Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- Anaesthetised
- Made unconscious or numbed using medicine so that surgery or a procedure can be carried out without pain.
- Bariatric
- Relating to the care of people of a higher body weight, who may need specially strengthened equipment and extra help to move safely.
- Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- The independent regulator of health and social care services in England.
- Competent person
- Someone with the training, knowledge and experience needed to carry out a particular task or examination safely and correctly.
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH)
- The law for safely managing chemicals and other hazardous substances at work.
- Domiciliary
- Relating to care or visits provided to a person in their own home.
- Duty of candour
- The legal duty to be open and honest with a person and their family when something goes wrong with their care.
- Equality Act 2010
- The law protecting people from discrimination based on characteristics such as age, disability, sex or race.
- Hazard
- Anything with the potential to cause harm, such as a heavy load or an awkward handling task.
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
- The main law setting out employers' and employees' general duties to keep people safe at work.
- Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
- The national body responsible for enforcing health and safety law in workplaces.
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014
- The regulations setting out the fundamental standards that providers of regulated care must meet, enforced by the Care Quality Commission.
- Hierarchy of control
- A ranked order for managing risk, starting with removing the hazard altogether and moving down to reducing it as far as is reasonably possible.
- Hoist
- A powered or manual lifting device used to raise and move a person who cannot move themselves safely.
- Lateral transfer
- Moving a person sideways from one flat surface to another, such as from a trolley to a bed, often using a sliding aid.
- Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER)
- The law requiring lifting equipment such as hoists and slings to be strong enough, properly used and examined at regular intervals by a competent person.
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
- The law requiring employers to assess risks at work and put suitable arrangements in place to control them.
- Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992
- The law that requires employers to avoid, assess and reduce the risk of injury from lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling or moving loads by hand.
- Musculoskeletal disorder
- An injury to the muscles, joints, tendons or bones, such as a back strain, often caused by repeated or heavy lifting.
- Near miss
- An event that could have caused harm but did not, by chance or because it was caught in time.
- Nominated Individual
- The senior person responsible to the regulator for supervising how a service is provided.
- Occupational health
- A service that looks after the health and wellbeing of staff in relation to their work, including fitness to work and adjustments.
- Profiling bed
- An adjustable bed whose height and sections can be raised or tilted to help with safe care and handling.
- Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER)
- The law requiring work equipment to be suitable, safe, maintained and used only by people who have been properly trained.
- Reasonably practicable
- Doing what is sensible to reduce a risk, weighing the level of risk against the time, trouble and cost of preventing it.
- Registered Manager
- The person registered with the regulator as responsible for the day-to-day running of a service.
- Regulated activity
- A type of care or treatment the law requires a provider to register with the regulator to deliver.
- Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR)
- The law requiring certain workplace injuries, diseases and dangerous events to be reported to the Health and Safety Executive.
- Residual risk
- The level of risk that remains once the existing controls and safety measures are in place.
- Risk assessment
- A structured check identifying what could cause harm and what is being done to prevent it.
- Safe working load
- The maximum weight that a piece of lifting or handling equipment is rated to carry safely.
- Safeguarding
- Protecting people's health, wellbeing and rights and keeping them safe from abuse, harm or neglect.
- Sharps
- Needles, blades and other items that can cut or puncture the skin.
- Single assessment framework
- The structure the regulator uses to judge a service, built around quality statements and five key questions (safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led).
- Slide sheet
- A low-friction fabric sheet used to help move or turn a person in bed without lifting them by hand.
- Sling
- A fabric support, fitted to a hoist, that holds a person securely while they are lifted or moved.
- Spreader bar
- The bar on a hoist to which the loops of a sling are attached during a lift.
- Stand-aid
- A device that helps a person who has some weight-bearing ability to stand and be moved a short distance.
- Stillage
- A frame or stand used to hold and secure gas cylinders or other heavy items during storage and transport.
- TILE / TILEO
- A checklist for assessing a handling task, covering the Task, the Individual doing it, the Load, the Environment and, when moving people, the Other factors.
- World Health Organization surgical safety pause
- A short, structured team check carried out before surgery to confirm the patient, procedure and safety steps, including how the patient will be moved.