Application
This unit applies to funeral home and cemetery and crematorium staff members who come into contact with deceased persons or infectious or contaminated materials. | |
Prerequisites
Nil | |
Elements and Performance Criteria
ELEMENT | PERFORMANCE CRITERIA | ||
1 | Maintain personal hygiene. | 1.1 | Maintain cleanliness of work clothes according to workplace policies and procedures. |
1.2 | Identify and apply hand washing procedures according to infection control practices. | ||
1.3 | Use and maintain personal protective equipment according to infection control practices, workplace policies and procedures, and relevant legislation. | ||
2 | Clean and sanitise equipment and surfaces. | 2.1 | Identify appropriate cleaning and sanitising requirements according to workplace policies and procedures, and relevant legislation. |
2.2 | Select, prepare and use appropriate cleaning chemicals and equipment according to workplace policies and procedures. | ||
2.3 | Apply workplace cleaning schedule to maintain cleanliness of equipment and surfaces. | ||
2.4 | Store cleaning chemicals and equipment according to material safety data sheets and workplace policies and procedures. | ||
3 | Handle materials and deceased persons in a manner that prevents contamination and spread of infectious disease. | 3.1 | Apply universal precautions to deceased persons and to materials that have come into contact with deceased persons. |
3.2 | Identify and address OHS issues involved in handling materials and deceased persons according to workplace policies and procedures, and relevant legislation. | ||
3.3 | Use appropriate personal protective equipment according to workplace policies and procedures, infection control practices and relevant legislation when handling deceased persons or materials that have come into contact with deceased persons. | ||
4 | Dispose of infectious or contaminated material. | 4.1 | Use appropriate personal protective equipment when disposing of infectious or contaminated material according to infection control practices, workplace policies and procedures, and relevant legislation. |
4.2 | Sort and separate infectious waste according to workplace policies and procedures, and relevant legislation. | ||
4.3 | Dispose of infectious waste according to infection control practices, workplace policies and procedures, and relevant legislation. | ||
5 | Identify and act on hazards and spillage. | 5.1 | Identify potential hazards and take remedial action according to workplace policies and procedures, and relevant legislation. |
5.2 | Assess actual hazards and spillages and implement appropriate responses according to workplace policies and procedures. | ||
5.3 | Respond to situations of risk according to workplace policies and procedures, and relevant legislation. | ||
5.4 | Place hazard notification notices as required. |
Required Skills
Required skills communication skills, including clear and direct communication to report potential and actual hazards literacy and numeracy skills to interpret and follow workplace policies and procedures and appropriate signage problem-solving skills to identify and address risk situations self-management skills to maintain own personal safety. |
Required knowledge infection control practices workplace policies and procedures and safe work practices to enable effective infection and contamination control broad working knowledge of relevant federal, state or territory, and local government legislation and regulations relating to OHS, infection control and handling human remains use, care and maintenance of personal protective equipment preparation, use and storage of workplace cleaning chemicals. |
Evidence Required
The evidence guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the performance criteria, required skills and knowledge, range statement and the Assessment Guidelines for the Training Package. | |
Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit | Evidence of the following is essential: ability to access and interpret hygiene, infection and contamination control procedures and consistently apply these during day-to-day activities understanding the importance of following hygiene, infection and contamination control procedures and of the potential implications of disregarding those procedures knowledge and understanding of the legal requirement to work according to hygiene, infection and contamination control procedures following infection and contamination control procedures over a period of time to ensure consistency of performance and ability to respond to different situations. |
Context of and specific resources for assessment | Assessment must ensure: demonstration of skills in a funeral home, cemetery or crematorium facility where deceased bodies and potentially infectious or contaminated waste are handled access to cleaning products and equipment access to personal protective equipment access to infectious waste disposal equipment. |
Methods of assessment | A range of assessment methods should be used to assess practical skills and knowledge. The following examples are appropriate for this unit: observation of candidate applying all infection and contamination control practices and procedures in the workplace written or verbal questioning to assess knowledge of accessing and interpreting relevant legislation and workplace policies and procedures review of portfolios of evidence and third-party workplace reports of on-the-job performance by the candidate. Holistic assessment with other units relevant to the industry sector, workplace and job role is recommended, for example: SIFOHS001A Follow OHS procedures SIFOHS003A Follow mortuary OHS procedures. |
Employability skills embedded in this unit should be assessed holistically with other relevant units that make up the skill set or qualification and in the context of the job role. |
Range Statement
The range statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording, if used in the performance criteria, is detailed below. Essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) may also be included. | |
Workplace policies and procedures may include: | OHS standard operating procedures use, care and maintenance of tools and equipment incident reporting and recording. |
Hand washing procedures may include: | frequency duration. |
Infection control practices may include: | checking for infectious and transmittable disease using personal protective equipment sterilising apparatus and instruments providing sterile storage areas for instruments using disinfectants safe removal and disposal of soiled and contaminated garments safe ventilation avoiding invasive procedures on bodies immunisation periodic X-rays seeking medical advice recording injury and incidence reporting injury and incidence providing first aid kit performing first aid as necessary labelling clothing. |
Personal protective equipment may include: | disposable gloves heavy duty gloves protective overgarments overshoes waterproof aprons masks and goggles suiting to protect against radiation. |
Relevant legislation and regulations may include: | OHS federal, state or territory and local government guidelines or ordinances Coroner's Act Human Tissue Act federal transportation regulations Airlines Act Public Health Act Environment Protection Act Dangerous Goods Act cemetery Acts and by-laws Crematorium Acts Worksafe Australia certification and standards. |
Chemicals and equipment may include: | buckets mops and brushes soap disinfectant hand solution paper towels. |
Universal precautions include: | use of personal protective equipment presumption that all blood and body fluids are infectious covering exposed cuts and abrasions, particularly on workers' hands, with waterproof coverings prior to commencing work immediate treatment of puncture wounds or abrasions use of protective clothing when cleaning spillage of body fluids. |
OHS issues may include: | toxic gases cancer producing agents blood borne viruses droplet infections bacterial infections sharps aerosol exposure from lungs of body radioactivity. |
Infectious or contaminated material may include: | body parts human tissue human blood and body fluid materials and equipment containing human blood and body fluid contaminated garments soiled dressings, sharps, swabs, catheters and bandages. |
Remedial action may include: | reporting protecting area evacuating area. |
Sectors
Sector | Funeral Services |
Competency Field
Occupational Health and Safety | |
Employability Skills
This unit contains employability skills. | |
Licensing Information
Not applicable.