Risk Management

What You’ll Learn

1. Key definitions (hazards, risk, duty of care, hierarchy of controls)
2. Primax Care policies for risk management and compliance requirements
3. Steps to identify and control hazards in daily support
4. Balancing dignity of risk with safe, person-centred care
5. Documentation (Risk Assessment Form, Risk Register) and continuous improvement

Definitions

What is a hazard?

Anything that can cause harm or injury (physical environment, equipment, behaviour, etc.).

What is a risk?

The likelihood and consequence of a hazard causing harm. It also includes “the effect of uncertainty on objectives” (ISO 31000).

Duty of Care

Your legal/ethical obligation to act in a way that prevents harm to the people you support.

Dignity of Risk

Participants have the right to make decisions that might involve risk. We must balance participant choice and safety.

Hierarchy of Controls

From most effective to least effective: Elimination, Substitution, Engineering Controls, Administrative Controls, PPE.