Legislation and the Uniformed Services at a incident By Adam Clark



In this section of our work we will be looking at the different pieces of legislations that affect the uniformed services when attending an incident

The pieces of legislation that we are going to be looking at are

·         The health and safety at work act 1974

·         The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002

·         The Reporting of injuries , diseases and dangerous occurrences regulations 1995

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

The health and safety work act 1974 is an act of parliament that sets out regulations and responsibilities as well as the duties for employees, employers and members of the public using facilities

 

How does this apply to the emergency services?

We’ll all the emergency services have to be safe in their job the health and safety act explains that employers have to have the consideration and welfare of their workforce as one of their top priorities and that all workers need to act responsible in a place of work but the nature of the work of the emergency services whether it be police, fire or ambulance they have a unique and different job than the average worker so prevention of injury to uniformed services personnel is vital.

The H&SWA outlines the requirement for PPE which stands for Personnel Protective Equipment.

The uniformed services where PPE when they are responding to incidents to keep them safe and allow them to operate more effectively and has on more than one occastion saved thier lifes.

Here are the different emergency services PPE

Police Service

Normal Basic

·         Stab Proof Vest and utility vest ( Usually high visibility now so its multipurpose)

·         Steal toe cap Police Boots

·         High Visibility jacket so can be seen in all environments

·         Latex Gloves in case they have to provide medical attention

·         First aid kit to either self-administer first aid if provide basic to members of the public if needed.

·         Police Officers Helmet

Public order Gear

·         Riot helmet

·         Flame Resistant overalls

·         Public order boots

·         Flame Proof Gloves

·         First aid kit

·         Water bottle

·         Riot shield

·         Baton

The Fire Service

·         Flame proof jacket

·         Flame proof trousers

·         Helmet

·         Boots

·         Flame resistant gloves

·         Respirator and Hazmat suit

The ambulance service

·         Boots special boots that don’t take blood or bodily fluid away from scene

·         Coveralls

·         Jacket

·         Helmet depending on incident

·         Latex gloves

·         Face masks

An example of how PPE can save uniformed services workers life’s is the following a HAZMAT HGV carrying acid tipped over and the substance leaked onto the road the driver died as a result of the acid leaking onto him a police officer that responded to the incident ran to help the officer noticed that there was a burning sensation and look down to see that the soles of his police boots where starting to melt. His PPE boots saved him from the same fate as the driver

The health and safety at work act cover safe guarding the employees and employers as well as members of the public it ensures that workers where PPE equipment to keep them safe and that their  safe practice at the work place.

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995

RIDDOR is a piece legislation that is laid down the parliament of the United Kingdom. It gives the requirement to those of responsibility in the work place to report to the health and safety executive any deaths, injuries, any persons of work for long periods of due to illness or any dangerous occurrences the only organization that this does not apply to is the armed forces due to the unique nature of their work.

RIDDOR was created because of incidents such as the Oaks colliery disaster where more than 300 people were killed this is one of the worst incidents in the United Kingdom unfortunately people still die whilst at work every year so it is so important to report the above so that we can learn from their mistakes.

How Does Effect the Uniformed Services?

If a member of the uniformed services is injured or taken ill or even in tragic circumstances killed whilst at work their superior has to report this to the senior officers who will then contact the H&SE this is so that provisions can be made so that it does not occur again.


 The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002

 

The control of substances hazardous to health regulations 2002 regulates the use and control of hazardous materials such as chemicals and toxic substances at the work place and also sets out what to in case of a incidents such as a spillage

The use and exposure to hazardous material can put workers at risk so it is important for employers, employees and members of the public to be safe this is where COSHH comes in.

Without COSHH workers can suffer from being exposed to hazardous material and the results from this vary from the following.

·         Eye irritation

·         Chronic lung disease

·         Hart problems

·         And even death

When workers follow these COSHH Regulations it has a positive outcome such as

·         Boots team moral

·         Gives works a better understanding of the risks and how to stay safe whilst handling hazardous materials.

Because of the nature of emergency services work they may be exposed to hazardous materials COSHH regulations states that they must wear appropriate personnel protective equipment and have appropriate training in handling the substances

The public services such as the fire and rescue services respond to incidents that involve hazardous materials such as flammable substances, chemical agents, biological agents and radioactive substances.

These types of incidents can happen in a variety of different locations such as on the road in road traffic collections, agricultural land, and reach laboratories.

They can also arise in natural ways such as floods that can spread sewage waste this is a form of hazardous materials because it spreads infections and diseases

 All three services would work together in an incident that involves hazardous material the emergency services have to do the following

·         Decontamination of persons involved with the incident

·         Mass decontamination of person in the case of a major incident

·         Pass decontaminated persons onto the ambulance service who will then pass the casualties onto the hospital for further medical treatment.

·         Cordon of the contaminated area  

·         Prevent further injuries from substances

·         Prevent further damage to the environment

·         Search for information regarding the hazardous material

·         Clean and dispose of hazardous material

If a tanker carrying hydrochloric acid collides with a car on the motor way and there is a spillage as a result of the crash the emergency services would have to seal of the area to prevent further injury they would then asses the situation to see if it possible to rescue the casualty the fire services would then suite up in the hazmat suits and enter the area trying to find information on the substance once determined they would rescue they casualties form the area once the casualties have been rescued they have to decontaminated to ensure that they are no longer at risk this is done by the fire service in the special decontamination tent they are then passed onto the ambulance service for medical treatment and transferred to hospital.

The emergency services need to then start to clean up the spillage hydrochloric acid can be broken down with water once the scene has been cleansed of the substances the police can begin their investigation to what had happened during the time of the cleaning and rescue process the police service will redirect traffic and secure the scene to prevent the contamination of any other persons.

Cosh would affect these people in by making sure that they had received the required training and they were properly equipment to deal with incident