UNIVERSITY OF KENT
Module Specification
Ensuring Health and Safety (KI316)
Level C (FHEQ Level: 4)
Description
The purpose of this module is to provide the knowledge and understanding needed
to ensure that you understand your responsibilities in ensuring the health and safety
of the workplace and the people in it. You will gain a clear understanding of the
implications of relevant legislation for your own role and the implementation of
policies and systems in your own workplace. The importance of record keeping,
monitoring and review of health and safety policies and procedures will also be
included.
Learning outcomes
To achieve this module a learner must:
1. Explore how the requirements of all legislation relevant to the health, safety and
security of people in the workplace are implemented in a health or social care
workplace
2. Analyse the ways in which compliance with requirements for the health, safety
and security of individuals impacts on service users, staff and upon the work of
staff
3. Evaluate systems, policies and procedures for monitoring, review and
development of health, safety and security within a health or social care
workplace.
Content
Requirements of all legislation
Concepts of risk, safety, security: minimum risk, zero risk, risk for individuals, risk for
property, public liability; hazard, restraint, accident prevention, first aid; protection
from harm, security versus safety; substances, practices, equipment, premises
Communicating information: policies and procedures, exemplar proformas, training,
organisational culture, use of different media, exchange of information, record
keeping, enforcement, compliance
Responsibilities: of service users, carers, support workers, managers, external
agencies, visitors etc
Legislative requirements: current Health and Safety at Work Acts and associated
regulations and codes of practice (RIDDOR, COSHH, Moving and Handling etc),
Food Acts, legislation and codes of practice relevant to specific health and social
care settings e.g. Mental Health Acts
Technology: safety aids, security systems (personal and premises), maintenance,
environmental (e.g. ventilation, temperature, purity systems): consequences of
equipment malfunction/breakdown
Compliance with requirements
Care planning: meeting needs, ensuring safety, security, maximising wellbeing,
principles of good practice
Dilemmas: risk-benefit analysis, risk to self, risk to others, resource implications,
differing priorities between stakeholders (internal and external)
Own practice: e.g. changes to practice, needs, responsibilities, relationships with
others, professionalism
Experience: in work/placement setting, non-work setting, public environment
Systems, policies and procedures
Monitored and reviewed: audit of risks, review of practice, learning from experience,
updating of policies and procedures
Positive health and safety culture: individuals, teams, managers, organisation levels
Own contributions: responsibilities, compliance, training, practices, interactions with
individuals, groups, agencies
Management of health and safety: organisation responsibilities, monitoring and
evaluating processes, auditing, inspecting the workplace, use of MIS, management
structure and representation
Outcomes and assessment criteria
Outcomes
To achieve each outcome a learner must
demonstrate the ability to:
Explore how the requirements
 evaluate different approaches to risk
of all legislation relevant to the
assessments used in health and social care
health, safety and security of
environments
people in the workplace are
 review systems, policies and procedures for
implemented in a health or
communicating information on health, safety
social care workplace
and security to people in the health or social
care workplace in accordance with legislative
requirements
 examine the responsibilities in a specific
workplace for the management of health and
safety in relation to organisational structures
 analyse health, safety and security priorities
appropriate for a specific health and social
care workplace
Analyse the ways in which
 analyse how information from risk
compliance with requirements
assessments inform care planning for
for the health, safety and
individuals and organisational decisionsecurity of individuals impacts
making about policies, procedures
on service users, staff and
 discuss dilemmas encountered in relation to
upon the work of staff
implementing systems and policies for health,
safety and security and how these may be
addressed
 analyse the impact of one aspect of health
and safety policy on own practice with
service users and in work teams
 analyse effectiveness of own learning from
experience in relation to health, safe and
secure environments
Evaluate systems, policies and  explain how health and safety policies and
procedures for monitoring,
practices are monitored and reviewed
review and development of
 analyse the effectiveness of health and
health, safety and security
safety policies and practices in the workplace
within a health or social care
in promoting a positive health and safety
workplace.
culture
 evaluate own contributions to placing the
needs of individuals at the centre in relation
to health, safety and security
Textbooks
A wide range of textbooks is available from the Health and Safety Executive, the
following may be useful:
Health and Safety Executive, Health and Safety in Residential Care Homes, HSE
Books, 2001, ISBN: 0717620824
Morath J M and Turnbull J E, To Do No Harm Ensuring Patient Safety in Health Care
Organisations, Jossey Bass Wiley, 2004, ISBN: 078796770X
Sprenger R, Health and Safety for Management, Highfield, 2003, ISBN: 1871912040
Websites
www.britishsafetycouncil.org.uk British Safety Council
www.ento.org.uk Employers National Training Organisation
www.hse.gov.uk Health and Safety Executive
www.iosh.co.uk Institute of Occupational Safety and Health
www.rospa.co.uk Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
Web pages provide access to the most recent developments but you must use this
resource with care, justifying the use of information gathered.