Welcome to GOC Standard 12: Health and Safety in Optical Practice

Welcome to this focused course on Health and Safety in Optical Practice, mapped to GOC Standard 12. This course is designed to help optical professionals and practice managers build safe, resilient services that protect patients, staff and visitors while meeting legal and professional duties. Whether you work in a high-street practice, a small independent, a domiciliary service, or an optical clinic, this course gives practical, proportionate actions you can apply straight away.

Who this course is for

• Optometrists, dispensing opticians, practice managers and practice owners
• Reception and clinical support staff, locums and new starters
• Staff responsible for fire, COSHH, first aid, lone-working, equipment or DSE assessments

What you will learn

• Core legal and professional essentials you must know (H&S at Work Act 1974; Management of H&S Regs 1999; Workplace Regs 1992; Electricity at Work; Manual Handling; COSHH; PPE; DSE; RIDDOR; Equality Act).
• The five-step risk assessment process and how to apply the hierarchy of control in optical settings (eliminate → substitute → engineering → administrative → PPE).
• Practical opening/closing and daily checks that reduce slips, trips, electrical and equipment risks.
• How to keep concise, auditable records: who, what, when, how fixed and why.
• Role definitions and a simple role register (H&S lead, fire responsible person, first aider, equipment custodian).
• How to write a usable H&S policy (Statement → Organisation → Arrangements) and test it in the workplace.
• Incident and near-miss handling: immediate actions, RIDDOR triggers, documentation and learning loops.
• Training, induction and consultation essentials for staff, locums and temporary workers.
• Accessibility and reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act; domiciliary visit checks and lone-worker safeguards.
• Common practice-specific risks (DSE, electrical safety, manual handling, COSHH, contact dermatitis) and practical controls.
• How to respond to emergencies: fire evacuation, medical collapse, chemical eye exposure and equipment faults.
• Governance and continuous improvement: simple audit cycles, trend-review, and ownership of corrective actions.

Exam tip: Use the memory anchors - Who/What/When/How/Why for records; list the five risk-assessment steps; state the hierarchy of control with a practice example; name key RIDDOR triggers; and outline the three-part policy structure.

How this course will help you in practice

• Improve safety for patients, staff and visitors through simple, repeatable routines.
• Strengthen legal compliance and reduce the risk of reportable incidents.
• Make small teams resilient: clear roles, short checklists and brief inductions for locums/new starters.
• Reduce downtime from equipment faults and speed safer return-to-service decisions.
• Build confidence to manage emergencies calmly, document effectively and implement prevention actions with named owners and review dates.
• Provide short, auditable records and checklists that meet HSE and professional expectations without creating unnecessary paperwork.

Course structure and study tips

The course is organised into focused modules covering:

1. Legal framework and professional duties
2. Risk assessment and hierarchy of control
3. Daily, periodic and deep-clean checks
4. Roles, training and induction
5. COSHH, electrical, DSE and manual handling controls
6. Emergencies, incident reporting and RIDDOR
7. Policy writing, records and audits
8. Scenarios and practical applications

Study tips:

• Learn the five risk-assessment steps and the hierarchy of control by heart - these appear in many exam and workplace scenarios.
• Use the Who/What/When/How/Why format for incident and near-miss records.
• Practice short opening/closing checklists for your setting; keep entries factual and time-stamped.
• Work through the scenario exercises and write a one-paragraph immediate-action note plus one prevention action (include owner and review date).
• Keep COSHH sheets, first-aid contacts and the Employers' Liability certificate accessible during learning and at the workplace.

Before you begin

Gather these items for practical application during the course:

• Your practice H&S policy or template
• Current equipment register and PAT/CAL records
• COSHH sheets for cleaning and disinfection products
• Recent incident/accident log and training matrix
• First-aid contacts and fire-evacuation plan

Final note

This course aims to make health and safety understandable and useful - not just a compliance exercise. You will leave with actionable checklists, clear record templates and practical responses for common practice scenarios. We're glad you've joined us and look forward to helping you make your practice safer for everyone.