Health & Safety
by Flo Hendriksz
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Very few things we do in life are risk free or a sure thing. In our daily life the risk factor is always part of the equation when we deliberate, on a conscious or subconscious level, whether to participate in an activity or not.
At Caring For Life we have folks who are vulnerable because they do not always have the ability to spot hazards and identify the risks associated with an activity or a person. When individuals come to Caring For Life we promise to love them, care for them and be their friends for life. It is therefore part of our ethos to provide a safe and healthy environment for those who come to the farm to enjoy the projects, as well as the residents in our supported homes.
As an employer CFL also has a duty to care for our staff and volunteers, firstly so that they can care for others in a healthy and safe environment and secondly so that they can teach those in their care safe working practices and help them identify hazards associated with farm projects or in their homes. By making the folk in our care aware of the concept of safety in their working day, we can hopefully encourage and empower them to use similar concepts in their personal lives, when we are not there to guide and protect them.
In 2006 the Executive Committee and some Senior Managers plus one of our trustees completed the IOSH Managing Safely course. In 2007 the staff team attended Basic Health and Safety training as part of CFL’s ongoing commitment to increase the profile of Health and Safety. Further training in 2007 included a four-day First Aid at Work for all Senior Managers and a few designated Project Leaders and Project Workers. Training that has already taken place in 2008 includes: Basic Food Hygiene for staff involved in the meat project as well as all residential staff; and First Aid, Basic Health and Safety and Fire Risk Assessments for new residential staff. Further training planned for 2008 includes Manual Handling and will be presented to staff and volunteers as well as those in our care.
In 2007, Ian Routh, our external H&S consultant, offered training to the folk in our care. He covered topics such as identifying hazards, reporting hazards and safe working practices. It was hugely successful and made folk feel much more involved, as well as enhancing the safety culture of CFL. Just recently, one of the young men who lives at Tindall House and works on the Computing and Media Project, helped to produce a user-friendly simple H and S leaflet for those in CFL’s care.
At Caring For Life H&S is a continuing journey and definitely not a final destination!
Of course the underlying and motivating aim of CFL is to share the love of Jesus with all those who come to us and our hope is to ultimately see them come to faith. In a life filled with uncertainties and risks, it is such a delight to be able to assure these folk that in life and in death, Jesus is the one sure thing.
