Healthcare Health and Safety Level 2 (VTQ)
Course Content
- Introduction to Healthcare Health & Safety
- Regulation and the Prevention of Accidents
- Why prevention is important and what can be done
- Work place policies and procedures
- Personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Health and Safety Law
- Manual handling Employee and Employer responsibility
- Enforcement of Health and Safety Regulations
- Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 2022
- Hot Water and Hot Surfaces
- Musculoskeletal statistics
- Manual Handling Overview
- RIDDOR and Accident reporting
- COSHH and Waste Management
- Lone Working
- Basic Fire Safety
- Handling of Violence and Aggression
- Data Protection and the Caldicott Protocols
- Complaints handling
- Information Governance
- Summary
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Get StartedFire Extinguishers and fire alarm points
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This is a typical fire extinguisher point. It's located near the exit which is at the top of the stairs and there's a couple of extinguishers here, the alarm system, and also the signs. Generally speaking, the fire extinguisher points would be near an exit around about one per 200 square foot and also at least one on every single floor. And you shouldn't really have to travel more than 30 meters to get to an extinguisher. With these ones here, we have a water extinguisher, a CO2 extinguisher. The correct signage around also fire alarm point. If you approached and you needed to activate the fire alarm, it is a simple system where you just push and break the glass. The glass is a special glass that will fracture, it will not hurt you; activate the alarm and also, it cannot be stopped from this point. It can only be stopped from the main control panel. So if the alarm was accidentally activated, it would still mean everyone has to leave the building and the alarm system would have to be reset. The signs here, this particular one here is talking about the water extinguisher. It would tell you exactly what to do with the extinguisher and how to actually use it. For example, it tells you it is safe for use on wood, paper and other burning substances. Tells you not to use it on live equipment; if you use water on live equipment, then there is a risk of electrocution. Not to use on flammable liquids. When water is added to a flammable liquid, sometimes it can cause a lot of steam and can make the situation worse. Sometimes expansion could be as much as one to 1700 times, and the amount of extra oxygen added to the fire will make it a lot worse. Final here it says, "Not for flammable metal fires". You would need to have special extinguishers in that case. Extinguishers are only any good for small fires. Generally just a wastepaper basket size fire. If you need to use two fire extinguishers to fight the fire, then don't... Just get out of the building. If you are not making any effort with the fire. If you just get in there and it just does not seem to be going down, again stop using the fire extinguisher and get out of the building, best leave that to the professionals. The other extinguisher we got here is CO2, as in carbon dioxide. Again it will say on the label here, "Safe for flammable liquids" because it I not actually acting as any extra oxygen onto the system. Safe for use in electric equipment; there is no liquid involved in it; it is just purely a gas. And back to the fire triangle, it is removing the oxygen from the fire. Not for wood and paper. Well, all it is going to do, you still keep the heat source there, so the fire is still going to burn. And also when you are using CO2 extinguisher, you want to hold it by the handle, not the horn, because as the gas comes out, it will get very, very cold. Just going to have a look at a fire extinguisher a little bit more detail. The important thing with a fire extinguisher, we have got to keep them in a usable condition, so we need to do a visual inspection on them to make sure there is no rust. If there is a risk of water, maybe you will find the fire extinguishers inside boxes. Generally speaking, with extinguishers they will always be wall-mounted using a bracket at the back. They do need to be kept dry, so if they are in a location where there is a lot of humidity, then you may find them inside a case or a box. If we have a look at the extinguishers a little bit more detail, before we actually use the extinguisher, we need to make sure it is full. So on the front of it, there is a gauge and we need to make sure that the extinguisher is full. If it is part of your maintenance checks you find out the extinguisher is not full or there is any problems with it, you must report it through to management so that they can actually get something done about it to get it replaced. So we got the gauge on the front here, the handles in order to activate the extinguisher, we need to pull the pin out. To do that, this one on this extinguisher is plastic; sometimes you get them which are a stainless steel metal. So we will pull the pin out, that will take the... Just break the seal on the end here. Once the seal is broken, it is obvious that the extinguisher cannot be used by somebody else and it has already been activated; so it is a fail-safe, so do not pull the pins out, put them back in. Once the pins come out, we need to make sure that the extinguisher has been maintained. The bottom handle is fixed and the top one actually moves. So when you are using it, you can take the whole weight of the extinguisher from the bottom of the handle and then you push it down. On the extinguishers, the hose, with this one is a water extinguisher. So you have got the main jets, just hold it towards the end, and you can direct it at the base of the fire. Always make sure the hose is okay, check up it for maintenance to make sure there is no problems within the hose; there is not