1.1 A duty of care is a legal obligation imposed on an individual requiring that they adhere to a standard of reasonable care while performing any acts that could foreseeably harm others. It’s a requirement to exercise a reasonable degree of attention and caution to avoid negligence which could lead to harm to others. For me as a support worker it basically means I have a duty of care to protect any service users in my care from significant harm; this will be achieved using the standards that I have learned from the many courses that I have attended. All the risk assessments, policies, daily checks, who to contact should you suspect the service users may be at risk etc. are proof that I carry out my duty of care. All service users have the right to be kept safe and as a support worker it is my duty to ensure that the service users in my care are not exposed to any dangers whilst in our home. My responsibilities under the duty of care are to do everything reasonable within the definition of my job role to keep the service user in my care safe and out of harm’s way. “Duty of Care” means providing care and support for service users by complying with legislation and also within my policies and procedures. A negligent act could be unintentional, but careless, or intentional that results in abuse or injury. Also my duty of care is also meeting the services needs as they all individuals and have their own religion and belief, to which I am here to support them, with a non-judgemental attitude.
1.2 In your job role you have a duty of care to raise any concerns you may have about any aspect of your work. These can range from poor working conditions, poor equipment, poor practice by other staff and raising concerns about potential abuse cases and situations of neglect. It is my duty of care to safeguard individuals from harm. All employees should