LO1: Potential hazards in health, social and childcare environments Flashcards
What are the types of hazards?
Environmental
Biological
Chemical
Psychological
Physical
Musculoskeletal
Working Conditions
Working practices
Lack of security systems
What are environmental hazards?
Worn or damaged equipment, furniture and flooring which can cause slip or trip hazards resulting in injuries eg. sprains and broken bones
What are biological hazards?
Medical or other waste products not disposed of correctly and poor hygiene levels can result in spread of infection and disease
What are chemical hazards?
Medicines: incorrect dose administered, wrong medication given, unauthorised access to medication can have serious health implications
Cleaning materials: incorrectly stored or used or left out can cause serious phsycial harm
What are psychological hazards?
Stress and fatigue: due to long working hours, coping with challenging behaviour, violence, abuse from service users eg. bullying in the workplace
What are physical hazards?
Excessive loud noise: continuous use of loud vaccuum can cause ringing in the ears, deafness or other ear conditions
Radiation: comes from electromagnetic ray such as x-rays and gamma rays
What are muscoloskeletal hazards?
Manual handling: this includes equipment, patients and residents can cause back or muslce injuries if not carried out correctly folowing procedures
Display screen equipment: incorrect posture or badly positioned screen when using a computer can cause muscular aches and repettive stress injuires
What are working conditions hazards?
Temperature: too hot or too cold in the workplace can cause dehydration and exacerbate condtions
Noise: levels too high can have long term effects on hearing
Travel: long distances, traffic, being away from home often causes stress and tiredness
What ar working practices hazards?
Excessive working hours: result in tiredness or lack of concentration leading to mistakes and accidents
Lack of supervision for new staff: training and supervison needed to avoid accidents and injuries
What are lack or security systems hazards?
Door locks, alarm systems and monitoring of visitors all prevent unauthorised access by strangers who may be a threat or harm for individuals in care environments
Hazardous actvities in care settings
Helping someone out a wheelchair
Cleaning (chemicals, vaccuums)
Dressing wounds and changing nappies
Helping somone out of bed
Lifiting heavy equipment
What are practical hazards?
Broken furniture
Clutter/ objects on the floor
Poor lighting
Extension cords
Wet floors
Impacts of hazards on employees
Individul who work in care setting eg. nurses and teachers
May develop mental illness such as depression or stress
Physical effects such as high blood pressure due to excessive workload, back injuries if have not recieved correct manual handling training
Impacts of hazards on employers
Manger/ owner of care setting who employs staff eg. headteacher/ owner of residential care home
Serious consequences such as being taken to court, being fined or closed down, care setting could develop poor reputation and failing inspection
Impacts of hazards on individuals who require care
Service users/ people who go to a service eg. hospital patient/ people who attend a day centre
May not recieve adequate levels of care if staff don’t have enough time to do their jobs properly due to staff shortages or lack of training
Staff don’t maintain high standard of hygiene can cause infections to spread among individuals eg. colds and coughs even as serious as MRSA
Might suffer financial loss if personal belongings are stolen or damagded while using care services
