They say that a business’s most important assets are its people, and we firmly believe that is true at Care Vision. In the care sector, it can be hard to find and retain good quality carers. When you do find employees who go above and beyond in the standards of care they provide, it is really important to look after them properly.
Care Vision’s digital care management software is an extremely useful tool for helping managers ensure the safety of their staff at work. Helpful functions include the electronic visitors book that ensures that they know who is on site at all times. Staff planning modules also help keep carers up to date with essential health and safety training and support. Here are some more ways to look after the physical safety of staff working in your care home.
Manual lifting injuries
Manual lifting and handling injuries are extremely common for people working in residential care. A large part of a carer’s role is helping residents with tasks requiring movement. These can include bathing, dressing, moving between rooms and accessing physiotherapy and other therapies and treatments. Poor manual lifting and handling habits can lead to debilitating conditions such as back pain, musculoskeletal disorders, trapped nerves and restricted mobility of their own.
This can also compromise the quality of care the staff member can provide, which can go on to affect the safety and dignity of residents. Care Vision can help managers to monitor staff training requirements and ensure there are adequate numbers of staff on duty to support each other with manual lifting. The system can also flag up residents who need enhanced support with mobility and manual lifting so that their needs can be properly – and safely – met by care staff.
Aggression and threats
Sometimes, care staff are exposed to unwanted aggression or threats of violence, which can lead them to feel scared at work, or even faced with a physical attack. Some residents living with challenging mental health conditions, or who are neurodiverse could be more prone to react with aggression to a situation in which they feel unsure or frightened. Some ways in which the safety of carers can be put at physical risk include being bitten, kicked or hit by a resident who lashes out.
There can also be a risk of aggression from relatives or friends who are worried or angry about their loved one’s health or treatment. Some medications can produce unwanted side effects that affect the patient’s emotions, behaviour or ability to self-regulate. Forewarned can often be forearmed. Use Care Vision to record and share any concerns around aggression or negative behaviour during day-to-day care. The system’s emotions and behaviour monitoring tools are also invaluable in helping carers track trends, predict triggers and find workable solutions.
Slips, trips and falls
It’s not just the residents inside a care home who need to be protected against slips, trips and falls. Carers can also be exposed to trip hazards and suffer accidents and injuries while moving around at work. Use Care Vision to help you run regular safety audits. Look for issues such as trailing wires, over-stacked boxes, faulty equipment and wet floors.
Care Vision can help busy managers keep track of the equipment that is on site, and whether or not it is in good repair. It can also provide support for staff training around health and safety issues, slip and trip avoidance and more. As more and more functions are digitalised, rather than needing to be written down or updated manually, so the need for lengthy form-filling (and the aching hands that often accompany the task) and bulky filing cabinets will decrease. Making it easier to move around the office and quicker and less painful to complete all the essential admin.
Personal safety at work
Employees have a right to feel safe and protected at work. Care Vision has a myriad of functions and tools to assist with this. For example, the electronic visitors book offers a sophisticated, yet straightforward way to keep track of who is on site – and the reasons why they are there. This makes it easier to spot anyone who is not supposed to be there and gives staff more confidence to report someone acting suspiciously.
Another way in which Care Vision can support staff to feel safer at work is through the staff rota planning tool. This can help managers ensure that there are enough people on site to cover duties safely, without having to work longer than expected, or tackle tricky or complex tasks alone. This, along with providing adequate training, will go a long way to ensure your staff feel safe, happy and healthy at work.
