Hello All, Need your advice/help! I recently applied for a risk advisor position with a social enterprise who provide domicilary care to people with varying issues including mental health, substance mis-use, leanring difficulties, primary care etc. I have now been invited for interview next week and have been asked to give a 10 minute presentation on h&s/risks within domicilary care. The care that they provide is administered in peoples homes, care apartments/supported living and residential care homes, so as a result there would be a varying degree of h&s concerns that would be faced by the service users themselves, staff, visitors and contractors. Also it is debatable whether or not the HSE would get involved in any incident that would be suffered by a "domestic worker" in private households, unless they are employed by the NHS, LA or employment agency, so what would be protocol in such a situation? I guess what I really need to know is what are the everyday h&S concerns/risks to people who operate in this environment? What should I pay special attention to? This would be my first role in h&s (also first interview) since qualifying, so obviously I'm quite keen to make a good impresssion. I would welcome the thoughts of anyone willing to share some advice regardless whether you are familar with the care industry or not. Regards,

I should add that I was considering the residential care home scenario hence the duty to manage things like food, fire and asbestos risks. Not the domestic care element that your potential new job may involve.

Clane You may just for Background reading want to have a look at the CQC Website...don't hold a lot of stock in it practically but worth a note to potentially impress a new emplyer... good luck.. :)

clane - i've PM'd you as I believe you may be going for a role at my previous employer!

Don't forget communicable diseases, violence, needle stick injuries, violence from visitors, day trips out, Loss of services, i.e. water, electricity etc and your emergency planning and effect on the service. Supervision levels Manaul handling particularly of people They will have most in place, but I always look at fire particularly in residential, so if you use fire as already mentioned talk about robust procedures for horizontal evacutaion, training of staff and fire wardens. Good luck

The care planning system is based on the xare of the individual and there needs now and future. This I see as being more the role of care assistants. The H&S advisor should be looking at the broader spectrum of safety and not taking over the role of the care provider.

As it is your first role in H&S they might ask how your past experience will benefit you and them in this role. What do you think are the major risks within the sector. I was asked that. I said fire, due to residential care and the service users understanding.

Also, on that talk about involving employees and particularly managers by giving direct feedback to them from audits, fire risk assessments etc. this way you hope they will feel empowered and want to work with you.

I think that most of the main risks have been identified by previous posts. I would just like to point you in the direction of the publication linked below - yes, its about care homes but the information in the document can be widely applied in the social care industry and offers great guidance. http://www.hse.gov.uk/pUbns/priced/hsg220.pdf Good Luck Clane.

Again thank you all for your input... The care industry as a whole seems to be a little bit of a minefield, with so many variables to take into consideration. It also provokes quite a lot of debate judging by what's been said on this and other posts...or maybe that's just h&s in general. As a relatively raw individual in the field my views have yet to be shaped and influenced, I'm sure that will happen in due course... However I do feel more informed about what to expect and how to approach it. Should I succeed, I will no doubt be back here again plotting my way forward. Thanks again

The IOSH Manchester & North West Branch has an active Healthcare Section as described at http://www.iosh.co.uk/Me...re-Group-NW-section.aspx If your geographical location and circumstances enable you to attend its meetings, the presentations and opportunity to chat with members already working in the healthcare sector could be very useful - and go beyond the advice available on this forum with its inherent limitations. If other forum users know of similar entities elsewhere within the IOSH Network, hopefully they'll respond to this thread for your benefit - and that of others who may also be contemplating roles in the healthcare sector.

Hi clane, You need to stick everything that has been suggested on one risk register, and either include that in your presentation or bring it along (explain of course that you're estimating risk values and that the mitigations you suggest are samples). A former colleague of mine did that, as it was the way we worked at my previous place, and it got him a job with a well-known charity; they'd never seen anything like it! John