Clinical Safety Checks

When working in practice, it is important that correct health and safety checks are carried out on a regular basis to prevent injury to staff members, clients and external companies. Different clinical areas require different checks to ensure risks are reduced for those who come into contact with them. Clinical areas include consulting rooms, operating theatres and radiography areas. Checks can be carried out daily and periodically to maintain correct functioning of equipment and fixtures within the practice. Hazards in the veterinary practice can be categorized into trips and slips, biohazards, animals, electrical, radiation, substances, and gases. It is important to prevent these hazards as they can lead to client dissatisfaction, staff being
Clinical furniture includes adjustable tables, stools and trolleys. Adjustable tables and stools are used to be lowered and raised depending on the size and weight of the animal that is going on it, to prevent strains from staff members lifting them on the table. Adjustable trolleys are used to store any manual or powered instruments, along with other medical supplies. Manual instruments can include clippers, otoscopes, scissors and stethoscopes. Medication and dangerous drugs are stored away in cupboards in the consult rooms. Most practices also have a computer system set up for the Veterinary Surgeon to take notes and update client records. Chilled vaccination cupboards are also found in the consultation rooms which are usually located on the wall, along with air conditioning units. There are many health and safety hazards in consult rooms, which put staff members and clients at serious risk, along with animals. These can include wet floors, animals or objects on the floor (trips and slips), biological substances for example urine and faeces, and electrical
In consults the floors should be kept clean throughout the day to prevent clients and staff from falling over. If there are any biological substances on the floor they should be cleaned up immediately and a wet floor sign should be put up to alert staff and clients to wet floors. Sharps are also hazardous to clients and staff members and should be disposed of in the yellow allocated bins immediately after use. Yellow bins should be checked daily and changed daily or periodically depending on how full they are. Temperatures of the vaccine chillers should also be checked every day to ensure that they are at the correct temperature for vaccine to be effective. Cleaning equipment should be stocked up every day and kept out of the sight of clients. All drugs should also be kept out of clients view and stored in cupboards which should be done after each client has been seen. Daily cleaning lists should be made for consult rooms to ensure infection control is thorough. When conducting periodical checks it is important that electrical equipment is thoroughly checked. Vaccine chillers and air conditioning units should have air filters cleaned to ensure that they don’t get clogged up with dirt which may prevent them from working properly, which can be carried out by any member of staff. Staff members should also check the dates on the drugs frequently to prevent out of date drugs being dispensed, which could make them