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CORE SKILLS FRAMEWORK
HEALTH AND SAFETY: LESSON NOTES & TIPS
FOR A SUGGESTED APPROACH
These notes are designed to be used in conjunction with the
Health and Safety training powerpoint slides.
The purpose of the session is to provide basic/induction level training in health and
safety. The content of the slides relates to the general information that all employees
should be presented with. How you choose to present this information is up to you –
you know your own training style and have better insight into what your audience
wants and needs. If you have the time, feel free to add exercises, games, video
clips, etc.
In keeping with the guidance offered in the Core Skills Framework, it is anticipated
that this session should last for 45mins to 1hour.
SLIDE 1
This is an opportunity for you to introduce yourself and explain how you intend to run
the session. This will depend on your own training style, but you should consider:
• when and how you will take questions? E.G. Do you want these as you
proceed through the presentation or at the end?
• what activities will you use? In addition to presentation, will you have
exercises, activities, assessment, etc
• what happens next? E.G. how will their attendance and any subsequent
assessment be recorded?
Please remember to update this slide to reflect local information.
SLIDE 2: What you will learn in this session
This effectively relates to the learning outcomes that have been defined as part of
the core skills project. To make this more user-friendly, these are articulated as what
participants will learn and have been mapped to the Core Skills Framework learning
outcomes as indicated below:
What participants will learn Core skills framework learning
outcome
Sources of information about health &
safety, including relevant national
legislation or guidance and local policies.
Describe where information about health
and safety, including relevant national
legislation or guidance and local policies,
may be found
Work place hazards and/or incidents and
the need for preventative action.
Recognise work place hazards and/or
incidents and the need for preventative
action.
Safe working practices Understand and promote safe working
practices.
Reporting processes for health & safety
risks.
Understand reporting processes for
health, safety and security risks.
Potential risks involved in work activities
and processes
Identify and assess the potential risks
involved in work activities and processes
Individual responsibility for reporting
incidents
Be aware of individual responsibility for
reporting incidents
Correct use of work items provided by
their employer for health & safety.
Know how to correctly use work items
provided by their employer for health,
safety and security
SLIDE 3: Why is this so important?
This slide offers you the chance to emphasise the importance of Health and Safety in
the health sector. The data provided on this slide is very general, but you might want
to use data that is specific to your organisation. In fact, good, local examples can
incentivise an audience much more than general information as it makes the
situation seem more real.
You could clarify some of the information provided on this slide by telling participants
that:
• The disease spread through sharps injury include Hepatitis B, C and human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
• Most slips occur on wet or contaminated floors, often after cleaning. Most trips
are due to poor housekeeping.
• More than a third of all injuries that result in three or more days of absence
from work are caused by poor manual handling technique.
SLIDE 4: Sources of information about Health and Safety
This slide looks at sources of information including introducing the HSE. For
instance, you might direct them to the New HSE Health and Safety Law poster that
provides basic essential information for employees. You could also consider the HSE
Six Pack, which is the 6 approved codes of practice:
• Management of Health and Safety at Work
• Safe Use of Work Equipment
• Manual Handling
• Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare.
• Personal Protective Equipment at Work
• Work with display screen equipment.
Local sources and policies should also be added. You may want to refer to other
specific sources of information.
SLIDE 5: Health and safety law
The focus of this slide is simply to briefly explain why the law is there and what the
law says. The emphasis should be on the key principles of health & safety law,
rather than details. You should try and focus on the message that the law is there to
help, support and protect people in the workplace and NOT to make things
unnecessarily difficult. If you have time, you might want to explode some of the
health and safety myths that have been reported in the media. These often cause
hostility and create an unhelpful notion of ‘Health and Safety Police’. Try and choose
one that is in the press at the time of delivery – the HSE website reports these.
SLIDE 6: Health and safety at work legislation
This slide offers a whistle-stop tour of the major pieces of legislation in the UK. The
purpose of this is to provide participants with insight into why legislation exists and is
relevant to them. Try to avoid excess detail when discussing these. The key
message is that what the law requires is really what good management and common
sense would expect – i.e. to look at what the risks are and take sensible measures to
tackle them.
There are 2 pieces of legislation that you should cover:
• The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 - is the primary piece of legislation
covering occupational health and safety in the United Kingdom. The Health
and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for enforcing the Act and a number
of other Acts and Statutory Instruments relevant to the working environment.
• The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
generally make more explicit what employers are required to do to manage
health and safety under the Health and Safety at Work Act. Like the Act, they
apply to every work activity.
In addition to these, you may want to refer to specific legislation that is of direct
relevance to your audience. Examples of these include:
• Control of Substances Hazardous to Health, Regulations 2002 (COSHH)
The COSHH regulations requires employers to control substances that can
harm a workers health. Using chemicals or other hazardous substances at
work can put people’s health at risk, causing diseases including asthma,
dermatitis or cancer.
