Risk Assessment and
Care Plans
Why?
How?
and how they differ..
Mrs A Ferrero
Environmental Health Officer
East Devon District Council
Risk Assessment –
Why do I have to do it?
It’s a legal requirement
Management Regulations 1999
You have to make sure;
staff and the public are properly protected
you focus on reducing real risks – those
which arise more often and those with
serious consequences
staff understand that as well as the right to
protection, they also have responsibilities
you are managing work processes as
efficiently and safely as possible
Care Plan –
Why do I have to do it?
It’s a legal requirement
Health and Social Care Act 2008
You have to make sure;
it is centered on the client’s individual
circumstances
you focus on the welfare, needs and
preferences of the client
you balance safety with the client’s right to
make choices, and take appropriate
informed risks
you are reducing the risk of deterioration of
the clients health status
and CQC will know if you don’t….
So how do you do a
Risk Assessment ?
A risk assessment is a careful
examination of what in your work
could cause harm to people,
so that you can decide if you have
taken enough precautions or
should do more to prevent harm.
Some jobs are just asking for it….
Sensible risk management
is not about:
Creating a totally risk free society
Generating useless paperwork mountains
Scaring people by exaggerating or
publicising trivial risks
Stopping activities where the important
risks are managed
What is a Hazard?
•
a hazard is anything that may cause harm,
such as chemicals, electricity, working from
ladders, an open drawer etc
What is risk?
•
the risk is the chance, high or low, that
somebody could be harmed by hazards,
together with an indication of how serious
the harm could be
So where do I start?
It helps to have a structure to risk assessment,
for example a form…
There are two basic things to consider
during assessment
• Physical risks- usually premises based
ones, i.e. slippery floors, stairs,
equipment provided, hot surfaces, etc.
• Procedural risks- the ways staff work,
i.e. manual handling, infection control,
client attitudes etc.
Identify the hazards:
Find out where hazards can occur – i.e. look at
HSE’s website
Walk around the premises noting potential physical
risks.
Talk to members of staff with knowledge and
experience on work methods, and listen to their
opinions on health and safety issues.
Think about occasional activities, such as putting up
Christmas decorations or changing light bulbs.
Look at the accident book, to understand what has
previously caused incidents.
And what about a Care Plan?
The registered person must ensure each service
user is protected from inappropriate or unsafe care,
by
(a) carrying out an assessment of their needs
(b) planning and delivering care to—
(i) meet their individual needs,
(ii) ensure their welfare and safety,
(iii) follow guidance issued by appropriate
professionals on good practice,
(iv) avoid discrimination and make reasonable
adjustments if needed.
The registered person must have procedures for dealing
with emergencies which would affect the services.
Lets consider an example that may link
Care Plans with Risk Assessment.
A Care plan would start with identifying
a problem, for example the client has
difficulty using their bed safely.
This may be from the client expressing
concern, or staff noticing the client has
a problem, or unfortunately as a result
of a fall from the bed.
A Care plans would consider
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
the history of the client,
their mobility in bed,
their size,
their understanding of the problem,
will they try and get out of bed alone,
are they likely to try to climb over rails,
what the client actually wants to happen.
So a decision is made to provide bed rails
Having made the decision to do
something a Risk assessments would
start with looking at the hazards.
•
Find out where hazards can occur – i.e. look at HSE’s
website
•
Walk around looking for potential physical risks.
•
Talk to members of staff with knowledge and experience
on these work methods, and listen to their opinions on
health and safety issues.
•
Think about occasional activities, such as changing
furniture layout and deep cleaning rooms.
•
Look at the accident book, to understand what has
previously caused incidents.
Example :- Use of Bedrails in a home
Around 3 fatalities per year
reported to HSE across
UK.
There are probably many
other unreported incidents
and accidents involving
bed rails.
Example :- Use of Bedrails in a home
By thinking of the possible hazards
some questions can then be considered,
• would an alternative be better – e.g.
lower bed?
• is bedrail suitable for bed?
• is mattress suitable for use with rails?
• can it be fitted safely to prevent any
area where a person could become
trapped
• maintenance
• staff training and competent to use
bedrails
Both Care plans and Risk assessments
have to be documented.
Care plans, containing personal information,
must be kept confidential.
Risk assessments must be made available to
staff and should contain information including
who could be harmed and how:
Public
Staff
Contractors
Anyone else
Example :- Use of Bedrails in a home
Existing controls and extra ones needed
For each hazard;
write down what the hazard is, why it
is important and what controls are
in place to manage it,
compare the controls to the good
practice guidance on HSE’s, or other
industry regulators websites,
if they are not good enough
write down what else needs
to be done to control the risk.
Example :- Use of Bedrails in a home
Example :- Use of Bedrails in a home
Example :- Use of Bedrails in a home
Record and implement controls
Discuss the findings with staff.
Pin the risk assessment up in the staff
room for everyone to see.
Plan how and when you will do any
necessary work.
Train staff if necessary.
Regularly review
Review and update the risk
assessment every year, or straight
away if major changes happen or
an accident occurs which highlights a
weakness.
Sources of information
Your local EHO
HSE guidance
Trade Bodies
Risk assessment
You have a legal duty to consider
risks in your business and to do what
you reasonably can to deal with the
risks.
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999