Duty-of-care requirements

Health care worker showing bottle of medication to an older womanDuty of care exists when someone’s actions could reasonably be expected to affect another person. The law has established a duty of care to the person. This principle is based on the worker taking reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions that may cause foreseeable harm to any person. You must think ahead about possible risks or dangers to people accessing services, co-workers and others while making sure you follow the organisation’s policies and procedures.