Personal Safety and Wellbeing
Scope of this chapter
The service has a legal and moral responsibility to take all reasonable and practicable measures to protect the safety and wellbeing of staff.
This chapter provides information and guidance on 6 key aspects of personal safety and wellbeing:
- Lone working;
- Violence at work;
- Mental health and wellbeing;
- Vaccinations;
- Display Screen Assessments; and
- New and expectant mothers.
Relevant Regulations
Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Act 2007
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996
Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment Regulations 1992
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR)
Related Chapters and Guidance
- Assessing and Monitoring Health and Safety Risk
- Infection Prevention and Control (IPC)
- Supporting People with Complex Needs and Specific Conditions
- HSE: Protecting lone workers
- Skills for Care: Supporting staff that regularly work alone
- HSE: Violence in health and social care
- HSE: Working with display screen equipment
- HSE: Protecting new and expectant mothers at work
- HSE: New and expectant mothers at work: your health and safety
Lone working is defined by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as “people who work by themselves without close or direct supervision”.
At one point or another everyone in the service is a lone worker.
Most of the time things will go as planned without incident. However, on occasion they will not, and we must be prepared to deal with these events and manage any risky situations we may find ourselves in.
- Follow the lone working policy and attend any available training;
- Let the manager know if there has been a change to your planned schedule;
- Make sure your mobile phone is charged and you have relevant contact numbers saved;
- Know who your key contact is at any given time - especially out of hours;
- If walking at night, keep to well-lit streets;
- If driving at night, park in a well-lit place;
- Know what the risks are and what your plan of action is going to be should they occur;
- Ask for help or advice if you need to.
Managers should assess and review risk in consultation with staff and have regard for their views about the level of risk and potential strategies that would or would not be effective in managing the risk.
Risk should be assessed in a proactive way - this means before an incident has occurred. By doing so we will all be more prepared and confident to deal with it.
The table below shows some of the risks that we may encounter when lone working, and some of the strategies we could put in place to stay as safe as possible.
| Risk | Examples | Strategy |
|---|---|---|
|
Environmental risk |
Cross contamination Slips, trips and falls |
Keep footwear on at all times Politely decline refreshments offered Wash hands Roll back rugs Use Personal Protective Equipment |
|
Risk from animals |
Bites, stings and scratches |
Arrange for the animal to be in another area of the home Arrange for someone to take the animal out during any visits Arrange for someone else to be present who can pacify the animal |
|
Risks from the person or others |
Verbal aggression Physical aggression Prevention from leaving |
Make sure people know where you are and how long you will be - arrange for them to call you if time exceeds this Visit with a colleague Know where the exits are End the visit if aggression appears likely Make sure any personal alarms you have are functioning and you know how/when to use them If risk is from others, arrange to visit without that person present |
|
Risks from equipment |
Injury when using manual handling equipment |
Do not use faulty equipment Ensure adequate training Follow instructions and guidance Report maintenance concerns |
|
Risk of allegation against you |
Reports of abuse or exploitation |
Visit with a colleague Keep accurate records of conversations Record and report any issues or concerns immediately |
For further guidance see: Assessing and Monitoring Health and Safety Risk
All managers will be involved in managing lone working risks. However, the registered person is ultimately responsible legally should harm occur.
The following guidance can help managers to be compliant with the law:
Skills for Care: Supporting lone workers
The Skills for Care guidance contains a helpful risk assessment checklist.
Reporting of incidents
Information and guidance for managers about the legal requirement for reporting under RIDDOR or for notifying the Care Quality Commission can be found in the following chapter of this Handbook:
Accidents, Injury and Incidents
Supporting staff that have come to harm and preventing further occurrences
It is important to respond quickly to avoid any unnecessary or long-term distress. These are the things that managers should consider:
- Talking through what has happened with the staff member and listening to them;
- Giving the staff member time off work to support recovery or access services such as counselling;
- Support the staff member to access legal help;
- Arrange training, if there is a need for training to prevent another incident;
- Learning for the whole service.
If a crime has occurred, the staff member affected may wish to report the incident to the police. This is their legal right.
Work-related violence is defined by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as “any incident in which a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work”.
Sometimes a person being supported can become violent towards staff. This can include shouting abuse, but also physical violence.
It is likely that the violence has been triggered by the environment, something the staff member has (or has not) done, or a physical or mental health issue.
For example:
- Pain or discomfort;
- Anxiety medication is overdue;
- Too much noise;
- Drugs or alcohol.
It is not always clear what has triggered the violence, especially if the person has specific communication needs and cannot say.
To minimise the risk of violence, it is important that individual care or support plans record any known triggers. All staff supporting the person should be aware of those triggers and the measures they should be taking to reduce the likelihood of violence occurring. Where appropriate, staff should receive training on physical interventions that may be necessary to manage such incidents safely. For example, positive behaviour support training.
