LO1- understanding potential hazards

Question 1

What is a hazard?

Answer 1

A potential source of harm or adverse health effects.

Question 2

Why is it important that care workers are able to identify different types of hazards in care settings?

Answer 2

So that they are able to fix the potential hazards in order to decrease future problems from happening, e.g injuries, burns,infections

Question 3

What would be the problems caused if hazards are not spotted?

Answer 3

It can lead to an increase possibility of individuals being harmed

Question 4

Environmental hazards:

Answer 4

A hazard which may result in an individual slipping, tripping or fall and injuring themselves, e.g wet floors

Question 5

Chemical hazards:

Answer 5

Hazards which result from cleaning products or medication not being stored/used properly, e.g burns, internal damage if injested, illness from incorrect dosage

Question 6

Psychological hazards:

Answer 6

Emotional harm caused by stress or the emotional demands of a job.

Question 7

Physical hazards:

Answer 7

Factors or conditions which cause harm without direct contact, e.g x-rays, exposure to radiation.

Question 8

Working practices hazards:

Answer 8

Hazards from members of staff not following correct procedures to maintain safety, e.g lack of supervision, incorrect training, exceeding working hours limits.

Question 9

Biological hazards:

Answer 9

Hazards which lead to illness/infections spreading due to lack of hygiene, e.g bodily fluids and waste not being disposed of correctly.

Question 10

Musculoskeletal hazards:

Answer 10

Hazards that can result in injury to the back or other muscles during manual handling, e.g moving patients and equipment around.

Question 11

Working conditions hazards:

Answer 11

Hazards relating to the setting, such as poor lighting, temperature,noise.

Question 12

Lack of security systems hazards:

Answer 12

Hazards that could result in harm if the premises are not guarded effectively, e.g lack of alarms, faulty locks.

Question 13

What is a risk?

Answer 13

The likelihood of the hazard causing harm and how serious it could be

Question 14

What is risk management?

Answer 14

Identifying hazards and risks in advance and putting procedures in place to reduce the chance of the hazards causing harm, injury or illness.

Question 15

What are the four types of impacts that result from hazards in care settings?

Answer 15

• financial loss
• poor standards of care
• illness
• injury/harm

Question 16

Intentional abuse:

Answer 16

harm towards another person done deliberately, e.g a community support worker who gets money from an elderly service user to buy food and shopping but also buys things for themselves.

Question 17

Unintentional abuse:

Answer 17

harm towards someone through poor care or not following correct procedures (not done deliberately), e.g carer in a nursing home handling a patient roughly when getting her in and out of bed causing bruising.

Question 18

What might be the effects of abuse for abusers in a care setting?

Answer 18

• loosing their job
• imprisonment
• attend extra training courses
• warnings, supervision
• organisations could be closed down