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Environmental risks quick guide

Patient factors

Patient factors contribute to manual handling risks.  The manual handling of patients presents very different risks to inanimate loads, for example, weight, shape and size of the patient, co-operation, privacy and dignity.

Building, vehicle, space, or design

Limited space could be identified as a manual handling risk particularly in patient’s homes.

Regardless of whether the patient lives within their own home or within an inpatient ward, a Personal emergency evacuation plan (PEEP) (opens in new window) should be completed. This describes what to do if there was a fire.

Colleague factors

  • Ensure colleagues are up-to-date with their complex moving and handling training.
  • Colleagues involved with bariatric patients need to be aware that assisting the whole person to move may be hazardous. This may also take a great deal of physical effort.  In addition, their individual limbs can also be very heavy and that there is risk of injury to colleagues when performing personal care and nursing interventions.
  • As part of the moving and handling assessment colleagues should consider the working postures they have to adopt whilst performing these tasks.

Environmental risks

Please consider the following factors to meet the needs of the bariatric patient:

  • the type of floor covering for moving beds, chairs, wheelchairs or hoists
  • accessibility of any doors on the wards
  • the available floor space for safe manoeuvring of the bariatric patient
  • the positioning of furniture or equipment within the clinical environment
  • the load weight of any lifts
  • the safe working load of the floor
  • it is important when moving the bariatric patient to consider the comfort and dignity of the patient as part of individualised care planning
  • wherever possible height adjustable equipment should be used, for example, high-low beds. Working at floor level should be avoided whenever possible

Page last reviewed: September 06, 2024
Next review due: September 06, 2025

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