11.1 Moving and handling incidents refer to accidents or near misses that occur during the process of moving and handling people or objects, often resulting in injury to the person being moved or the handler. These incidents highlight the risks associated with improper techniques and inadequate planning when lifting, carrying, pushing, or pulling loads, whether they are people or inanimate objects.
Emergency incidents
11.2 Most situations which require moving and handling are foreseeable, however there may be some life-threatening situations where staff may not have time to get equipment or plan the move. Staff in this emergency instance must undertake a dynamic risk assessment considering their safety and the safety of others prior to taking any further action.
11.3 These incidents must be reported as per para 11.11.
Falls
11.4 When a person falls, it is important that safe methods are used to move them, to avoid causing pain and/or further injury. This is critical to their chances of making a full recovery.
11.5 If a person falls and is unable to stand independently with verbal prompting (Backward chaining) and/or who is complaining of pain (and is not in immediate danger), staff should not attempt to physically support the person and should seek further advice/assistance from the emergency services. They must stay with the person until necessary assistance/equipment arrives.
11.6 These incidents must be reported as per para 11.1.
| Example scenario: A person falls while attempting to stand from a lounge chair without assistance. They cannot stand independently and are complaining of a pain in hip, but not in immediate danger. |
Staff performing moving and handling tasks
11.7 Staff members must report to their line manager if during any moving and handling tasks they:
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- feels unsafe or at risk of injury
- are experiencing pain
- are experiencing an injury or ill-health
11.8 These incidents must be reported as per 11.11.
| Example scenario: A care worker strains their back while helping someone stand from a seated position without using appropriate equipment due to poor manual handling technique or lack of equipment. |
People receiving care and support
11.9 A moving and handling incident may occur when an individual receiving care experiences an unexpected event or near miss during a physical transfer or repositioning activity, which may result in discomfort, distress, or harm. This can happen while being moved with or without equipment.
11.10 These incidents must be reported as per 11.11.
| Example scenario: A person becomes agitated during a transfer and grabs at staff or equipment which could potentially cause injury or incident requiring de-escalation and review of care approach. |
Reporting and investigation
11.11 All incidents and near misses must be reported to relevant managers for their investigation. Managers must report incidents to the council’s SHE unit by completing the “Report and Incident” form Gloucestershire County Council's Health and Safety Portal. https://app.uk.sheassure.net/gloucestershirecc/p/Portal/ and following the council’s health and safety policy instigate lessons learned and in-line with service specific reporting & monitoring processes.
Corporate guidance on accident reporting/investigation can be found at Appendix 8, taken from https://gloucestershirecc.sharepoint.com/sites/SHEHub/SitePages/How-to-report-an-accident(1).asp
Monitoring
Safety of people who use our service
11.12 Managers will monitor how often incidents happen that fall within the provisions of 11.1 – 11.11 of this policy. When these are frequent, relevant steps will be taken to have a review of the person’s care and support needs and ensure their care plan, and staff supporting them are doing so in the most suitable way.
Safety of staff
11.13 Line managers must ensure the employee was following the appropriate training and risk assessment and seek appropriate guidance on their next steps to support their staff – this may be through Occupational Health (OHU) or short term reasonable adjustments to job responsibilities. Longer-term pain will be reviewed alongside OHU to decide next steps.
Managing incidents and concerns
11.14 When there are concerns around the safety of an individual with care needs, this must be raised to the relevant manager. These concerns may also be raised to the Adults Safeguarding Team when appropriate.
11.15 When there are concerns that a staff members actions amount to danger or serious risk to the people we support or our colleagues, staff can use the council’s “speak up if it’s not right” campaign, following the council’s whistleblowing policy.
