Guidance Notes and Best Practice Guides
DfT: An innovative new partnership between the THINK! child road safety campaign and 4 football clubs has been launched by Road Safety Minister, Mike Penning. Blackburn Rovers, Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion and Leeds United will use their after-school clubs and activities in schools & on match days to help youngsters learn about road safety with THINK!'s Tales of the Road materials. The new initiative will focus on helping 6 to 11-year-olds learn how to find safe places to cross the road after evidence showed that this is a key factor in helping children stay safe on the roads.
CLG: A report into the drying out of houses to help people get back in to their homes more quickly has been published. The research was carried out for the Government by a consortium of the Construction Industry Research and Information Association, the University of Wolverhampton, and HR Wallingford researchers. The report was commissioned following summer floods of 2007 and subsequent Pitt Review.
Press release ~ Guidance and standards for drying flood damaged buildings. Signposting current guidance: BD 2760
HSE: Employees contemplating 'hot work' on used containers (& managers overseeing it) are being urged to check that the correct working procedures are followed after 2 people were killed in separate incidents in North East Scotland whilst cutting up drums.
HSE is issuing a Safety Alert to remind duty holders of the risk of explosion when undertaking 'hot work' on containers that contain, or have contained, flammable or combustible substances like waste thinners, new or used engine oil, anti-freeze, solvents, petrol or diesel fuel.
Press release ~ HSE: Hotwork Safety Alert ~ Hotwork on small tanks and drums guidance leaflet ~ ‘Safe maintenance, repair & cleaning procedures', Dangerous Substances & Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002
ScotGov: Housing associations can make savings by clubbing together to buy in bulk, according to an Investment Working Group report, which found good examples of collaborative working across Scotland from the Borders to the Highlands and from Renfrewshire to Fife. The Scottish Government has now commissioned a more detailed study of collaborative procurement by Scotland's social landlords.
QCDA: The key stage 1 assessment and reporting arrangements: Further guidance and information is now available, together with the 2011 key stage 1 Assessment and reporting arrangements.
DH: As the weather gets colder, it is important to remember the needs of friends, elderly relatives and neighbours who could be at risk, the Department of Health warned last week. Official figures from the Office of National Statistics demonstrate the deadly impact that cold weather can have, especially on older people during winter. They show that, last year, there were an estimated 25,400 excess deaths mostly linked to circulatory and respiratory diseases.
Newswire – CIPD: The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), in partnership with Adecco, has published a guide to help employers prepare for the impact of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010. The Regulations, which come into effect on 1 October 2011, implement an EU Directive requiring the basic employment terms & conditions of agency workers after a qualifying period of 12 weeks to be no less favourable than those that would apply if they had been recruited directly.
NICE: Taking simple steps to make the home safer (such as fitting smoke alarms & window restrictors) could help to reduce the number of children who die or are seriously injured from unintentional injuries every year, says NICE. NICE has published three pieces of complementary guidance which aim to keep children & young people safe from serious harm. These consider strategies to prevent unintentional injuries; home safety assessments and the provision of safety equipment; and road design.
DH: A tool to help the NHS identify unwarranted variation in healthcare services across England was published last week by the Department of Health. The NHS Atlas of Variation highlights the amount each Primary Care Trust (PCT) spends on clinical services and links this with the health outcomes patients see.
Consisting of 34 maps, the Atlas will help commissioners learn from one another, consider the appropriateness of a service, and investigate when clinical health outcomes are not reflecting the financial investment that has been made.
DUK: One care home resident with diabetes is admitted to hospital every 25 minutes due to failings in screening & training, according to a new report launched recently by Diabetes UK. The report - Diabetes in care homes – Awareness, screening, training - found 60% of care homes in England (which have residents with diabetes) fail to provide any training to their staff about the condition. The report also revealed that 23% of care homes screen residents for diabetes on admission and that just 28% screen on an annual basis.
Diabetes UK is calling for care homes to implement the recommendations in its guidance document; Good Clinical Practice Guidelines for Care Home Residents with Diabetes. This includes:
* screening new residents for diabetes on admission and all residents at 2-yearly intervals
* for all people with diabetes in care homes to have an individualised care plan tailored to their needs
* for all care home managers to put in place appropriate diabetes-specific training for all staff
Press release ~ Diabetes in care homes – Awareness, screening, training ~ Good Clinical Practice Guidelines for Care Home Residents with Diabetes ~ More information on diabetes care in care homes
HL: Homeless Link has released a good practice guide on making arrangements to prevent rough sleeper deaths during extreme cold weather. Severe Weather Emergency Protocols (SWEP) for rough sleepers set out the types of arrangements that need to be made to ensure people are not at risk of dying on the streets during cold weather.
