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Workplace Health and Safety

These policies are available in more detail on NHW’s intranet website which you will have access to whilst as a student here. On your orientation day you will be shown where to find this information in your work area.

Emergency Codes

The emergency codes utilized at NHW can be found on the reverse side of your student ID badge (which will be given to you on your first day of placement). Should you be involved in an emergency, a large number of people usually arrive very quickly. Steps you can take to help would be to clear the area of clutter, fetching the “crash trolley”; perhaps assist other patients or family members to an area where they can sit and wait.

For any type of medical or other emergency within the hospital, contact switch on 777. 

They will prompt you to pass on the type of emergency and the exact location of emergency i.e. wards and room number.

CODE RED= Fire/smoke

CODE BLUE= Medical emergency

CODE BLACK= Personal threat

CODE BROWN= External emergency

CODE PURPLE=Bomb threat

CODE ORANGE=Evacuation

CODE YELLOW=Internal emergency

We have CODE BLUE buttons in the patient care areas that alert some of the necessary staff to the emergency, and can be utilized for ease of access, but the code will still require confirmation via switch on 777.

Fire Safety

It is a fact of life that every year people die as a result of fires within buildings.  However, significantly many more people suffer serious injury and trauma from smoke inhalation and burns. They also suffer from the emotional after effects of a fire. Unfortunately, most fires in buildings can be attributed to either carelessness or ignorance, or a combination of both.
 
Northeast Health Wangaratta contains various types of fire safety equipment, including smoke and fire detectors, smoke and fire alarms, smoke and fire doors, fire suppression sprinklers, fire extinguishers, fire blankets and fire hose reels.  In the event of a fire within Northeast Health Wangaratta, there is a Chief Warden and Area Warden who are required to take charge and coordinate counter measures and supervise evacuation as required.  The fire alarm system notifies the fire brigade via an automatic alarm monitoring service.

In the event of a fire, remember to keep calm, do not shout ‘Fire’ and remember the following principles:
R         Remove occupants from immediate danger (only if safe to do so)
A         Alert all staff
C         Confine Fire and Smoke
E         Extinguish or contain the fire if safe to do

Throughout NHW there are emergency stations which contain the Emergency Procedures manual, a map of each area’s assembly point and the contact details for Area Wardens and H&S reps.  Please take the time to read through the emergency procedures manual and familiarize yourself with at least 2 emergency routes within your area.  If you have any queries, please contact the Area Warden within your area. Northeast Health Wangaratta has in place an Emergency Procedures and Evacuation plan. This document is available by accessing the VPC Polices and Guidelines system on the NHW Intranet Home Page.

Further information can be found on the NHW intranet site: http://nhwweb/ezsite/pages/services/ohs/fire-and-evacuation.php

Emergency Equipment

Emergency trolleys are generally shared by more than one unit. It is a good idea to familiarize your self with the “crash cart” and its whereabouts.

There is limited emergency equipment available in the acute rooms, such as emergency masks and guedells airways etc.

Please seek out this equipment at some time during your first day.
 

Manual Handling

What is Manual Handling?
Manual Handling covers a wide range of activities including lifting, pushing, pulling, holding, throwing and carrying. It includes repetitive tasks such as packing, typing, assembling, cleaning and sorting, using hand tools, and operating machinery and equipment.
 
Because most jobs involve some form of manual handling, most workers are at risk of manual handling injury. Of course, not all manual handling tasks are hazardous. But it is significant that around a quarter of all workplace injuries are caused by manual handling.
 

What is hazardous manual handling?

Hazardous manual handling means:
 
Manual handling that involves any of the following:
•    Repetitive or sustained application of force
•    Repetitive or sustained awkward posture
•    Repetitive or sustained movement
•    Application of high force
•    Exposure to sustained vibration
Manual handling of live people or animals – unpredictable actions and behaviour
 
Manual handling of loads that are unstable, unbalanced or difficult to hold
 
Forces, posture, movements and vibration usually affect each other.
 
Musculoskeletal disorders (i.e. disorders affecting muscles and joints) associated with manual handling cause significant human suffering and significant decreases in productivity. From recent statistics strains and sprains affecting shoulder, neck, arm, hand or back, account for 55% of all Work Cover claims; 62% of all Work Cover costs and 70% of long term Work Cover claims.

