Types Of Hazards Flashcards
1
Q
Hazards
A
Definition: “a potential source of harm of adverse health effect”
Health. social care and child settings can be sources of potential hazards that, if ignored or not minimised could cause ill-health and harm to people who live, visit and work in them as well as damage to the environment
2
Q
Types of hazards
A
- (1) Environmental hazards (wet bathroom floor in residential care home, frayed carpet in the hallway entrance of a of children’s centre)
- (2) Biological hazard (a used bandage left on the bed in a clinic, vomit on the floor of a children’s play area)
- (3) Chemical hazards (unlocked medicines trolley in hospital ward, hot cooking oil left unattended in kitchen of an afterschool club, an unlabelled cleaning fluid in the cupboard of an individual’s home).
- (4) Psychological hazard eg stress, tiredness and violence (tiredness caused by a high workload due to staff absence in a supported living scheme. Stress can be caused by children not wanting to participate in the activities that are planned for them.)
- (5) Physical (radiation, noise)
- (6) Musculoskeletal (manual handling of patients in the wrong way, eye strain, repetitive strain injury)
- (7) Working conditions (noise and disruption to the reception area of an opticians due to maintenance work, a child’s bedroom that is very cold and has poor lighting.)
- (8) Unsafe working practices (lack of supervision for new volunteer working in a support group for adults who have dementia, lack of training for staff in a children’s residential home on the procedure to follow when a faulty hoist is identified)
- (9) Lack of security systems (faulty smoke alarm, a broken security chain on an individual’s front door, lack of interlocking doors in a school)
3
Q
Potential impacts
A
- injury or harm
- illness
- poor standards of care
- financial loss
4
Q
Injury or harm
A
Examples:
- Individual’s who requires care and support may be harmed if environmental hazards have not been identified. For example, steps in the front of your GP are uneven then people may fall.
- Chemical hazards can cause injuries and harm to both the individuals who require care and support and employees of organisation. For example, not using PPE such as aprons and gloves this stops people from getting a skin rash and burns, not storing medicines securely may lead to children swallowing them thinking they are sweets and being harmed
5
Q
Illness
A
- Biological hazards - if not identified and managed, can cause life-threatening and Long-term illness. (For example, using dressings need to be safely disposed of, this includes dirty laundry needs to be washed separately and body fluid spillage need to be cleaned quickly using the correct protective equipment and cleaning agents not doing so may lead to spread infections. Can cause serious illnesses like Clostridium difficile ( C. diff, causes bowel infection)
- Psychological hazards such as stress and tiredness, have the potential to impact on everyone. Staff are going to be more likely to do something wrong in day-to-day working practices if they are tired or stressed this means that the individuals may get a poor level of care and feel unsafe.
- Can impact employers as well as employees - staff absence and drop out.
6
Q
Poor standards of care
A
Unsafe working conditions and unsafe working practices can result in hazards not being identified, reduced or removed. For example:
- not properly washing hands. Employee not properly washing hands can spread infections like MRSA (bacteria causes severe infection).
- buildings of health care and child care setting need proper maintenance. For example not maintaining water tanks and pipes can lead to growth of Legionella bacteria which can cause Legionnaires’ disease (affects the lungs).
Poor working practices can also impact on the standard of care and support. For example:
- lack of supervision can lead to poor communication causing conflict and misunderstandings, poor team work and stress.
- failure to follow an organisation’s health and safety procedures like avoiding trip and slip hazards can lead to avoidable injuries
7
Q
Financial loss
A
- Can can devastating effect on employers and organisations
- When a hazard result in injury, employees may bring a lawsuit against the organisation which may result in having to pay out compensation as well as costs and court fees.
- Organisations may face fines from regulatory agencies such as Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
- Lawsuit and fines can also damage the reputation of the organisation and future business may suffer as a result.
- can lose their regulatory approval and lose their licence and have to close.
8
Q
Harm and abuse
A
Anyone in health care, social care and child settings can be vulnerable to abuse
- Individuals who require care and support may be vulnerable to harm and abuse from a paid worker, manager or owner of a setting, from a family member, a friend or visitor and even from other individuals who access the same setting.
- Harm and abuse can also be carried out by other individuals who require care and support who may be verbally or physically aggressive towards others
9
Q
Categories of abuse
A
can be:
- intentional (deliberate)
- unintentional (through poor care)
10
Q
Intentional abuse
A
Harm and abuse towards others can be intentional (deliberate).
For example:
- a care assistant who supports an individual by doing shopping for them, deliberately buys items for themselves with the individual’s money (financial abuse)
- an individual who is upset that their senior health worker has advised them to not smoke following their recent operation and hits them is deliberately abusing the worker physically (physical abuse).
- a care worker who neglects the safety and comfort of a child in their care by not ensuring that the child eats or wears warm cloth when playing outside is deliberately abusing that child by neglecting their needs.
11
Q
Unintentional Abuse
A
Harm and abuse towards others can also be unintentional through poor care.
For example:
- a senior care worker who supports an older individual to move position in bed in a careless manner is unintentionally physically abusing that individual.
- a person with dementia visiting a GP shouts at the others in the waiting area is unintentionally abusing them.
- a play group volunteer who forgets to ask the children to wash their hands after after using the toilet is unintentionally neglecting the children and putting them in danger of illness and infection.
12
Q
Effect of abuse: short-term effects
A
Short - term effects can include:
- bruises, cuts and broken bones
- STI
- low self - esteem
- poor self - image
- anxiety
- displaying challenging or needy behaviour
13
Q
Effect of abuse: long-term effects
A
Long-term effects of abuse can include:
- developing mental health issues, such as depression, self-harm and suicidal behaviour
- developing physical health conditions such as hypertension (high blood pressure), anorexia and obesity.
- difficulties forming relationships and friendship
- addictions to drugs or alcohol
- inability to sleep
- low self-esteem
- feeling angry, anxious and tearful
14
Q
Types of settings which may be more likely to contain hazards
A
- health care environment (GP surgery): health professionals carry out tasks such as surgical procedures that involve contact with body fluid that can contain pathogens and carry infectious disease. Contact with hazardous chemicals can lead to accidental spillages. Stress!
- care environments (an individuals home, residential care home, a nursing home): vulnerable residents might have a weak immune system that may lead to damage by Illness such as leukaemia and therefore can make them more susceptible to infections. Visual or mobility impairments may lead to greater risk of falls.
- child care environment: (school, nursery, creche) children don’t recognise potential hazards such as choking on food, sharing toys that have been put into mouths, eating food off the floor, not washing hands after toilet
- public environments: (shopping centres, parks, cinemas): slip, trip and fall hazards. Food poisoning from food outlets. Physical abuse and violence by some in the public place to others.
- transport (ambulance): wheelchair not secured properly. Faulty seatbelts. Tripping getting in or out of minibus. Body fluid from medical equipment could lead to the spread of infection.
