Job Description

Title: Senior IPC Officer

Company Name: International Rescue Committee (IRC)

Vacancy: Not specific

Job Location: Cox's Bazar (Ukhia)

Employment Status: Full-time, Contractual

Educational Requirements:
∎ Health personnel or occupational health or environmental health (EH) or or Bachelor's or Master's degree in public health is required with minimum 1 year of clinical experience or having working experience in designing health or WaSH infrastructure in emergencies.

Experience Requirements:
∎ At least 1 year(s)

Job Context:
∎ Under the direct supervision of the Senior Health Manager, along with the coordination and collaboration with all the Clinical Health Managers of all IRC health facilities, the Senior IPC Officer will be responsible for all environmental health/IPC related activities of all the health facilities. These includes program design, infrastructure design and construction, policy, and protocol development, developing guidelines and SOPs, staffs` education and training on Infection, Prevention, and Control (IPC) and relevant updates, surveillance and monitoring, outbreak management, risk assessment, PPE management, emergency preparedness, quality improvement, collaboration, coordination, and proper communication. He/ She will work closely with the clinical health managers, lab supervisor and facility officer to ensure that the health facility and its services meet the set standard of IPC protocols of WHO. The Senior Health Coordinator and Environmental Health Technical Advisor for the region will be available to provide any technical guidance and support remotely when needed. He/ She will also be the member of the IPC committee which will also need to be guided in coordination with the IPC focal point for each committee or health facilities. As this position will be a roving position, he/ she needs to be around each facilities (exactly five) in every week to monitor all the IPC activities and may need to support program team in Ukhia office if assigned. Knowledge of sphere standards for maintaining standard health facilities in terms of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) is also required.
∎ The ideal candidate will have an environmental health background and experience in implementing the Water and Sanitation for Health Facility Improvement Tool (WASH FIT) and capable of guiding IPC measures for highly contagious area within the health facility and must have standard and updated knowledge of infection, prevention, and control (IPC). The person also needs to have some sort of management knowledge.
∎ Job Location: Ukhiya, Cox`s Bazar
∎ Contract Length: Till 31 August 2024 (with possibility of extension)

Job Responsibilities:
∎ Ensures the effective implementation of the Infection, Prevention, and Control (IPC) guidelines through its advocacy and strict adherence, including the appropriate use of PPE as and when required.
∎ Work with health facility managers to set up and mentor the IPC committees and IPC focal persons for each of the health facilities IRC is supporting and ensuring their weekly and monthly activities. Ensuring at least one meeting of IPC committee every month.
∎ Work with IRC engineers to ensure that the environmental controls are in proper place to support IPC so that it meets the required IPC standards. Also, need to have good communication with WaSH focal points and engineers to meet the sphere standard which is crucial for maintaining IPC standards.
∎ Perform any other roles and responsibilities assigned by the supervisory hierarchy in relation to health service delivery.
∎ Assess the current situation of IPC against international and national updated standards and identify the challenges and gaps to provide quality health care services through the strengthening of IPC by the health team.
∎ Disseminate information and updates on the information on IPC, both from national and international guidelines.
∎ Implement IPC related activities with the support of Senior Health Manager, Clinical Health Managers, and IPC Focal. This includes developing an operational plan for the health team, to ensure the quality implementation, and to create and maintain a regular monitoring plan. The activity also includes direct supervision of the activity during the implementation and monitoring.
∎ To make sure standard precautions (hand hygiene, personal protective equipment (PPE), respiratory hygiene, reuse of medical devices, sharps safety, prevention/management of sharps injuries, waste management, laundry, environmental cleaning disinfection, and sterilization, isolation precautions like Contact, Droplet, Airborne Precautions) are in place. Ensuring IEC materials regarding IPC and its promotional activities are all in right place and visible to everyone.
∎ Assess and maintain the adequate IPC materials including PPE supply and develop and operate a plan on how to maintain them in the facilities and warehouse without any gap along with routine monitoring and reporting on the consumption of IPC materials including PPE. Based on the consumption, plan for procurement in line with the allocated budget.
∎ Follow and supervise the daily activities of the IPC with clear guidance and orientation, guiding both clinical and non-clinical teams on procedures and protocols for safe handling of patients, visitors, and waste. Also, ensure the overall cleanliness of the facility including all the departments and within the boundary. Ensure that proper cleaning and disinfection protocols are followed throughout the facility.
∎ Oversee the implementation of safe injection practices to prevent the transmission of infections through injections. This involves training healthcare workers on proper needle and syringe handling, as well as the safe disposal of sharps.
∎ Provide training to frontline health workers at health facilities as well as community level on infection, prevention, and control (IPC). Work closely with the IPC focal to identify and develop refresher training for clinical and non-clinical staff to ensure continued awareness of the IPC guidelines adopted by the health sector and other relevant organizations (WHO, SPHERE Guidelines).
∎ Develop plans for managing outbreaks of infections within healthcare facilities. This includes coordinating response efforts, isolating affected patients, implementing additional infection control measures, and collaborating with public health authorities if needed. Also, develop plans for responding to public health emergencies, such as pandemics or outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases. Coordinate with relevant agencies and authorities to ensure a coordinated response.
∎ Establish a functional water treatment and water quality monitoring system in every IRC supported health facility. Ensuring standard waste management protocol systems within the facilities.
∎ Proactive at ensuring all duties on shift are completed by the team and ongoing activities are relayed to the incoming shifts at targeted health facilities. Ensuring the accountability of the desired staffs related to IPC to perform their duties properly and efficiently, if required guide them with the best capacity that required.
∎ Review IPC data on regular bases in collaboration with Senior Health Coordinator, Health Coordinator, Senior Health Manager, Clinical Health Managers, and IPC focals' and ensure compliance with standards using improvement methods. Support health facilities in developing infection, prevention, and control (IPC) annual plan by helping the management.
∎ Support the health facilities ensure that triage, screening, and isolation procedure at the health facilities are followed at the best standard. When required, undertakes hands-on skills transfer, disinfection and other tasks of the waste managers, sprayers, chlorinator, and training of health care workers.
∎ Support development of tools on IPC for patients, families and communities and conduct training and orientation on how to implement and use these tools. Develop basic tools for monitoring COVID-19 related IPC indicators and data collection tools.
∎ To oversee the implementation of IPC programs and promoting occupational safety in the treatment center to minimize the risk of infections for patients and employees. Conduct regular monitoring of IPC progress for each of the health facility and take quick action in case the protocols are not followed. Ensuring activities of IPC committee is on track.
∎ Collaboration and communication with updating the sectoral protocols and changes with the IRC's team and implementation according to the sectoral instruction.
∎ Maintaining the IRC standard and reporting according to policy of IRC to relevant fields.
∎ Maintaining and tracking the EH related stocks and filling the gap by procurement of necessary commodities.
∎ Need-base community engagement and educating the volunteers in IPC and IPC measures.
∎ Supporting in emergency situation with the MMT team when required.
∎ Willingness to work in adverse environment and in emergency responses

