2. Risk assessment that changes the work
Five questions, not a novel
- What can hurt someone? (sharps, slips, electricity, violence at the desk, lone working at lock-up)
- Who is exposed — including locums, pregnant staff, children in the waiting room?
- How likely and how severe, with current controls?
- What extra control is reasonably practicable?
- When will you review — after a change, after an incident, and on a planned date?
Hierarchy of control
Eliminate (stop storing boxes on the stairs) before PPE. PPE is the last layer. A poster that says “be careful on the stairs” is weaker than moving the store.
Young people and new staff
They need induction before they are left with the autoclave or the mercury spillage kit. Locums need the same building facts: fire exits, accident book, who is first-aider today.
Contractors
Engineers working on compressors and x-ray heads are not “someone else’s problem”. You still control access, radiation local rules (see IR(ME)R series), and isolation of services. Sign them in. Tell them the hazards. Get them out of the patient route.
Display and welfare
Health and safety law poster (or equivalent information), drinking water, toilets, a rest space that is not the decontamination room. Display screen work at reception needs a basic workstation check — not a hospital ergonomics department.