Health and safety is perhaps the most common issue of compliance for all businesses in the country, with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 being the main piece of legislation concerned with it. As a result, general training courses on this subject are generally mandatory across the care industry. Related to this is of course fire safety, which is hugely important for all workers.

​

Manual handling issues are responsible for many sick days and long-term health issues amongst staff, which is why manual handling training is one of the most common types of training in all industries. In the care industry this may be accompanied by training on how to move people safely.

 

Infection prevention and control helps ensure that care workers don’t eventually cause strain on health workers, and protects those in their care. Homes especially can be problematic when it comes to the spread of illness, which is why this training is important. The Code of Practice on the Prevention and Control of Infection and Related Guidance (2010) is an addition to the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

 

Safeguarding adults and children is of course critically important to delivering a safe service and being mindful of wider issues of social care. As a result, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) mandates that employees must take the relevant training.

 

Equality, diversity and human rights are now recognised as being very important issues in health and social care, so much so that training on the matters is generally mandatory as a result of legislation such as the Human Rights Act 1998 and Equality Act 2010.

 

Food safety and hygiene is often a consideration in care homes and ultimately anywhere where people are being served food. As a result, it’s usually seen as mandatory for care staff to undergo at least basic training in this subject, to make sure that safe food is being eaten.