Safely

When considering an individual’s ability to complete the activity you need to consider their ability to keep themselves and others safe.

If a client is unable to complete an activity safely, consideration should be given to whether an aid or appliance, prompting, supervision or assistance, could overcome the risk.

The descriptor which describes a way in which the activity can be safely completed should be chosen.

To carry out an activity “safely” means to carry it out in a manner unlikely to cause harm to the individual or to another person, either during or after completion of the activity, with consideration given to:

• the likelihood of harm, and
• the severity of the consequences of that harm (ADP Regs, Reg. 7(2)(b)(i) and (3)(a)).

Consider likelihood of harm occurring

In assessing the likelihood of a particular harm occurring, consideration should be given to whether there’s a real possibility of that harm occurring.

For example, a blind person could trip and injure themselves if the pavement they’re walking on becomes uneven, and they could also be injured if a cyclist loses control of their bike, mounts the pavement and they’re unable to move out of the way.

Given the potential for public pavements to be in various states of repair and the ease with which people can trip, there is a real possibility that this harm could occur.

The chance of the incident happening with the cyclist on the other hand is far less likely, and so is not a real possibility that should be taken into account when considering safety.

Consider the severity of consequences

The severity of the consequences of the harm being considered also needs to be taken into account, alongside likelihood.

Broadly speaking, the more severe the harm that could be caused, the less likely the harm needs to be of occurring – although there must still be a real possibility of it occurring.

For example, if a person with epilepsy has seizures which cause them to lose control of their body without any warning, being unattended in the bath could cause them serious injury or death.

As the consequences of that situation occurring are so severe, it does not have to be as likely as it would be where less serious harm is being considered. 

In this instance, if a client has approximately one seizure a month, it would likely be reasonable to determine that the risk of harm is enough that they require supervision while in the bath.

Consider the regularity any risk occurs

The regularity with which any risk occurs is also important, but again must be considered in relation to the severity of the consequence of the harm.

For example, if an individual has forgotten to take their medication a few times in the past, but ordinarily manages to remember unaided there’s unlikely to be a risk to their safety. However, if the client could become seriously ill if they forget to take their medication even once, then forgetting infrequently could mean they’re unable to complete the activity safely.

Recognise fact that everything has some risk

When considering safety you need to recognise that everything anybody does has some risk associated with it.

For example, someone may cut themselves when chopping vegetables, or could fall when walking. This specific test is focused on any increased risk that may arise due to the individual’s condition or disability.

Consider risk of harm to others as well as client

The risk of harm to others, as well as the client, must be considered when establishing whether an activity can be completed safely. The reference to others relates to anyone who could reasonably be expected to be harmed as a result of the activity being carried out unsafely.

For example, if a client has dementia and regularly leaves their house without switching the cooker off, this would cause a risk to others, even if the client lives alone, in a rural location, with no neighbours.

Another example of a risk of harm being caused to others is in relation to a client who has a learning disability and becomes very distressed when there’s any change to the route they usually take when out walking. When acutely distressed the individual may lash out at people near them, and therefore there’s a risk that others may be harmed if they’re unsupervised when carrying out this activity.G

General risks of harm

It is important to note that general risks of harm are relevant – they do not have to be specifically related to the activity in question.

It might be a general risk that exists when the individual’s undertaking other activities, or even doing nothing at all. For example, if an individual needs constant supervision for all activities, then this will be of relevance.

Examples of risks that may be considered to be linked with a condition or disability

An individual with a learning disability who is unable to recognise what clothes to wear for specific weather could be considered at increased risk of harm relating to extremes of temperature. 

An individual with a condition which affects their memory who is likely to forget to attend to food being cooked could be considered at increased risk of causing a fire.