Risky business

Minimising the risk of accidents is crucial for everyone who works with children. Haydn Price reports on how a healthy attitude to risk management can help improve safety standards

Every morning after Louise Bridge clears away breakfast, she gets down on her hands and knees and crawls around on the living room floor. She does the same in the hallway, up the stairs, along the landing and into the bathroom. As a daily ritual, this may all seem rather odd, but for Louise it’s all in a day’s work. In fact, it’s an essential part of the risks evaluation process she’s adopted at her home near Wigan.

What she’s actually doing is carefully looking for anything that could pose a danger to a young child or toddler. “I look for possible hazards,” says Louise, who has been a childminder for the past two years. “I check to see nothing has been left on the floor, that there are no cords hanging down, covers are on power sockets, and that things such as bleach and deodorants are locked behind doors secured by safety catches.” Mother-of-three Louise is convinced she gets a far better perspective on potential hazards by adopting a child’s eye view. “Many actions are plain common sense. I’m very conscious that because this is my home as well as my place of work, things like pens can sometimes fall on the floor, or keys get left in locks. I have to remove anything like that before the children arrive.”

The safety of the children in her care is top of Louise’s agenda. It has to be – by law. Her home is inspected annually by Ofsted and if she fails to meet its standards, she may not be allowed to continue as a childminder.

Meeting the standards

All daycare providers in England caring for children under the age of eight are now regulated by Ofsted’s new Early Years Directorate. Ofsted inspects against 14 national standards for childcare providers – a baseline of quality below which no-one may fall. Each standard clearly describes a particular quality outcome, and is accompanied by a set of supporting criteria giving information about how that outcome can be achieved.

The national standards are set out in separate documents covering day care, crèches, out-of-school care and childminding. For more information, visit: www.surestart.gov.uk/ensuringquality/ensuringquality/standardsregulation For free leaflets on risk assessment, visit: www.hse.gov.uk Ofsted provides guidance on the national standards and risk assessment. Call 0845 601 4771 or visit: www.ofsted.gov.uk/childcare

When it comes to safety regulations, the standards cover such areas as the security of premises, outside areas, kitchen hazards, gas and electricity, fire safety, outings and transport and insurance. On the health front it also covers areas like hygiene, animals, sandpits, food handling, medicine, first aid, sick children and smoking. In addition, early years practitioners also need to be aware of the separate legislation covering such key matters as health and safety, food hygiene, and fire and planning requirements.

Five steps to assessing risk If you’re an employer or self-employed, you have a legal responsibility to carry out an assessment of the risks in your workplace, and those inherent in your type of work. If you employ more than five staff, this assessment has to be written down. The criteria in the national standards also require daycare and childminding providers to undertake risk assessments. Both the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the environmental health department of your local authority can provide helpful information. The HSE recommends the following five steps to risk assessment: Look for the hazards Decide who might be harmed and how Evaluate the risks and decide whether existing precautions are adequate or whether more should be done Record your findings Review your assessment regularly and revise it if necessary

Clearly, if all these standards are to be met, carrying out regular, effective risk evaluations is paramount. So how do other early years practitioners cope? Claire Kingdon, manager of Caterpillars Day Nursery in Wolverhampton, has responsibility for 26 children in a nursery that employs seven full-time staff as well as part-time supporters. Claire’s key message is simple. “Be aware! Be vigilant! And always look out for the unexpected,” she says. “A major part of the risk evaluation process for us is to be very careful with regard to who comes in and out of the building. We always check ID before letting in anyone new, and we carry out a daily checklist of the entire surroundings and equipment, everything from toys and electrical equipment to potential unforeseen hazards.”

When it comes to children’s safety, there can be no compromise

Then there’s Jackie Deacon, who runs a playgroup for childminders and their charges in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. “My advice is not to be daunted by all the safety regulations,” she says. “After all, they’re mostly common sense – the sort of things parents would do at home to ensure the safety of their own children. And there is plenty of support available through your local authority. The environmental health department offers risk-assessment training and advises on further resources.”

Jackie’s risk assessment plan includes always checking the room in which her group is held before setting up, to ensure it’s completely safe – checking sockets have covers on them, for example, and that the floor is clean, the radiators are covered and no cleaning fluids have been left in the toilet areas. Toys and equipment are checked for damage on a weekly basis. Baby toys are disinfected regularly and larger equipment is cleaned twice a term.

The moral of the story? When it comes to children’s safety, there can be no compromise. Anyone responsible for looking after children has a duty to take positive steps to promote safety at all times and ensure proper precautions are taken to prevent accidents.

As Louise Bridge puts it: “When things go wrong, it’s easy to say: ‘If only I’d been better prepared’, but you just can’t afford to take chances.”

This article first appeared in Sure Start.
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