Health And Safety In Science Organisations
The first location of a health and social environment is a hospital. This setting provides a person’s needs by treating a patient when they are injured or are in need of a surgery which allows the service user to have access to required resources. It also provides medication and food with a constant moderation of a patient to ensure their health is in good hands and they are less vulnerable to being ill rapidly. This could also mean that the environment remains hygienic to ensure.
The hospital is also a free services access for help such as the National Health Service which allows everybody to have a chance to see the GP in case of a needed patient. Furthermore, in a hospital, the service is busy and therefore this means that the hazards increase as well as the risks. Examples like these could mean spillages of substances that could cause injuries if anyone possible doesn’t notice the slippery surface area. Avoiding incidents such like these could mean providing a warning sign of wet floor to make the service users and patients aware when they move around the building. Another hazard could be exposure to blood when dealing with a patient which could result in danger of spread of diseases such as HIV, STD. This could also result into the organisation shutting down as the safety of the patients have been put in danger. Solution for this case, could be Personal Protective Equipment such as gloves and masks that can protect from the spread of pathogens on others including the phlebotomist. Using the toilet and not washing your hands could also be hazard as this could also relate with the advancement of sickness. Therefore, to avoid the spread of illness the carer should encourage service users to wash their hands after they use the bathroom or before they eat so that they could remain hygienic.
The second location is a school lab. In general, a school should be able to provide education towards the students as well as access to resources such as computers. They should also be able to provide sufficient food and a place for information for parents when it is needed. The school lab allows students to carry out experiments that would create a wider knowledge of understanding in the scientific world. There are hazards within the school lab that could put a student or teacher in danger such as electrical wires nearby water. This could result in electrical shocks and harm individuals nearby the wires.
The initial rating for this case is high as it is possible to end up killing an individual. To prevent this from happening, the teachers should be aware of the situation as they would have carried out a risk assessment which would have allowed them to cover up the wires with wire boxes and making the case into a lower rating. Also, a fire hazard could happen when using a bunsen burner as this could cause a risk of a pupil catching fire. This rating is severely high as it could end up in a degree burns. The process of tying your hair, standing up when doing an experiment and pulling backwards loose clothing. The final rating if this has been applied would result into medium.
Furthermore, carrying out practices with harmful gasses could be another hazard because when it is inhaled it can cause respiration problems which is a high rating. This should be avoided by performing such practices in fume cupboards to make the rating into medium and allow the students and teachers to be in a safe environment. Another hazard would be spillages of chemical liquids which could be depending upon the chemical it could cause fatal burns and also makes it more likely for a person to slip and injure themselves. The student should be able to avoid this from happening by putting the beaker at the edge of the platform ending it into a lower rating. Lastly another hazard in a school lab could be a student dropping a reaction vessel. To avoid this from happening the students should be sensible and be patient when walking around the room to prevent this from harming anybody within the environment.
To ensure that policies have been put in place, regulations have been provided such as the Health& Safety 1999. This regulation is to provide a standard and abide with the legal requirements for every employer to allow them to be safe and in charge. This also allows the employer to be addressed when changes have been made within the organisation which could result in a process being provided in order to produce a solution. This legislation ensures that the safeguarding policy has been put in place on securing the wellbeing of an individual. This relates with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 which states that there is a legal requirement for every employee to be safe and controlled. These regulations regards both the hospital and school lab to provide a safety barrier and therefore it is vital for both organisation to comply with it at the same measures as it reduces the risk they have been put in and makes sure that they are aware of changes to make a solution plan.
Another legislation is the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations. This states that all accidents must be recorded and reported. This also provides the policy of the Data Protection Act 1998 which makes sure that all files have been documented and kept privately to ensure the safety of the individual. This is strictly applied within both organisation mainly in a hospital as there are always new patients every day and therefore it is important to keep their information valuable and secretive.
