The principles of infection prevention and control
Outcome 1
Explain employee’s roles and responsibilities in relation to the prevention and control of infection
1 ‘It is our responsibility as employees to take precautionary measures to prevent and control the spread of infection in the workplace; this involves working safely to protect myself, other staff, visitors and individuals from infections. Some of the legislation and regulations that relate to the control and prevention of infection include the Health and Safety at Work Act (HASAWA), the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) and the Reporting of Injury, Disease and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR). It is important as employees that we are aware of
…show more content…
Legal regulations that come under HASAWA include The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH), this is relevant as it is about the prevention and control of pathogens and managing the safe storage and use of hazardous substances. Reporting of Injury, Disease and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) is relevant as it requires that any infection or disease that is work related be recorded and reported.
There are regulatory bodies such as the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) that produce standards to guide and inform infection prevention and control practices. The HSE is an independent regulator for work-related health, safety and illness; provide information and advice to reduce risks of accidents occurring in the workplace including the spread of infections. NICE is responsible for providing guidance on the most effective ways to prevent, diagnose and treat disease and ill health. The FSA is responsible for food safety and food hygiene and providing advice on food safety issues.
2 describe local and organisational policies relevant to the prevention and control of infection.
Local and organizational policies relevant to the prevention and control of infection are The Public Health (control of disease) Act 1984, Social Care Act, the NICE guidelines and also the companies policies and procedures that relate to infection prevention and
1.1 Explain employees’ roles and responsibilities in relation to the prevention and control of infection
As employees we must ensure we attend all necessary trainings that our employers provide regarding infection control and
Own health or hygiene might pose a risk to individuals or others at work by causing infections, causing illness or causing fatalities, this can be prevented by washing hands thoroughly before preparing food and after going to the toilet, covering mouth/ turning away when coughing, applying/ replacing old plasters, disposing of used tissues, taking sick leave if ill etc.
1.2: Employers responsibilities in the relation to the prevention and control of infection are to keep everybody safe and to provide a safe work place, they do this by following current legislation. A few examples taken from the HSAWA are COSHH, The Public Health (control of diseases) Act, Food Safety Act
1.1 Each employee's has a role and responsibility in the prevention and control of infection. they must conduct themselves in a healthy and appropriate manner applying good hygiene in everything they do, whether it be ensuring they wear personal protective equipment (PPE), good food hygiene, cleaning up after themselves or supporting an individual take medication.
| UNIT 4222- 264 THE PRINCIPLES OF INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL | | | |
There are laws and legal regulations about infection prevention and control. Most of the legal regulations relating to infection prevention and control come under the Health and Safety at Work Act; this act is about ensuring a safe work place for employers, employees and members of the public by minimising accidents at work. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations introduced the need for monitoring health and safety and risk assessment; including infection prevention and control. The Food Safety Act was brought in to ensure safe practices for food to avoid contamination and spreading of infection and includes handling, storing and disposal of food.
In addition, risk assessments should be undertaken for example; each person who has a catheter; PEG feed; pressure sore; or other factor which makes them more susceptible to the risk of infection. Ultimately anyone within the home who can cause infection are subject to risk assessment under the COSHH Regulations and Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulation 1992. It is important that infected residents are isolated and infected staff excluded from work, until 48 hours after the symptoms have settled. Management of cases should be planned following a risk assessment, which should consider continence, personal hygiene, overall health, likelihood of physical contact with other residents or their food, the facilities available and the vulnerability of other residents. The local HPU can advise on this process. Infected residents should, if possible, have sole use of a designated toilet or commode as long as their symptoms persist. In the case of a likely norovirus infection, they should keep a designated toilet facility for 48 hours after their symptoms have settled.
Describe the roles and responsibilities of personnel in relation to infection prevention and control in a health or social care setting
The Health and Safety Executive, with local authorities (and other enforcing authorities) is responsible for enforcing the Act and a number of other Acts and Statutory Instruments relevant to the working environment.
In this assignment, I shall be explaining how health, safety and hygiene legislation has impacted on selected two food retailers. I have selected Jimmy’s and Tesco.
The HAI legislation is implemented by State laws. The Bill was introduced to the House of Representatives in November 11 2007, and then was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. At last the bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Health. The legislation is also implemented by enforcing itself through awareness. There are currently 32 states that are requiring facilities, by law, to report HAI data to National Healthcare Safety Network. Overall the CDC is in charge with implementing the HAI prevention and reporting guidelines. According to the article “Healthcare-associated Infections” The CDC, in collaboration with other organizations, has developed guidelines for the prevention of CLABSI and other types of healthcare-associated
This paragraph explains ways to prevent infections contracted from hospitals. The number one way to lower the spread of infections contracted through a hospital is correct sanitation customs. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a federal government agency has come up with guidelines in order to safeguard against the expansion of infections and diseases for patients and the workers (Hedman, 2010). It is mandatory for administrators of hospitals to write a disclosure policy to protect the workers from infections like Hepatitis B and other infections and bad bacteria. Minimizing infections that the workers have can aid in stopping the spread of
Every day while caring for patients, dedicated health care workers all over the world face potential risks of exposure to infectious disease bacteria or bloodborne viruses due to unintentional punctures with needlesticks or sharps, or accidental contact with bodily secretions, excretions and contaminated items (Wilburn, 2004). The occurrence of undesirable complications can arise from medical errors when safety guideline and control mechanisms are not followed. On occasion healthcare workers may accidentally acquire infections due to the misuse or improper fit of personal protective equipment (PPE) and coverings while attending to individuals seeking out medical attention that may be unexpectedly and unknowingly carrying a communicable disease
In my present role of in-patient transplant coordinator, I round with the transplant surgical team daily. The interdisciplinary team is aggressively looking for opportunities to minimizing opportunistic infections for example: de-escalating antibiotics, removing bladder catheters, as well as removing central lines. If the patient is a hard stick, a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) is placed. A study by Rutkoff, (2014) mentioned that an integration of antimicrobial PICCs into the current infection prevention practices should be practiced for reduction central line associated blood stream infections.