P2- M1 Unit 3 Health, Safety and Security in Health and Social Care
In this assignment I am going to be outlining how legislation, policies and procedures relating to health, safety and security influence health and social care settings (p2). I am also going to describe how legislation, policies and procedures are used to promote the safety of individuals in the health and social care workplace (m1).
I am going to start by giving some definitions.
Health
Health is a state of physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Safety
Safety is a freedom of harm, danger and risk, threat harm or injury or loss to personal property whether this was on purpose or by accident you should still see a member of security.
Security
Security is being able to feel secure and also having freedom from danger. Also it is having freedom from fear or anxiety.
Legislation
Legislation is the act or process of law making. It is an enacted law or group of laws.
Policy
A policy is something that guides our actions. These tell us what has to be done, how they should be done and who they should be done by.
Procedures
Procedures are a step by step sequence for activities or course of action.
Food Safety Act (1990)
This gives power to the environmental health inspectors to inspect the food and seize the food that is unfit for human consumption. Any company that breaches food hygiene standards can be given a notice of improvement. Or in extreme circumstances can be temporarily shut down or permanently if it is to be considered a health hazard. The businesses can be prosecuted for breaching the standards. To make sure that you have a hazard free environment then you would have to:
Wear hair nets.
Make sure hands are clean at all times when dealing with food.
Make sure that all the units are clean.
This promotes safety in the food businesses, so they know that the food is fit for other people to eat and they are not going to get any illnesses from the food they have eaten.
Data Protection Act (1998)
This relates to personal information that is held on paper or in an electronic format. The information that is held should be relevant and not excessive. It would need to have been obtained for lawful reasons and should be accurate and current. The information should not be held longer than it needs to be. The information should be protected against unauthorised access and accidental destruction.
Health and social care services usually hold a lot of sensitive information about other individuals. It is important that the information is only used for legitimate purposes, e.g. if you have got something to send to someone in the post but the property ends up being empty, if you don’t have the patients permission then don’t send it to a relative because the patient may not want the family to know what is wrong with them or may be embarrassed about what is wrong with them.
This promotes the data protection act by them making sure that everything confidential is kept safe and that no-one else besides the people who work in that particular environment see the information.
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