Health and safety 'must be prioritised in clinical and care environments'

The importance of health and safety to the clinical and care industries has been highlighted by an expert, who has warned that failure to comply could give rise to compensation claims.
 
Roger Bibbings, occupational safety adviser at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, has highlighted the wide range of different risks that people face in these settings, even outside of medical negligence.
 
He warned that the design and maintenance of the building can be a significant problem for people, including customers, patients and employees.
 
Routine incidents such as fires, slips, trips and transport accidents are all considerations that the organisation running the facility has an obligation to bear in mind, he said.
 
Mr Bibbings added: "Good risk management is not simply part of a wider duty of care but makes very good business sense and engages staff and helps to support a culture of excellence and professionalism."
 
His comments follow recent figures published by the National Patient Safety Agency that showed an 8.5 per cent rise in the number of reported incidents in the NHS in England from April to September 2010 and October 2010 to March 2011.

Published by Phil Hammond