Where can I go for information and advice over bed rail safety management?
Our health and safety consultant, Anthony Arcari has this advice:
Bedrails are used to protect vulnerable people from falling out of bed but the risks from inappropriate use of bedrails include the risk of entrapment by the head or neck, potentially leading to injury or asphyxiation. As a result of poor training and safety management, there have been many injuries and fatalities while in use.
A recent case came to light in April 2016 when a North West NHS Foundation Trust was fined over its inappropriate management of the use of bedrails at its hospitals.
The HSE identified:
- a lack of a system to identify and inspect third party bedrails
- the lack of planned preventative maintenance on manual beds and bedrails
- a lack of an effective system to rectify faults with inappropriate bedrails
- lack of provision of appropriate training
- a lack of procedures to audit and monitor the effectiveness of the bedrail management system.
Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, that has its headquarters at Westmorland General Hospital, Burton Road, Kendal, Cumbria, admitted breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.and was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £18,465. After the hearing, HSE Inspector Carol Forster said “In this case there was a lack of management systems to recognise the risk of bedrails, apply standards and safety alert information, and a corporate failure to prioritise the need to manage bedrails effectively. “The Trust failed to comply with the expected standards “
Get the correct beds – but don’t forget training and regular inspections
It is important that you not only acquire the correct beds but that you provide suitable and sufficient training and maintain a suitable inspection regime on a day to day basis to ensure that the bed, rails, mattress are suitable for the needs of the resident.
Advice and information is available via the links below: