Fire safety
Building a fire safety culture in health facilities Dr David Gold and Neil Vincer, from IOSH, discuss how organisations can ensure that a sustainable workplace fire safety culture is incorporated to all staff in a hospital setting Health care workers play a vital role in today’s society, especially considering the ageing populations in many countries that need or will need care either in health care facilities or at home. All members of the health care profession should continually work in a safe and healthy environment carrying out practices that do not put them at risk of injury or ill health. A previous article in this journal examined several of the risks health care professionals face and described measure to eliminate or mitigate those risks. Occupational safety and health promotes the concept of a safety culture. A safety culture exists when workers throughout an organisation not only continually look out for their personal safety and health, but also look out for the safety and health of others including their co-workers. The concept of a safety culture embraces positive values, including attitudes and knowledge. Professionals working in the health care field, by the nature of their profession and their duty of care, extend the safety
culture to protect their patients, some of whom cannot look after themselves, especially during an emergency situation. The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) proposes eight categories of leading indicators of a safety culture. The following are leading indicators, adapted from the ABS publication, that fall under the eight categories: A Communication about fire safety The organisation: develops means of communication including the provision of information sheets, newsletters, and toolbox talks, in local languages regarding incidents and
lessons learned about fire safety; includes adequate fire safety information as part of new employee induction providing; and shares with employees, contractors and visitors policies, goals, directives and standards addressing fire safety.
Empowerment The organisation: involves all workers and contractors in fire s culture afety safety; and develops and exists w promotes for all workers hen worker means to bring fire s n o t only continu safety to their home. a
for their lly look out p and he ersonal safety look ou alth, but also t for th and he e safety alt of othe h rs
Feedback The organisation: documents the presence and use of a fire safety worker feedback mechanism; and ensures that information about fire-related risks, incidents, and near misses are communicated to workers. E
Issue 20.1 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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