HLTWHS002 Follow safe work practices for direct client care Assessment

The Scenario

Assume you have been employed as a non-emergency first responder at a medium sized company for the past 8 months, you enjoy the role and the team you work with.
However, recently you have consistently been directed by your supervisor to participate in ongoing higher-level duties and workloads, inclusive of extra administrative duties that are outside of your first responder role.
You have been directed to participate in overtime and what you believe to be bullying by the supervisor.
Your work colleagues and specifically your partner have identified that you seem stressed, and they have witnessed on several occasions the ongoing and abrupt verbal requests and expectations communicated by your supervisor.
Your colleagues have discussed with you that the supervisor’s requests are not warranted and are communicated in an authoritarian way. They have urged you to report this to the next level manager, however this idea makes you anxious and nauseous.
You feel powerless by refusing the requests, and the manager blatantly stated that if you don't respond to the requests he will find someone who will. This has alluded to, on numerous occasions that he will have you dismissed from the role for not responding to his direction.
You are becoming quite concerned and anxious that you are putting yourself, your partner and clients at risk. You are starting to notice aches and pains and you believe you have sustained a musculoskeletal injury to your shoulder whilst lifting a patient awkwardly as a result of fatigue and stress.
Yesterday while transporting an elderly patient your partner alerted you to the fact you had not checked nor engaged the safety straps on the stretcher or the patient you were transporting. There was no injury sustained however the potential injury may have resulted in significant consequences.
You have a wife and three (3) young children under the age of six (6) for whom you are the sole provider. This is your only source of income and you studied hard to gain the required qualification for the role. It has been a passion to continue study at university and become a paramedic. You now are unsure of your capabilities to manage study and working, as the overtime and additional duties are becoming exhausting.
Your performance has been exceptional and three (3) months ago at a meeting with management it was indicated that you have great leadership potential, and will be offered a supervisor role in the next three (3) months.
It was following this meeting that your supervisor began giving you additional tasks and overtime hours. The supervisor has also refused two (2) recent requests for annual leave that you are entitled to, yet allows other staff leave and expects you to work.
You have not accessed any sick leave as his ‘threats’ have left you anxious and concerned for your ongoing role and employment future, not to mention the opportunity pending for a supervisory role. You are due to meet again with the managers to discuss the supervisor’s role in the next two (2) weeks.
The company has a nominated three (3) HSR representatives. The HSC meet quarterly and all WHS issues are discussed at team meetings, with through two-way communication for information and feedback. The company has a program that offers support for employee health and wellbeing issues.
You have not yet found the time with all the additional work and duties to access this support. Your other concern is your supervisor is related to a HSR MEMBER, and they spend a lot of time together.
As a result of all this, throughout the past three (3) months you have been experiencing episodes of overwhelming and intermittent sadness, you are often tired, mentally fatigued, experiencing nauseous, have had several persistent headaches and have no appetite.
You have not been able to find time to spend with family, engage socially or participate in your regular fitness and exercise regime. You have lost approximately 4 - 5 kgs in the last few months.

Theory Task

Please read each question carefully to ensure your response addresses all required components.

1. You are required to access the Q Paramedical Module via the online learning platform and locate the Q Paramedical Incident Report Form or use the Incident Report form at the end of this assessment task.
2. You are to complete three (3) individual ‘incident forms’ reflecting the following:

• You have had an accident at work and sustained an injury whilst moving/transferring a patient onto a stretcher
• Your partner identified an incident during transport due to human error, where a patient’s safety straps were not engaged correctly, the patient did not sustain any injuries however potentially the absence of the safety straps may have resulted in an injury.
• You have been subject to bullying in the workplace by a direct supervisor resulting in high levels of stress that is impacting on your health.
  You must submit these completed incident forms with this AT1.1 Assessment Task online.

3. Consider the above scenario and the three incidents identified.

• Discuss a possible relationship the incidents have to each other, specifically considering the report of bullying and stress.
• Discuss the correlation of the bullying and stress between the injury and the safety strap incident, identifying the common denominator (150 -200 words)

4. Identify the procedure for reporting incidents, injuries and near misses, inclusive of what happens to the incident forms once completed. Who would you report these to and what happens next? (Dot point responses acceptable)

5. Discuss in your own words and explain the ‘stages’ of the risk management process that will be applied to address the reported safety strap incident.
You must provide sufficient detail in your responses and across the stages to sufficiently demonstrate your gained knowledge and understanding of the risk management process.

6. At what stage would a WHS meeting be conducted to discuss the incident?

7. Who will need to be consulted in regard to these incidents and the risk management, and why? Think about each stage of the risk management process and justify your response. (dot points identifying those requiring consultation with justifications is acceptable)