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