Joyce Grace Kapela
Unit 7: Principles of Safe Practice in Health and Social Care
Assignment 2 Title: Safeguarding Matters
Date: 31/03/2023
In this information booklet, I will be using the Beeches Drop-in Centre, to talk about
the important influence of different health and safety legislation, policies and
procedures, as well as the responsibilities everyone has when promoting and
maintaining the health, safety and welfare of service users in health or care settings.
In order for a health or social care setting to be a safe place for everyone, different
legislations and policies are put into place, to influence safe practice so that
everyone’s well being and health can be promoted. Legislations are significant as it
protects service users from experiencing poor practice and allows individuals to
uphold their responsibility when something goes wrong. Policies are also significant
in health and social care settings as it provides guidance to the staff on how safe
practice can be promoted. When these legislations and policies aren’t followed, it
means that people are not in a safe setting as the practice and quality of care would
be poor. In the Beeches Drop-in Centre, it is clear that certain legislations and
policies may have not been put in place, which means that individuals aren’t in the
safest setting, as well as professionals not doing their job correctly. Therefore, to
ensure that safety is being provided to protect the service users and ensure that the
staff are performing their job at a high standard, different policies and legislations
need to be put in place.
For instance, legislations that would work together well so that safe practice is being
provided to all at Beeches Drop-in Centre is The Health and Safety at Work Act
1974, The Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999 and The Food
Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations Act 1995, as they ensure that the
health, safety and wellbeing of service users, employers and employees are being
maintained. Along with these legislations, policies such as The Food Safety Policy,
would also contribute to having a positive influence on the staff so that safe practice
can be promoted. Although these legislations and policies ensure that all individuals
are safe and healthy, they both positively influence practice in different ways:
- The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 focuses on keeping everyone in a
workplace safe.
- The Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999 sets out the
guidelines on how safety can be maintained.
- The Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations Act 1995 focuses on
basic food hygiene standards.
, - The Food Safety Policy supports The Food Safety (General Food Hygiene)
Regulations Act 1995 and focuses on how the food is prepared, stored, and
cooked.
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 has an important influence on safe practice
as it helps prevent many accidents happening in the workplace, and ensures it is a
safe place for everyone. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, is the “primary
piece of legislation which covers occupational safety and health in Great Britain''
(HSE Government), which is beneficial in order to reduce the risk of service users,
employers and employees having to be in an unsafe setting since it outlines the
duties and responsibilities of employers. The Health and Safety at Work Act has led
to the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 being
introduced, which has allowed there to be guidelines and rules influenced from The
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The type of rules that The Management of
Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 have which have been influenced by
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to be in a workplace, recording in accident
books, having regulations such as RIDDOR, and having fire safety equipment and
planned fire evacuation procedures. Because of the guidelines and rules that The
Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999 have, it could be seen as more
effective than the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, as according to David Scott
(2021), as The Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999 is more specific
on what everyone needs to do to protect people’s health and safety at work,
whereas, The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, justs outlines the general duties
of employers and employees, which could make it difficult for people to know how
they can ensure safety and health of everyone is maintained. These types of rules
under The Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999are important to be
complied with at Beeches Drop-In Centre in order to maintain health and safety. Both
these acts should have been implemented in The Beeches Drop-in Centre, as there
have been multiple violent incidents that service users have experienced, which has
left them to be injured. However, both these legislations clearly haven't been followed
as employees have a legal duty to record these incidents in the reporting of incidents
and accidents book, but this never happened as the book was lost and not replaced.
This has meant that the service users have been left in danger and possibly
continuing to experience being harmed, which can increase their chances of a
negative long term impact on their physical and mental health. In addition, the fire
door has been locked, which clearly shows that The Management of Health and
Safety at Work Regulations 1999 has not been followed as there has to be a planned
fire evacuation procedure which action can be taken upon quickly for everyone. But
as the fire door is locked, this means that in the event of a fire, it would be difficult for
everyone to escape, and also means their freedom is restricted. This illustrates how
there was failure of the staff to follow The Health and Safety Act 1974, as under this
legislation, health and safety would only be maintained when everyone does their
responsibilities, which would involve following the guidelines used in The
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.Therefore, for The
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to be followed, the fire door shouldn’t have