any cracks or any corrosion within the ends of the hose. On the front of the extinguishers, you will see some information. This particular one is a water extinguisher. It would tell you the capacity of it; in this case, it is a nine-litre water extinguisher. It will tell you how to use it. So we are holding it upright and pulling the pin out. After there we are looking at aiming it at the base of the fire. So we give any specific instructions and then the next one is to squeeze the levers to actually activate it. All the extinguishers will have this information on and all extinguishers under the new guidance are all red in colour, but then they may have a different colour band. As this one is water, it has a red band and it would just stay the same as the red extinguisher. As you get lower down, it will then talk about the class of fire that you can fight with it. These are different classes. Class A fires would have an A in the icon; this is for freely burning materials, things like wood, paper, straw, textiles or coal. Source of extinguisher you can use on class A are water, powder, foam and wet chemical. The next category letter is class B fires and they will have a picture of a kind of fuel and the letter B on it. These are for flammable liquids like petrol, diesel, oil, and paraffin. Source of extinguisher you can use in class B are powder, foam and CO2. Class C fires will have the letter C on them and they are for flammable gases, things like methane, propane, hydrogen and natural gas. And you could use a powder extinguisher on this type of fire. A Class D fire is for flammable metals, things like magnesium, aluminium and lithium. Class D fires are used on flammable metals, things like magnesium, aluminium or lithium. For this type of fire, you can use a dry powder extinguisher. The next category is class F. Class F fires are for combustible cooking media, things like cooking oil, fats and grease. And the best extinguisher to use with these would be a wet chemical. This is the CO2 extinguisher, slightly different, it is a lot smaller than the water one. What we have here is a plastic horn. This is important, this is where the gas is actually coming out. It is very important you do not touch that while you are actually using the extinguisher because as the gas comes out this will become extremely cold, very much like a gas tank would if you have got a camping gas, something like that. So if you touch it, you can get a freeze burn on it. The extinguisher, you have similar sorts of markings to it. It has got the black band around it, which says CO2. It would then tell you exactly what to do. The same as the water one. So you are using it upright, pulling out the pin, then lift the horn, aim it to the base of the fire and then finally squeeze the handles. It will tell you what class fire. This one is the B fire which can be used on liquids or electrical fires. And also the symbol here shows it safe to be used on electrical fires. Has a similar ID at the top. This time, it just shows you what the metal pins are like. So a metal pin is very similar to the plastic one, you just put your finger in and pull it out. And this band here, this is what is actually used to make sure that we know if the extinguisher has been activated. Another type of extinguisher is the foam extinguisher. This is a red extinguisher with a cream panel on it. It is ideal for class A and class B fires. You cannot use it on fires involving electricity. It extinguishes things by cooling the fire and smothering it. A red extinguisher with the blue panel is powder. This is a dry powder. It is best on Class B fires, but it can be used on other types of fire as well. It extinguishes by chemically interfering with combustion. You have got to be careful if you are using it enclosed places because you can breathe in the dust and this can be harmful. The final extinguisher we are going to look at is the wet chemical. This is a red extinguisher with a yellow band around it. You can use it on class A and F fires. Use it on things like wood, paper, textiles and cooking fires. This extinguisher is specifically designed for use on cooking oil or fat fires as it does not create oxygen when it is used and mixed with any fats. This extinguisher is not suitable for fires involving electricity. So before using this extinguisher make sure that supply has been isolated. It is important that fire extinguishers are maintained correctly. They are normally tested at least once a year. And when they are tested they will have a sticker on which will let you show the test itself. It will show who has done the test, what date the test was done and also it will tell when the next test is due. A separate record will also be kept of all the extinguishers within a workplace or a building, so they can be easily checked to see what extinguishers need servicing.
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Types of Fire Extinguishers and Safety Tips
Understanding Fire Extinguishers
Fire extinguishers come in various types and require regular maintenance and checks to ensure effectiveness.
Safety Precautions
- Ensure Safety: Only attempt to use a fire extinguisher if it is safe to do so and if you are trained.
- Professional Assistance: In most cases, it's best to leave firefighting to trained professionals.
- Steam Hazard: Avoid using water on fires as it expands drastically and adds oxygen, increasing the burn risk.
- Fire Blankets: Can be effective but require proper training to avoid burns if used incorrectly.
Types of Fire Extinguishers
- Water
- Foam
- Dry Powder
- CO2 (Carbon Dioxide)
- Wet Chemical
Placement and Maintenance
Fire extinguishers should adhere to specific rules for placement:
- No one should have to travel more than 30 meters to access an extinguisher.
- Mount extinguishers in pairs on walls for easy accessibility.
- Maintain extinguishers by keeping them clean and protected.