Personal Safety Flashcards
What are the 3 areas of risk to personal safety?
Infection, assault and personal injury
How do you assess risk?
Name the risk, how likely is it, how serious is the outcome, multiply
What are the 5 components of risk assessment?
Identify, avoid, analyse, evaluate, treat
How can a risk be treated?
Avoid, reduce, transfer to someone else, retain & manage
What are the 3 types of assault?
Verbal violence, physical violence, bullying
What are common causes of aggression?
Long waits, bad news, no control/options, dashed expectations, personality/psychiatric disorders, drug/alcohol use
What are the signs of aggression?
- Voice low/slow or loud/abusive
- Loss of eye contact
- Frowning, red face/eyes
- Physical stance - too close, chest/arms out
What action should be taken in the event of aggression?
Call supervisor, code black or police, notification/incident report
When should the police be called?
- Assault/threat of assault
- Destructive behaviour
- Person armed
- Won’t quit down after 2-3 requests
How can you treat assault as a physio?
- Avoid
- Come back later
- Do a different procedure
- Different place (don’t go to the person’s home)
How can you reduce the risk of assault?
- Plan environments
- Manage waiting times
- Get trained in managing aggression
- Manage treatment well
How can you retain and manage the risk of assault?
- Work in twos
- Stay calm, allow person to talk
- Position - back to door, stand slightly side on
- Body language
- Offer snack/drink
- Too dangerous: get out
One in three injuries to staff is caused by -?
Manual handling
What do manual handling incidents include?
Pulling, pushing, lifting, holding, restraining or catching a falling patient
How are manual handling risks treated?
- No lift policies
- Identify hazards, assess risks
- Get patients to use skills and mobility
- Use equipment/planning
