SAFE USE OF MOBILE PHONES AT WORK POLICY

Transcription

1 SAFE USE OF MOBILE PHONES AT WORK POLICY Links to Lone Working Policy, Personal Safety Guidance, Lone Working Guidance, Information Governance Policy Document Type General Policy Unique Identifier GP31 Document Purpose Health and safety of employees and non-employees Document Author Adele Whitgreave Target Audience All staff Responsible Group IM&T Programme Board Date Ratified January 2017 Expiry Date January 2020 The validity of this policy is only assured when viewed via the Wirral Community NHS Trust website (wirralct.nhs.uk.). If this document is printed into hard copy or saved to another location, its validity must be checked against the unique identifier number on the internet version. The internet version is the definitive version. If you would like this document in other languages or formats (i.e. large print), please contact the Communications Team

2 Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Purpose / Statement 3 3. Application For Issue Of A Mobile Phone 3 4. Organisational Responsibilities 3 5. Personal Mobiles At Work 4 6. Use Of Mobiles For Work Purposes 4 7. Camera Use On A Mobile Phone 5 8. Use Of Mobiles Whilst Driving 5 9. General Disposal Of Mobile Phones Dissemination Mobile Phone Request Form (Appendix 1) 7

3 1 INTRODUCTION The Trust has statutory obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act and associated Regulations to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its staff and others. This document outlines the responsibilities and the operational procedures in place to demonstrate compliance with this legislation where members of staff use a mobile phone for work purposes. 2 PURPOSE / STATEMENT The policy applies to all staff that have been provided with a mobile phone for work use. The Trust aims to ensure peoples safety at work by providing clear requirements on where and when it is safe to use mobile phones. These requirements should enable staff to undertake their duties safely and at the same time protect the rights and safety of others. The requirements of this policy will be applied fairly to all staff in line with the Trust s arrangements for equality and diversity. For a mobile phone to be issued, staff must meet the following criteria: The individual works out of the office/off-site on a regular basis or is on call necessitating the need for them to be contactable and for them to respond promptly. The individual is required to work alone in the community and they meet the appropriate risk assessment criteria. The individual needs to be contactable both during the working day/outside office hours and needs to respond to the receipt of text messages. This will be at the discretion of their Director. 3. APPLICATION FOR ISSUE OF A MOBILE PHONE For all issues of a mobile phone, the application form (Appendix 1) must be completed by the User/line Manager and signed by the applicant and their Budget Manager. The application form should be ed to the Technology Dept., ( system.support@wirralct.nhs.uk ) as no further action will take place unless the application form is received. Copies of all application forms will be kept on file. It will be the responsibility of the Technology Dept., to authorize new and replacement phones. It is the responsibility of the Budget Manager to inform the Technology Dept., of any cancellations or departmental moves to allow for the data base to be updated. Until notification is received in writing or via , the department indicated on the original application form will be liable for the bills on that mobile. Therefore, it is vital that any information which enables this database to be updated, must be forwarded to the Technology Dept., as indicated in this policy. Where mobile phones are purchased in bulk, an application form must still be completed before the phone is allocated to the user. 4 ORGANISATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES 4.1 Chief Executive The Chief Executive is responsible for overall staff safety within the Trust and for the implementation of this policy.

4 4.2 Directors Senior members of staff are responsible for ensuring the day to day health, safety and welfare of their teams. They should be familiar with this policy and the requirements to use mobile phones safely. 4.3 Line Managers Managers have a responsibility for the safety of their staff. They should ensure their staff are aware of this policy and of any local rules around use of mobile phones within healthcare premises. 4.4 All Employees All staff should be aware of this policy and be familiar with any legal restrictions on using mobile phones. They must take reasonable care of themselves and others when operating mobile phones. Staff are responsible for the safe keeping of Trust property. This includes keeping any mobile phone secure and fully charged. The loss or damage of a Trust mobile phone should be reported immediately to their line manager. 5 PERSONAL MOBILES AT WORK Personal mobile phones can be used for work purposes where this has been agreed between the member of staff and their line manager. In all other cases where there is no requirement for members of staff to make calls or to be contacted during the course of employment, then use of personal mobiles will be restricted. In normal circumstances the use of personal mobile phones during working hours will only be allowed: During breaks In emergency circumstances In special circumstances agreed with a manager where there is a particular need to be contacted in work via their mobile phone. The use of mobile phones must not occur during any periods of patient care. In the event that a member of staff has agreed the need to be contacted at work, via their personal mobile phone, during working hours the mobile must normally be switched to silent and left to switch to messaging service. The member of staff should remove themselves to a private area to take the message as and when they are able to take a break from the activity they are engaged in. Due consideration should be given to the other section in this policy relating to safe use and confidentiality when using mobile phones. The Trust will not accept responsibility or liability for the loss or damage to personal mobile phones belonging to staff 6 USE OF MOBILES FOR WORK PURPOSES Staff should be aware of any local restrictions within healthcare premises and ensure that their mobile phone is switched off if a risk exists. In line with Department of Health guidance, it is acceptable to use mobile phones in healthcare premises, where there is no risk of interference. When using a mobile phone, members of staff need to consider the following principles of safety, sensitivity, confidentiality and appropriateness: It should be possible to make the call without affecting the safety of yourself and others around you, or their clinical care.

