Question

2)    When working in a hospital, there are many risks/hazards that you will be confronted with on a daily basis. The following table identifies four (4) infection risks/hazards that may be present in a hospital environment. These hazards always need to be to be reported to a senior staff member or manager, documented correctly and control measures initiated.
Build on this table by identifying the likelihood and severity of harm from each hazard/risk by using the risk ranking matrix below, immediate steps that will need to be taken to manage the situation and possible procedures that will need to be put in place (minimum one point in each section).

Infection/Hazard.   

Blood spill on the corrido

Risk rating

Severity of harm

Likelihood

Immediate actions

Risk Management Procedures

Answer 1

1.Infection/hazard: Blood spill in the corridor.

2.Risk rating: Medium to high ( depends upon any accidental exposure to blood spillage, got injury while handling any broken glass pieces etc)

3.Likelihood and severity of harm: There are chances of accidental exposure to the spillage if someone is handling it without adequate protective measures like gloves, goggles, apron etc.

There is also likelihood of sharp injury. Because the spillage might be caused by any broken cotainers(eg. Vaccum suction jar.) And these broken pieces might cause cut injuries.

4.Immediate action: Staff must always follow the standard infection control precautions according to the hospital 's policies and the incident should be reported to the person in charge.

Immediate action should be :

A.Block off the area until the clean up and disinfection is over.

B.Collect cleaning materials and equipments eg:spill kit

C.Wear adequate ppe such as gloves, goggles, apron, shoe cover etc.

D.Wipe off the area the disposable absorbent material and put the contaminated absorbent material into plastic bag for disposal.

E. Disinfect the area with sodium hypochlorite solution (1000ppm available chlorine) and allow it to dry.

F. Discard the contaminated materials ( cleaning clothes, gloves, apron etc) according to your hospital's biomedical waste management policy.

G.Wash hands.

5.Risk management procedures. Risk management is the process of making the health care safer for the patient, staff and visitors by identifying hazards in the work place and taking action to minimise their harm whenever possible. The risk management process involves a number of steps-

a. Identifying a hazard : a hazard is anything with a potential to cause harm to patients, staff or the visitors.

b. Assessing the risk:it is important to identify the risk associated with each hazard inorder to eliminate them.

c. Control measures: adequate control measures should be planned according to each hazards.

d.Monitoring control measures: once the control measures are implemented, it is important to monitor and reevaluate the practice to ensure compliance.