If the reason behind the violence is not clear, it may be necessary to seek the advice of a GP or Clinical Psychologist to help understand why it happened and any measures that may need to be put in place to reduce future risk.
For further guidance, see: Supporting People with Complex Needs and Specific Conditions
Visitors and family members are expected to treat staff with respect and to be treated with respect by staff.
If violence occurs, this should be bought to the attention of the registered person. The registered person will need to ascertain the cause and take all appropriate action to prevent reoccurrence.
Issues should be raised professionally with a manager or the registered person.
The service should not tolerate violence between colleagues, especially during work hours or on work premises.
Matters should be managed through the relevant Human Resources procedure and process.
For further guidance see HSE: Violence in health and social care
Reporting of incidents
Information and guidance for managers about the legal requirement for reporting under RIDDOR or for notifying the Care Quality Commission can be found in the following chapter of this Handbook:
Accidents, Injury and Incidents
Supporting staff that have come to harm and preventing further occurrences
It is important to respond quickly to avoid any unnecessary or long-term distress. These are the things that managers should consider:
- Talking through what has happened with the staff member and listening to them;
- Giving the staff member time off work to support recovery or access services such as counselling;
- Support the staff member to access legal help;
- Arrange training, if there is a need for training to prevent another incident;
- Learning for the whole service.
If a crime has occurred, the staff member affected may wish to report the incident to the police. This is their legal right.
Staff and managers can develop mental health needs, especially if they, or the person they are supporting, is involved in an incident that has caused physical harm or emotional distress.
Managers have a responsibility to make sure their staff are OK. They should be checking on their wellbeing as a matter of routine, providing regular supervision and making sure that they are not being placed in unnecessarily risky situations.
If a member of staff, or the person they support, is involved in an incident that has caused physical harm or emotional distress then more targeted support for mental health and wellbeing may be needed.
For example:
- Talking through specific issues or incidents;
- Signposting to health and wellbeing services.
The Mental Health at Work website has an online toolkit to support managers and staff that may need help with their mental health and wellbeing:
Vaccinations are one of the ways that staff can protect themselves, colleagues and people being supported against infection and disease.
If there is a risk of contracting a blood borne virus (BBV), such as Hepatitis B the service should offer to arrange a vaccination for any staff members that are not already immunised. It is the responsibility of the registered person to assess the risk of contracting a BBV. It is the responsibility of the staff member to decide whether to have the vaccination-it is not mandatory.
For further guidance see: Blood-borne viruses (BBV)
This section of the chapter applies to anyone that, as part of their work, uses any display screen equipment (DSE) for more than an hour at a time.
Display screen equipment includes things like desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones.
By law, the registered person must:
- Do a DSE workstation assessment;
- Reduce risks, including making sure workers take a break from the DSE;
- Provide an eye test if the staff member asks for one;
- Provide training and information about risks from DSE.
DSE workstation assessments should be recorded. If the service does not have a template, the HSE template can be used:
HSE: Display screen equipment workstation checklist
For further guidance on any aspect of the legal requirements above see:
New and expectant mothers have legal rights under health and safety law.
If you want them, you are entitled to a range of support from the service whilst you are pregnant and for the first six months after giving birth (longer if you are breastfeeding). This is because there are several potential health risks at work for you and/or your baby.
- A review of the workplace risk assessment;
- A place to rest, including to lie down;
- More frequent breaks.
The service must reduce, remove or control any specific risks that are identified.
For further information about the things you are entitled to, and how to ask for them see HSE: New and expectant mothers at work: your health and safety
The services workplace risk assessment should include risks to new and expectant mothers.
The workplace risk assessment must be reviewed each time that a staff member is a new or expectant mother to make sure that it includes current risks and effective strategies to manage them. If risks cannot be reduced, removed or controlled, working conditions may need to be adjusted.
The service must also ensure that the new or expectant mother has more frequent breaks and that there is a suitable place for them to rest, including to lie down.
The staff member does not need to tell the service about their situation, and if they do not tell the service there is no legal requirement to make changes. However, if it is obvious that a staff member is pregnant the law applies even if they have not specifically told you so.
Common risks for new and expectant mothers in the service include:
- Standing or sitting for long periods;
- Long working hours;
- Manual handling;
- Exposure to infectious diseases.
Certain chemicals, including medications and cleaning fluids, can affect an unborn baby’s growth, lead to miscarriage or impact on the breast milk. These include lead, radioactive materials and toxic chemicals. Before handling any medication, the accompanying leaflet should be read - if it is not clear whether the staff member can safely handle the medication further advice from a pharmacist should be sought before they do so.
For further guidance about the legal requirements around new and expectant mothers see: HSE: Protecting new and expectant mothers at work
Last Updated: October 11, 2024
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