5 When using a mobile phone, all staff should ensure they adhere to the Caldicott Guardian Principles, Data Protection and the Trust s Code of Confidentiality. Patient confidentiality must always be respected. As all calls from Vodafone to Vodafone are free of charge at present, staff are urged to adopt this route and avoid sending texts if possible. All users should note, however, that calls to a mobile on a different network incur slightly higher charges and should be avoided if possible. When calling landlines, a landline phone should be used, if available. All text messages are chargeable. Unless the service requires their use please try and avoid. Try to keep mobile calls brief. Personal calls should be made during breaks or in exceptional circumstances. If the call is being made in a public place, consider the content and language used during the conversation. Billing for mobile phones is continually monitored within the Technology Dept., and bills in excess of 10 will be reviewed. Any personal calls/texts that are identified will be chargeable to the individual staff member. Some staff are issued with a pool mobile phone due to their rota systems. These phones must be left at base at the end of the shift worked which ensures that the phone is then available for the use of other team members. Phones stored at base must be kept in a secure locked environment and must be charged and ready for use. It is the responsibility of each team to ensure a system is in place to retrieve mobile phones if staff are unable to return to base following a call and are subsequently off work. Mobile phones should be switched off or on silent during meetings and training sessions. 7 CAMERA USE ON A MOBILE PHONE In some cases staff may need to use a phone to record an image / photo for work purposes (i.e. a building repair or the investigation of a criminal offence). If the image does not identify any patients, then they do not need to obtain consent. However, if a patient or member of staff is identifiable in the image then their consent should be sought in line with the Clinical Protocol for the Use of Photography, Video Recording and Audio Recordings. (Clinical Protocol CP55) The inappropriate use of mobile phones could contravene the Data Protection Act and the Caldicott Guardian principles. Staff should therefore exercise caution when using a camera phone and ensure they have given prior notification to the senior member of staff on duty explaining the justification for the image. Consent is required from a patient for images to be taken. Such consent must take into account a patient s capacity to give consent. Patients in emotional distress are not deemed capable of giving consent. Images that do not include a patient are permitted, provided patient identifiable data cannot be identified in any way. 8 USE OF MOBILES WHILST DRIVING Using a mobile phone whilst driving can be dangerous; and is contrary to the Road Traffic Act and the Highway Code. It is an offence to use a hand held mobile phone whilst driving a

6 vehicle. The Trust does not expect any of its staff to operate a hand held mobile phone whilst driving at work. No line manager will require any member of staff to receive or make a call on a mobile phone while they are driving. Members of staff are expected to switch their phone to silent and activate the messaging service. If members of staff decide to use their mobile phone while in a vehicle, the Trust expects them to stop the vehicle in a safe place and switch the engine off before checking their messages or making any calls. Staff and not the Trust will be liable if they are found to be using a mobile phone while driving for work purposes. The only occasion where a hand held mobile can be used is for dialing 999 in a genuine emergency and the driver judges it unsafe or impractical to stop the vehicle. The use of hands free sets is not prohibited under the legislation. However the use of these sets still increases the likelihood of the driver being distracted and thereby involved in an accident. As a result of this, the Trust also discourages the use of hands free sets and these will not be routinely provided for staff. There may be some exceptions where it is necessary for senior managers or clinicians to be contactable all the time. In such cases, an application will need to be made to the appropriate Director. The Trust will not advocate the use of this device except in emergency situations where the employee considers it safe to do so. 9. GENERAL As a general rule the mobile phone number should not be made available to clients/patients who should be given the base number. However, in some services providing the number is required and this will be agreed with the line manager. If a mobile phone is lost or stolen, staff should report it to the Technology Dept., If this occurs outside of office hours, you should log a call with Vodafone on and report to Technology Dept., at the earliest opportunity. If the mobile phone is damaged or broken, it should be reported to the Service Lead. In all cases, the Budget manager or Service Lead must complete an incident form. The holder of the mobile phone should return the damaged/broken phone to the Technology Dept., who will replace it in accordance with the criteria laid out in this policy. The Trust reserves the right to investigate and causes of damage or theft. It is the responsibility of the line manager to ensure that, when a staff member leaves the Trust s employment, the mobile phone is returned to either the Technology Dept., or to the Service Lead. Please note that until the Technology Dept., receives an regarding the staff member, the mobile will continue to be charged against the budget that it was originally coded to. International calls from mobiles are barred. The issue of a mobile phone is only one element of the lone worker risk assessment. It s availability and use should not take the place of any other risk assessment or lone worker measure. 10. DISPOSAL OF MOBILE PHONES It is the responsibility of the Technology Dept., to ensure that mobile phones/sim cards are disposed of in line with the manufacturer s guidelines.

7 11. DISSEMINATION Policy documents are available via the Trust s website (Staffzone). Managers at each location are expected to make their staff aware of the policy document. The principles embedded within the policy will be included in Induction training and as part of the mandatory health and safety e-learning packages for all staff.

8 Wirral Community NHS Trust Mobile Phone Request Form This form must be completed and signed by a business or divisional manager for approval Staff Name Job Title Base Service/Department Contact Number Line Manager Budget Code Is this a new member of staff? Yes No If no, is this a replacement mobile? Yes No Please state the reason this member of staff requires a mobile phone: Business/Divisional Manager Signature:.