Explain employees’ roles and responsibilities in relation to the prevention and control of infection
ANSWER
As an employee the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974 state that I have a duty and responsibility to ensure that I as an employee have a duty to be responsible in showing reasonable care for my own safety. I have the responsibility of my own safety in terms of cleanliness and hygiene observation and practice; I am responsible for cooperating and following the health and safety guidelines and expectations of my employer; I am responsible for maintaining and taking care of all hygiene equipment and materials and to report when there is a faulty; I am responsible for using PPE appropriately and attending the necessary training in health and safety, keeping my skills up to date; I have a responsibility of to monitor the hygiene practices of my staff as a senior care support worker making sure that they observe practices such as wearing appropriate PPE and washing hands appropriately as well as updating their training.
I must be of the attitude that when it comes to infection prevention and control that all individuals (including myself) are high risk and practice my control of hygiene accordingly. This means wearing PPE such as gloves and aprons when assisting a service user to toilet or wash; disposing of the PPE appropriately afterwards and washing my hands thoroughly. It includes using new clean PPE between attending to different service users; making sure pads and soiled linen are bagged and disposed correctly; disinfecting and wiping down areas when necessary; storing foods to correct temperatures; preparing foods to correct temperatures before serving; using clean food implements and equipment and following the instructions of the use and storage of substances hazardous to health. I must also keep my personal hygiene up to standards at work by wearing appropriate clean clothing