You don’t know what you don’t know. (How does Workplace Health and Safety align and intersect with Infection Prevention and Control.)
Ms Debra Lee1,2,3
1Office Of Industrial Relations Queensland, Brisbane , Australia
2Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
3Queensland Health, Brisbane, Australia
What is the role Workplace Health and Safety (WH&S) in Infection Prevention and Control (IP&C)?
And what is the role of IP&C in WH&S?
The purpose of Workplace Health and Safety is “to provide for a balanced and consistent framework to secure the health and safety of workers and workplaces by protecting workers and other persons against harm to their health, safety and welfare through the elimination or minimisation of risks arising from work or from particular types of substances…”
Infection prevention and control has the aim to reduce the occurrence of infectious diseases. The onus is not just on preventing infectious diseases in acute healthcare patients, but also the workforce and general public.
The two specialties have many areas of intersection and yet have different legislative and regulatory documents. Thorough contemporary knowledge of all legislative frameworks that can inform and promote best practice is difficult to attain due to time and workload constraints. It is the aim of this submission to provide access to key elements of WH&S legislation and how it could and should be applied to safety within the remit of the Infection Control Professional.
Biography:
Debra has worked as an Infection Control Practitioner for over a decade and is currently on secondment with the Workplace Health and Safety Branch of the Office of Industrial Relations, Queensland.
Debra had attained a Masters of Infection Prevention and Control at Griffity University and is currently studying a Graduate Certificate in Public Health. She is keen to see Infection Prevention principles implemented across multiple and varied settings.
At home, Debra subscribes to the “Lazy gardener theory” and believes if a plant is meant to thrive it will despite periods of over-attention and neglect. So far succulents are winning.