When making an assessment of Manual Handling the follow four factors must be considered:
Load
Individual Capacity
Task
Environment

LITE                                                                 

Workplace Violence

What is occupational violence and aggression?
Any incident where an employee is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances arising out of, or in the course of, their employment
Adapted from Work Safe Guidance Note, Feb 2003
Within this definition:
Threat: a statement or behaviour that causes a person to believe they are in danger of being physically attacked; it may involve an actual or implied threat to safety, health or wellbeing
Physical Attack: direct or indirect application of force by a person to the body of, or clothing or equipment worn by, another person, where that application creates a risk to health and safety

 The term ‘Occupational violence’ applies to all forms of physical attacks on employees, including:
•    Striking, kicking, scratching, biting, spitting or any other type of direct physical contact;
•    Throwing objects;
•    Attacking with knives, guns, clubs or any other type of weapon;
•    Pushing, shoving, tripping and grabbing; and
•    Any form of indecent physical contact.
Aggression can include sexual harassment or assault or where an employee is abused or threatened.
 
‘Physical attack’ is defined without consideration of the attacker’s intent.
 
In healthcare, clients may exhibit challenging behaviour because of their condition or disability. Regardless of the intent of the perpetrator, or whether the behaviour is a result of clinical symptoms, violence to workers is unacceptable. It is important to identify the reasons behind such behavioural issues in order to control the risks.

Aggression and Violence First Response
1.         Recognition
2.         Positive Attitude
3.        Attention to environment
4.         Assess the situation
5.         Always alert another member of staff
 
Tips for Crisis prevention
 
If you encounter aggression in the workplace, remember the following:
1.    Become familiar with your own environment
2.    Remove potential weapons e.g. scissors/knives
3.    Never intervene alone (use a buddy system)
4.    Keep escape route open - don’t isolate yourself
5.    Respect personal space (yours and theirs)
6.    Avoid over reacting
7.    Remain calm
8.    Be emphatic and understanding, display non threatening behaviour, body language and tone of voice
9.    Clarify messages and utilise active listening skills
10.  Ignore challenging questions and permit to vent verbally in an appropriate manner
11.  Isolate aggressive patients if practical
12   Set and enforce reasonable limits
13.  Retreat and call other staff, security or police
14.  Re-valuate the situation, know your limitations
15.  Report, record and seek debriefing

 

No Lift

This hospital has a NO LIFT policy and it is expected that you will strictly comply. If you have not had any patient/manual handling instruction from your education provider, you need to let us know.

There is a central store for shared items such as lifting machines, situated in Thomas Hogan Centre.

Each ward has its own supply of slide sheets, slings and batteries for the lifters.

If you are unfamiliar with this equipment, seek out one of the ward representatives for assistance. 

Do not attempt to use any equipment you are unfamiliar with on your own. All lifting equipment requires two personnel to operate.

Equipment that requires a more rapid turn around time through the laundry, such as slide sheets and slings need to go into the purple linen bags in the pan rooms.

 
Staff Accidents, Injuries and Work Related Incidents

Northeast Health Wangaratta (NHW) recognises its responsibilities under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004; (hereafter referred to as the act) to provide a safe and healthy work environment so far is as practicable.  

NHW is committed to investigating all work related incidents in order to, so far as is practicable, control hazards throughout the organisation, thereby, reducing the risk of injury to staff.

Effective Incident reporting enables the organisation to monitor workplace safety, to determine the cause of incidents so that appropriate corrective action can be taken to prevent a reoccurrence and to provide information to relevant groups within the organisation for purposes of safety promotion, monitoring and control. 

Objectives:
•    To ensure staff are reporting all incidents and hazards in the workplace
•    To comply with the relevant statutory requirements.

If you are injured at work, you must notify your supervisor immediately. The learning institutions where you come from will have their own policy on work place injury and incidents and the protocol in which you should follow. It is important to become familiar with this prior to placement.

The full policy can be viewed on VPC which is located on the NHW Intranet site.
http://nhwvpc/policy/loginFrameset.jsp?action=newLogin.jsp&messagekey=auth.unameInvalid

Display Screen Equipment (DSE)
Officially, DSE includes any screen used to display line drawings, graphs, charts or computer generated graphics.  Generally, this means your PC, monitors and laptops

A user is someone who uses DSE during the course of their employment and where use is more or less continuous on most days.  There are various criteria for users including someone who:

o    uses DSE at a workstation at work or home
o    is dependant on the use of DSE to do the job
o    has no discretion whether to use DSE or not
o    uses DSE for continuous spells of an hour or more at a time and more or less
daily
o    fast transfer of information between the user and the screen is important
o    Is required to use a high level of attention and concentration.

A workstation means your place of work and includes your desk and chair, computer, phone and other items, plus the immediate environment.

A workstation includes:
o    your DSE (monitor, keyboard, laptop etc)
o    any optional accessories to the DSE (e.g. mouse)
o    disk drive, telephone, printer, document holder, chair, desk or work surface and any other items peripheral to the DSE such as filing cabinets
o    the immediate environment around the DSE, including the space, the lighting, heating, cooling, noise, humidity etc

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