Assignment
You are back from your six weeks of annual leave. You are allocated to look after Mrs. Smith, 65 yrs. old lady with a medical historyof Obesity and weighs 102kg, Type 2 DM and HTN. She was admittedfor a Total Hip replacement two days ago. She was moved to the orthopedic ward last night from ICU. The physiotherapy department reviewed Mrs. Smith, and the physio advised the nurses to hoist and transfer Mrs. Smith from bed to chair and Hovermat to move her up in the bed. At 1700 hrs Mrs. Smith said she would like to sit out of bed to have her dinner. When you go to get the lifting machine, you notice that it is left unattended at the end of the corridor. Two of the three lifting machines are faulty. The unused batteries are not attached with a charger for charging.
You also notice that one of your colleagues has left a wheelchair in front of the fire exit as the storage area is full. Since the resignation of the OHS rep from your ward several months ago, faulty equipment issues have not been addressed.
Your nurse unit manageris busy with staffing and budgeting. Most of the staff in the ward are new or agency.Hence, issues like these are not informedto the NUM and Management team. In the storage area, you find the sling appropriate to Mrs. Smith size. However, it is soiled by faces and urine. Finally, you notice proper equipment to transfer Mrs. Smith, and Sarah the EN student is happy to assist you in the process of moving. Sarah is a shortgirl only 140cm whereas you are 180cm tall.
Task
A. Identify at least one client-related risk factor in this scenario.
B. Identify two persons who you will contact to discuss the identified hazard?
C. List Five measures that you would use to follow the workplace policies and procedures to promote safe work practices and to minimize risks specific to this scenario?
D. Identify three manual handling hazards and their risks in this scenario?
E. List three control measures you will implement to minimize the identified manual handling risks, using hierarchy of control?
F. List three appropriate manual handling procedures and work instructions you will following this situation to transfer Mrs Smith safely to chair without any injury to self and others.
G. Identify three WHS issues in this work place you wanted to bring to the attention of your NUM according to organizational policies and procedures.
H. If your NUM asked you to provide recommendations, what are the recommendations you will contribute to the development and implementation of safe workplace policies and procedures in your workplace? (give five examples of your recommendation.)