NAME: SAMUEL ENCHILL
STUDENT ID: 712611
SAFEGUARDING MATTERS
NAME: SAMUEL ENCHILL
STUDENT ID: 712611
UNIT 7: PRINCIPLES OF SAFE PRACTICE IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL
CARE
P6
COMPARE THE INFLUENCE OF DIFFERENT HEALTH AND SAFETY
LAWS OR POLICIES ON HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE PRACTICE IN A
SELECTED SETTING.
Legislations: is a law which is amended and passed by the parliament in
the decision.
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974: imposes various general duties
upon both employers and its three primary objectives which are Secure
the health, safety, and wellbeing of people at work, protect people other
than people at work against risks to health and safety arising out of. They
must follow their general duties to protect others. The law makes sure
staff control any highly flammable and dangerous substances in their
health and social care setting. Staff having to follow the Health and Safety
at Work Act 1974 keeps people safe because it ensures the legislation is
followed, preventing risks to health and safety. Following general duties
keeps people safe because it ensures staff maintain safe equipment,
machinery, and systems of work. For example, ensuring the hoisting
equipment is well maintained to prevent the risk of dropping a service
user.
Data Protection Act 1998: Confidentially is key when working in health
and social care and is the basis of the professional relationship that you
form with the service user. Maintaining confidentiality preserves the
service user’s dignity and you must comply with the principles of the Data
Protection Act 1998 by ensuring; Information is only held with consent
from the service user, held and stored securely, shared only on a need-to-
know basis, accessible to the service user The Data Protection Act 1998
changes a hospital to ensure services user’s information is kept safe and
secure. For example, their information should be kept in a locked filing
cabinet or if kept online there should be a password to access it. Staff
should only share information with other professionals when necessary to
make sure service users’ formation is kept safe. The Act can keep people
safe in a hospital because it contains a set of principles that organisations
and staff must follow to keep individual data safe and secure. The Care
Act 2014 - Data sharing is covered by The Care Act 2014; data sharing
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,NAME: SAMUEL ENCHILL
STUDENT ID: 712611
SAFEGUARDING MATTERS
enhances the quality of care for the service user and the health and safety
of the care worker.
The Care Act 2014: ensures that information, advice, and advocacy are
available. It also means that local authorities have new safeguarding
duties, including a duty to investigate allegations of abuse or neglect. This
is to put in place to help those suffering and allow them to receive
support. The care act keeps people safe by ensuring the best quality care
is given by the professionals in the health and social care setting. The
main aim of the care act is to prevent unnecessary harm to the service
users and staff members. The Care Act 2014 sets out a clear legal
framework for how local authorities and other parts of the system should
protect people at risk of abuse or neglect. This means the care provided
will be of better quality and higher standards. Staff will receive feedback
from the care standards inspection team to highlight where they need
improvement to improve standards of care. This is important because it
will keep service users safe and well cared for.
The Equality Act 2010: The Act makes it unlawful to discriminate
against someone on the grounds of any of these characteristics: age,
disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy
and maternity, race, religion/belief, sex (gender) and sexual orientation.
The Equality Act 2010 changes the setting as it can introduce ramps,
handrails or stairlifts to provide equal access for all. Staff members are
also going to be changed because they must produce equal opportunities
for all their service users and provide equal quality care to them. This
protects them from harm and keeps patients safe as they are all receiving
equal quality care. For example, someone of a different race should be
treated the same as someone else.
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) 2002: COSHH
is the law that requires employers to control substances that are
hazardous to health and including nanomaterials. The control of
substances hazardous to health is needed to protect the health and
wellbeing of the staff and service users in any setting. COSHH changes the
setting to make sure that all substances hazardous to health are kept
locked away and out of reach to service users. For example, bleach or any
other hazardous substance must be locked away in any health and social
care setting to ensure the service users and staff are kept safe from harm
or any risks are reduced.
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences
Regulations (RIDDOR) 2013: The control of substances hazardous to
health keeps people safe because it prevents harm and keeps these
substances locked away and out of reach from services users at risk of
harm. For example, bleach or any other hazardous substance must be
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, NAME: SAMUEL ENCHILL
STUDENT ID: 712611
SAFEGUARDING MATTERS
locked away in any health and social care setting to ensure the service
users and staff are kept safe from harm or any risks are reduced.
Policies
Safeguarding vulnerable people: professionals need to safeguard
vulnerable people to keep them safe and protected from harm. A
safeguarding policy sets out strict rules and guidelines on how to protect
vulnerable individuals from abuse, neglect, or any form of harm. The
safeguarding policy will affect the setting because it can create a positive
relationship between service users and professionals. This policy reduces
the impact abuse or neglect has on the individuals involved as it ensures
professionals recognise the signs and symptoms of mistreatment and
know how to react to them, helping the service user to feel loved and
cared for.
Risk assessment policy: this policy is put in place in any health and
social care setting to evaluate and identify any associated risks to health
and safety. It enables informed decisions to be taken by professionals to
eliminate or minimise any risks of harm to those who may be affected. For
example, a risk assessment may be taken in an individual’s home where a
care assistant may be providing care and support to that individual.
The Food Hygiene Regulation 2006 legislation influences the staff to
be more careful in how they keep and prepare food for their service users.
Staff must follow this legislation to prevent food poisoning risks and cross-
contamination between different foods at Beeches Drop-in Centre.
However, the policy on food preparation does not place such a duty on
staff as it ensures staff provide nutritional food and hydration for their
service users. The legislation identifies any food safety hazards and risks
relevant to their organisation, meaning practice and maintaining
procedures comply with the HACCP principles. On the other hand, the
Food Preparation Policy measures staff aims to influence diet quality and
nutrition to provide the best food for the service user. Staff must follow
this policy to provide nutritional food and hydration to all their service
users. The policy prevents risks of malnutrition and dehydration while the
individual is under the care of the staff at Beeches Drop-in Centre. For
example, organisations should ensure that staff are preparing a healthy
based diet for service users while in their care. This could be a simple
meal or making sure the service users have access to water and food
when they need it. This means staff at Beeches are influenced to take the
service users’ health at the heart of their food preparation, ensuring that
food meets their nutritional standards and any dietary needs. Both the
Food Hygiene Regulation 2006 legislation and the Food Preparation Policy
work together to provide the service users with hygienically prepared food
and drink that is nutritional and provides hydration to them. All
organisations (including Beeches Drop-in Centre), with a food aspect,
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