• Manual Handling Operations 1992 (amended 2002) The Manual Handling
Operations Regulations 1992, as amended in 2002 apply to a wide range of
manual handling activities, including lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling or
carrying. The purpose of these regulations is to assist employers and
employees to reduce the risk of injury from manual handling.
• Display Screen Equipment Regulations (1993) seeks to protect the health
of workers by reducing risks associated with Visual Display Unit work
(typically computer screens)
• Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations (1992) outline
employers’ duties concerning the provision and use of personal protective
equipment, which is defined as ‘all equipment (including clothing affording
protection against the weather) which is intended to be worn or held by a
person at work and which protects him (sic) against one or more risks to his
health or safety’, eg safety helmets, gloves, eye protection, high visibility
clothing, safety footwear and safety harnesses.”
SLIDE 7: Employer responsibilities
These slides consider the notion of responsibility. Slide 7 focuses on the
responsibility of the employer. The Health and Safety at Work Act is the primary
piece of legislation covering occupational health and safety in the UK and it sets out
the general duties of employers. Since its introduction, workplace deaths have fallen
by 75%. Use this to explain that the notion of Reasonably Practicable means that the
cost of any measure should be proportionate to the risk.
SLIDE 8: Employee’s responsibilities
This addresses worker’s responsibility. A key message is that they are liable for the
welfare of others. As part of this, you should consider that responsibility is not just
about what people do, but what they fail to do.
SLIDE 9: Management of health and safety regulations
The key point to make here is that regulations provide the detail behind the Health
and Safety at Work Act, etc. (1974).
SLIDE 10: Failure to comply with Health and Safety Law
Failure to comply with Health and Safety law can have serious consequences – for
both organisations and individuals. Sanctions include fines, imprisonment and
disqualification. Examples from your own organisation will highlight the importance of
this.
SLIDE 11: Key definitions
Use this slide to clarify the language of law and policy
Hazard is the potential to cause harm
Risk on the other hand is the likelihood of harm
Safe is about being protected from, or not exposed to, danger or risk.
Competence is about the ability to do something well (perhaps measured against a
standard) and is usually acquired through experience or training
Significant is terms of risk is the likelihood of something occurring in combination
with the magnitude of its impact
Reasonable in the context of health and safety is where the cost of action to control
the risk is disproportionate to the reduction in the risk. Cost, here, refers to time and
effort as well as money.
SLIDE 12: What is risk assessment
The message behind this slide is that risk assessment should be a practical and
sensible process. It involves a careful examination of what could cause harm to
people, so that risks can weigh up whether you need to implement.
SLIDE 13: Standard precautions
This slide is simply to talk through the stages of assessment. Ideally, you should
illustrate this with examples from your workplace
• Step 1: Identify the hazards
• Step 2: Decide who might be harmed and how
• Step 3: Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions
• Step 4: Record your findings and implement them
• Step 5: Review your assessment and update if necessary
Try not to overcomplicate the process. Often risks are well known it’s just a case of
assessing and controlling them and the necessary control measures are easy to
apply. For example employees who move heavy loads could harm their backs, so
what reasonable precautions could be taken to avoid injury?
SLIDE 14: Risk evaluation process
This slide offers you a chance to outline the evaluation processes used in your
organisation.
SLIDE 15: Common risks
Risks are associated with the nature of the task and workplace and this slide allows
you to highlight to your audience those risks that are most significant for them.
The risks listed on the slide are just examples; you should remove or add risks as
appropriate. As ever, real life cases will reinforce your message.
SLIDE 16: Slips, trips & falls
With this slide, you will introduce slips, trips and falls as the single most common
cause of injuries at work with a cost to employers over £512 million a year in lost
production and other costs. They also account for over half of all reported injuries to
members of the public. Remember to point out here that they have a responsibility to
lookout for and try to prevent trips and falls.
You can use these slide to promote the message that everyone can help to reduce
slip and trip hazards through good health and safety arrangements.
SLIDE 17: Preventing slips, trips and falls
This slide reinforces the message of slide 16 and outlines key areas where action
can easily be taken. Much of this is about personal responsibility to remove and
report hazards. A system to reduce the risk of slips, trips and falls should include
planning, control the risk, monitor and review.
Examples of hazards include:
• Flooring – this should be suitable for the type of work activity that will be
taking place on it and well maintained & cleaned correctly.
• Stairs are a particular hazard. Look for broken steps or handrails
• Spillage – basically anything that ends up on a floor e.g. water, grease, talcum
powder, waste cardboard and paper or dust.
• Obstacles -50% of all trip accidents are caused by poor housekeeping.
SLIDE 18: Benefits of reporting incidents
In the healthcare organisations there is often uncertainty over whether incidents are
reportable, particularly when they involve members of the public (eg patients in a
hospital or residents in a care home), or when employees receive sharps injuries or
suffer from work-related stress.
SLIDE 19: Reporting procedures
Use this slide to reinforce your organisation’s policy.
SLIDE 20: Any questions