HSE warns over duty of care to workers after social care body ordered to pay £44k
The Health and Safety Executive has issued a reminder to social care organisations of their duty to have proper management systems in place to control the risk of violence and aggression against their employees and agency workers.
The call was made after social care organisation Dimensions (UK) Ltd was fined £14,000 and ordered to pay £30,000 in costs for exposing workers to this risk.
A support worker at Dimensions (UK) Ltd, a not-for-profit organisation providing support services for people with learning disabilities, was kicked in the eye by a client on 31 December 2009.
An HSE investigation subsequently found that – between March 2009 and December 2010 – the organisation did not have adequate processes in place to control the risk presented by the particular client.
The HSE told Newcastle Magistrates' Court that over that time, the client posed an ongoing risk of violence and aggression. This had resulted in a number of occasions when staff were injured.
Dimensions (UK) Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, in relation to their employees and agency workers.
HSE Inspector Carol Forster, said: "The risk of violence and aggression from clients with challenging behaviour is common in the social care sector. Workers can suffer not only physical injury but also psychological effects such as stress and anxiety, which can also affect their family and social life.
"Social care organisations have a duty to ensure that proper management systems are in place to control the risk of violence and aggression to the lowest level possible.”
Forster said Dimensions (UK) Ltd should have identified the triggers that led to the client displaying aggressive behaviour. Measures should then have been put in place to avoid them.
The HSE Inspector added that the organisation should also have ensured that staff understood the activities and environments appropriate for the client, to reduce the risk of violent behaviour being triggered. “Finally, they should have acted on incidents and near misses which indicated an escalating risk," she said.
According to provisional figures from the regulator, there were 2,348 injuries to workers in non-residential social care in 2010/11.
Information about risk management in health and social care is available on the HSE website here.
