Safety Standards

Standards and guidelines govern and ensure patients receive the highest possible care and are used to regulate and maintain many practices and procedures in the operating suite, including safety, include:

1.The Workplace Health Place and Safety Act 1995 (QLD)

2.The Australian College of Operating Room Nurses (ACORN)

3.The Standards Association of Australia

4.The National Health and Medical Research Council

Standards and guidelines are developed by various state and national organisations to control and guide the way we practice. Healthcare facilities must comply with standards to gain accreditation by the Australian Council of Healthcare Standards (ACHS). Healthcare funds would cease financial reimbursement should the hospital not reach accreditation standards. Orderlies shall adhere to the healthcare facility policy and procedures and ensure compliance with workplace health and safety, and infection control protocols. The policies and procedures at our healthcare facility are based upon the national and state standards and recommendations.

The WPHS Act 1995 imposes obligations on people at workplaces to ensure workplace health and safety.

There are five basic steps in managing a WPHS risk according to section 22(2) of the act. These are:

Identify hazards

1.Assess risks that may result because of the hazards

2.Decide on control measures to prevent or minimise the level of the risks

3.Implement control measures

4.Monitor and review effectiveness of measures

The difference between a hazard and a risk are:

A hazard is something that could potentially cause harm, for example: electricity, manual handling, and body substance.

A risk is the likelihood that death, injury or illness might result because of the hazard, for example: the likelihood that a worker might sustain a needlestick injury and become infected whilst closing a sharps container.

In Queensland (QLD), the WPHS Act 1995 deals with WPHS obligations...

The employer and employee both have obligations to provide and maintain a working environment that is safe and without risks to heath.

Employer's Obligations include:

An employer has an obligation to ensure the WPHS of each employee at work.

Obligations of Workers and other persons include:

1.To comply with instructions for WPHS at the workplace by the employer at the workplace.

2.To use PPE if the employer provides it, the worker needs to be instructed in the correct usage of it.

3.Not to wilfully injure himself or herself.

4.Not to wilfully place at risk the WPHS of any person at the workplace.

Common law practice act and the workcover act — 'Negligence and duty of care'.

The employer may be held liable for negligence where a worker is injured in the course of employment as a result of an employer's failure to take reasonable care for their workers safety. In other words, an employer has a duty to take reasonable care to avoid injuries to their workers.

Duty of care can be classified as follows:

5.Provision of a safe working environment Provision of a safe system of work

6.Provision of safe plant and equipment

7.Competent co-workers

8.Adequate instruction and supervision.

Incident Reports

An incident can be described as any happening, with or without injury, that is not consistent with the routine care provided by the facility (Gruendemann and Fernsebner, 1999).

Criteria for reporting generally falls into the categories of injury to patients, injury or potential of injury to employees and damage to or loss of patient belongings. Occurrences commonly

reported relate to slips and falls, burns, medication errors, equipment — or procedure related events and informed consent issues.

The report is a tool used to collect data about an incident, analysing the data and translating the information into a strategy for change.

Incident reports can be used to identify the systems in place that prevent professionals from satisfactorily doing their work. Data can also be used to determine if education programs are required regarding certain issues.

Needlestick Injuries

Any exposure to blood and body fluids should be reported. A needlestick injury protocol is available in the Blood & Body Fluid Exposure Folder. The nurse in charge of the operating suite would need to be alerted as soon as possible and appropriate procedures started as close to the injury time as possible.

Manual Handling

A number of injuries in the workplace result from improper lifting or moving objects or materials, including surgical equipment, and patients. Safe lifting requires a combination of efforts, such as engineering designs to ensure that the best physical conditions and designs for lifting of objects are available.

Chemical Safety

Certain chemicals are used within the operating theatre complex that require special considerations in regards to safety. The QId WPHS Act 1995 requires all chemicals used within healthcare institutions have a material safety data sheet (MSDS) available on site. All chemicals are to be handled with care.