Legislations, policies and procedures relating Essay

Outlines how legislations, policies and procedures relating to health safety and security influence health and social care settings. M1- describes how health and safety legislations, policies and procedures promote the safety of individuals in a health and social care setting. In this essay I am going to outline how legislation, policies and procedures relating to health, safety and security influence health and social care settings. I am also going to describe how health and safety legislation, policies and procedures promote the safety of individuals in a health or social care setting. Legislation is law which has been produce by a governing body in order to regulate, to authorise, to sanction, to grant, to declare or to restrict. In terms of events, legislation defines the governing legal principles outlining the responsibilities of even organisers and other stakeholders such as the local authority, to protect the safety of the public. Legislation can have many purposes: to regula te, authorize, provide (funds), and declare or to restrict. Legislations are important throughout any work environment and society as without them we are not protected from hazards and promoting safety in the workplace. Two of the most important pieces of health and safety across the UK are the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. These set the standards that must be met to ensure the health and safety of all employees and others who may be affected by any work activity. Other legislations also exist to cover all work activities that carry risks such as Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995, Food Safety Act 1990, Care Minimum Standards 2003, Care Home Regulations 2001 and The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992. Policies are clear, simple statements of how your organisation intends to conduct its services, actions or business. They provide a set of guiding principles to help with decision making. Procedures describe how each policy will be put into action in your organisation. Each procedure should outline: Who will do: what steps they need to take: Which forms or documents to use. Procedures might just be a few bullet points or instructions. Sometimes they work well as forms, checklists, instructions or flowcharts. Policies and their accompanying procedures will vary between workplaces because they reflect the values, approaches and commitments of a specific organisation and its culture. But they share the same role in guiding your organisation. Health and safety at work act legislations influence in health and social care setting by making sure there are no risks and hazards which can cause the staff any harm. This is done by them making individuals in the hospital or nursing home need to be careful with the items they are working with. The hospital or care homes have to follow these guidelines and legislations because if they need to make sure the environment around them is safe and free from any danger that may cause harm to other patients. They have to follow rules which they have been assigned to such as make sure they always use hand sanitizer before dealing with patients and also keeping all the waste away from patients and disposed properly. They promote safety around hospitals or nursing home by having posters around the place promoting safety such as everyone should use hand sanitizer before they enter the hospital or signs such as having a sign up when they have just cleaned the floor, they use a wet floor sign. H ealth and safety at work act policies and procedures protect individuals because if they do not follow the rules then people will not feel safe around the hospital and feel as if they will be in danger. So following the rules would make people feel safe around the hospital, which will make sure that the patients are feeling safe around the hospital due to the security of premises which is good because it creates a safe place to be in. This promotes safety because if you have security in the premises then this means people can tell that there’s no danger in the hospital . The Health and Safety at Work act 1974 (also known as HSWA, HSW or HASAWA) is the prime piece of legislation in Great Britain. The Health and Safety executive enforces the act with other acts alongside it to make sure that a working environment is appropriate and safe to work in without causing any hazards that may affect a person’s health. It is the duty of any person that has control to said premises to make sure that the Health and Safety at Work act is followed and applied to the site. If anything is deemed unpractical or unsafe according to the Health and Safety at Work act whether it be substances, unstable furniture, storage, inadequate training of others and maintenance to the working in building and facilities, then measures must be taken to correct this issue. Any person should be able to enter the building  without risking their health or safety. The health and safety act would be enforced in the home by: †¢ Making sure furniture in the home is safe and sturdy and suitable for anyone to use without them being injured; †¢ Making sure that all wires are neat and not in open spaces or under a cable tidy where people are vulnerable to trip over them; †¢ Produce risk assessments within the home i.e. trips outside the home, events that are held within the home and general everyday procedures. In Dunstable Children’s Home, the person that is in charge of the premises, which would be a caretaker, is responsible of making sure that all furniture that is used by any employer, employee, service user or visitor, is safe and stable and that it will not cause any risks to their health. Also all substances that are deemed as dangerous to health must be locked away from the younger children because they may not know what they are doing due to them having learning disabilities.