safety and Health at Work.

Here at Blue Stream Academy, we are passionate about supporting professionals across the health and social care sectors to improve health and safety, minimise risks, and decrease accidents and harm.
Health and safety at work is vital to ensure that risks are minimised, especially in high-pressure environments such as healthcare, where the well-being of both patients and staff relies on a culture of safety and support.
In this article, we explore what can be done to improve staff safety throughout healthcare.

Increasing Staff Wellbeing and Workplace Welfare

The Imperial College London reports that between April to June 2022, there was a shortage of more than 132,000 full-time equivalent healthcare staff – a vacancy rate of 9.7%. Alongside a nearly 10% workforce shortfall, Imperial Collage reports that in 2020 40% of staff reported feeling unwell as a result of work-related stress - this rose to nearly 47% in 2021.
Maintaining appropriate staffing levels to prevent overwork and burnout can contribute to a safer work environment by reducing the likelihood of errors and incidents due to fatigue.
With an understaffed workforce and increasing pressures due to subsequent workload and the aftereffect of the COVID-19 pandemic, prioritising staff wellbeing is essential within the healthcare sectors to improve safety and overall welfare. Whilst largescale issues related to staffing and increased pressures following the pandemic require high-level changes, healthcare organisations can do what they can to support staff and their wellbeing.
We’ve put together a selection of professional wellbeing support resources to support professionals and increase wellbeing throughout healthcare:
Helplines for health and social care workers:
  • NHS England:Text FRONTLINE to 85258 for support 24/7
  • Health for health professionals Wales:0800 058 2738 (available Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm)
  • Samaritans frontline support for keyworkers:116 123 (available 24/7) or text 85258
  • Mental Health at WorkCall 0300 303 4434 from 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week, for trauma and bereavement support from Just B

Increasing Staff Confidence and Competence through Healthcare Training and Education

Ensuring that staff have access to appropriate PPE, including gloves, masks, and other protective gear, can minimize exposure to infectious diseases and hazardous substances.
For further information on infection prevention and control practice within a NHS primary care setting, click here to view NHS England’s National infection prevention and control manual for England.
Blue Stream Academy recommends:
  • Infection Prevention and Control – Tier 1 Healthcare Training
  • Infection Prevention and Control – Tier 2 Healthcare Training
  • Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Healthcare Training
  • Hand Hygiene Healthcare Training

Minimising Potentially Dangerous Scenario’s with Zero-tolerance Policies

Enforcing strict policies against violence, harassment, and abuse towards staff sends a clear message that such behaviour will not be tolerated and can lead to consequences for perpetrators.
Blue Stream Academy recommends:
  • Challenging Behaviour Healthcare Training
  • Conflict Resolution Healthcare Training

Managing Potential and Unavoidable Risks with Regular Risk Assessments

Conducting regular risk assessments to identify potential safety hazards and vulnerabilities allows for proactive measures to be taken to mitigate risks and enhance staff safety.
Blue Stream Academy recommends:
  • Risk Management Healthcare Training
  • Electrical Safety Healthcare Training
  • Fire Safety Healthcare Training
  • Fire Warden Healthcare Training
  • Health and Safety for Domiciliary Care Training
  • Lone Worker Healthcare Training
  • Office Safety Healthcare Training
  • Principles of Health and Safety Healthcare Training
  • Safely Entering and Exiting a Person’s Home Healthcare Training
  • Waste Management Healthcare Training

Learning from Accident and Incidents with Good Communication and Reporting Systems

Establishing clear channels for staff to report safety concerns, incidents, and near-misses ensures that issues are addressed promptly, and corrective actions are taken.
Blue Stream Academy recommends Accident and Incident Reporting Healthcare Training.

Full Breakdown of Recommended Healthcare Staff Safety Training

Accident and Incident Reporting Healthcare Training

  • An Introduction to Accident and Incident Report
  • Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR)
  • Accidents and Near-miss Accidents

Infection Prevention and Control – Tier 1 – Training for Healthcare Organisations

This training provides informative content to provide healthcare professionals an understanding of:
  • An Introduction to Infection Prevention and Control
  • What Infections Are and How They Are Spread
  • Standard Infection Prevention and Control Precautions

Infection Prevention and Control – Tier 2 – Training for Healthcare Organisations

Alongside the content above, the tier 2 training provides healthcare professionals with an understanding of:
  • Preventing Infection
  • Transmission Based Precautions
  • The Code of Practice

Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) – Training for Healthcare Organisations

  • An Introduction to COSHH
  • Hazardous Substances
  • Exposure to the Body
  • Control and Safety Measures
  • Identifying Hazards

Hand Hygiene – Healthcare Training for Healthcare Organisations

Challenging Behaviour Training for Healthcare Organisations

  • What is Challenging Behaviour
  • Understanding and Recognising Challenging Behaviour
  • Good Communication
  • Managing Risk and Assessing Behaviours
  • Escalating and Emergency Situations
  • Debriefs

Conflict Resolution Training for Healthcare Organisations

  • An Introduction to Conflict Resolution
  • Risk Factors
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Managing Violence and Aggression

Risk Management Training for Healthcare Organisations

  • Understanding Risk
  • Hazard Identification
  • Carrying out a Risk Assessment

Electrical Safety Training for Healthcare Organisations

Fire Safety Training for Healthcare Organisations

  • An Introduction to Fire Safety
  • Risk Assessment
  • Fire Prevention
  • Emergency Plans
  • Fire Fighting Equipment

Fire Warden Training for Healthcare Organisations

  • An Introduction to Fire Warden Training
  • Understanding Fire
  • Fire Risk Assessment
  • Fire Safety Arrangements
  • Evacuation Procedures

Health and Safety for Domiciliary Care Training for Healthcare Organisations

  • An Introduction Health and Safety for Domiciliary Care
  • Legislation
  • Health and Safety for Domiciliary Care
  • Infection Control in Domiciliary Care
  • Other Considerations for Domiciliary Care

Lone Worker Training for Healthcare Organisations

  • Who are Lone Workers
  • Lone Worker Responsibilities
  • Lone Worker Risks and Hazards
  • Risk Assessments for Lone Workers
  • Safety When Working Alone
  • Emergency Procedures for Lone Workers

Office Safety Training for Healthcare Organisations

  • Furniture Safety
  • Lift Safety
  • Electrical Safety
  • Trips, Slips and Falls

Principles of Health and Safety Training for Healthcare Organisations

  • Health and Safety Responsibilities
  • Understanding Risk Assessment
  • Moving and Assisting
  • Accidents and Sudden Illness
  • Medication and Healthcare Tasks
  • Handling Hazardous Substances
  • Promoting Fire Safety
  • Working Securely
  • Managing Stress

Safely Entering and Exiting a Person’s Home Training for Healthcare Organisations

  • Preparing to Enter or Exit a Person’s Home
  • The Process of Entering and Exiting a Person's Home
  • Other Considerations

Waste Management Training for Healthcare Organisations

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