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624 Healthcare: Slip, Trip, and Fall Prevention
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Risk Assessment

You must manage the health and safety risks in your workplace. To do this, you need to decide whether you are doing enough to prevent harm. This process is known as a risk assessment and it is something you are required by law to carry out.

Familiarize yourself with your healthcare facilities STF history.

A risk assessment is not about creating huge amounts of paperwork. It tells you if you are doing enough or if you should do more. Consider what hazards in your workplace may lead to STF injuries, and decide what suitable and effective control measures will prevent them.

You then need to put the control measures into practice. Concentrate on the real risks, such as those that are most likely to cause harm. Think about how accidents could happen and who might be harmed. You can do this in the following ways:

  • Ask your employees what they think the hazards are, as they may notice things that are not obvious to you and may have some good ideas on how to control the risks.

One of the best things you can do to prevent future FTS accidents is to make a record of your significant findings and what you have in place to prevent them. The hazards you have found should be photographed, described, and kept on file so changes can be made and documented.

Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.

2-2. What is one of the best things you can do in a risk assessment to help prevent future FTS accidents?