Additional Requirements:
∎ Age 18 to 60 years
∎ At least one year experience in infection, prevention, and control (IPC) in health sector preferably hospitals in the humanitarian or emergency settings. Having a certified degree or any certification on infection, prevention, and control (IPC) will be a great asset.
∎ Excellent understanding of EH/IPC issues in emergency situations and knowledge of humanitarian standards (SPHERE Standards). Ability to translate and adapt international guidelines into local context. In-depth understanding of the country's health system and its implementation in different emergency contexts.
∎ Excellent people skills including warmth and sensitivity, conversational, able to relate to and effectively communicate with people from different cultures (at various levels within the organization). Team Player with strong people management skills/ interpersonal skills with the ability to motivate, teach and mentor staff and volunteers.
∎ High integrity and a strong sense of professional ethics. Able to self-manage a diverse and dynamic set of responsibilities. Proactively solve problems and/or suggest viable solutions while advancing goals and objectives. Ability to live and work in stressful environment. Able to work under pressure and good at timely decision making .Decisive, multitasking and demonstrates varied leadership, management, analytical, interpersonal and team building and communication skills depending on the situation and context.
∎ Demonstrated computer operating skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Office products especially in Microsoft Words, Excel and Power point, Google platform, and virtual technologies such as Skype, Google meetings, Microsoft Teams etc.
∎ Person with disability are encouraged to apply

Salary: Negotiable

Compensation & Other Benefits:
∎ Mobile bill, Weekly 2 holidays, Insurance, Gratuity
∎ Two retention benefits in a year equivalent to two basic salaries

Job Source: Bdjobs.com Online Job Posting.

Application Deadline: 19 Sep 2023

Company Information:
∎ 13 Sep 2023
∎ International Rescue Committee (IRC)
∎ Address : 3rd floor, Sayemon Heritage Residence, Baharchora, Cox’s Bazar
∎ Business : The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and gain control of their future. In more than 40 countries and in 26 U.S. cities, our dedicated teams provide clean water, shelter, health care, education, protection and empowerment support to refugees and displaced people. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) Founded in 1933. David Miliband, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, is a former Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom.

Category: NGO/Development

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