Legislation, Policies and Procedures

Introduction.

Within this report I will be outlining how legislation, policies and procedures relating to health, safety and security influence health and social care settings. I will also be summarising four pieces of legislation such as; Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Control of Substances Hazardous to Health 2002, Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulation 1995 and Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulation 1995 but updated 2013. I will also say how the piece of legislation and associated policies and procedures helps to promote the safety of individuals in a health or social care setting and I will use examples throughout to support this report.

Policy.

A policy is an overall plan of action adopted by an individual of a group and it is a guiding principle designed to influence decisions and actions, it is also an established course of action that always has to be followed. A policy interprets the legislation in a way that is easier to understand.

Procedure.

A procedure is something that has to be done in a particular way to accomplish an object, they are usually develop to describe the methods of implementing a policy. A procedure is a written set of steps that have to be specific to carry out a task, there might be several procedures linked to a policy or they may stand alone and they must be followed.

Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

This act was written in very broad terms which means that a normal person wouldn’t understand this legislation but this has allowed it to be updated by secondary legislation so that they can add on new regulations and codes as required to cover new and emerging employment areas. It was intentionally designed to be a broad framework of regulations and codes of practice which could be monitored and upheld by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995.

This regulation is set out basic hygiene principles, which are generally not new but their emphasis is different from the previous regulations. This focus more strongly on how to identify and control food safety risks at each stage of the process of preparing and selling food.

Manual Handling Regulations 1992.

This legislation is there to prevent injuries caused by manual handling of an object or of a person such as moving a heavy box or a person from a bed to a chair.

Control of Substances Hazardous to Health 2002 (COSHH).

The aim of this legislation is to ensure that employers take adequate steps to protect their employees by using safe systems of work and minimizing risks of harm to their workforce. substances relevant to care under COSHH are those used in healthcare laboratories proprietary products used in work activities such as cleaning products. Dust and fumes arising during work activity such as gases and natural substances such as blood, bacteria and body fluids.