South Milford Pre-School Playgroup Health and Safety Policy
Statement of intent
South Milford Pre-school Playgroup believes that the health and safety of children is of paramount importance. We make our setting a safe and healthy place for children, parents, staff and volunteers.
Aim
We aim to make children, parents and staff aware of health and safety issues and to minimise the hazards and risks to enable the children to thrive in a healthy and safe environment.
Insurance cover
We have public liability insurance and employers' liability insurance. The certificate for public liability insurance is displayed in the hall noticeboard.
Method
In order to achieve these aims we adhere to the following procedure
q Mrs Sue Thirsk is responsible for health and safety at South Milford Pre-school.
q She has undertaken health and safety training and regularly updates her knowledge and understanding. She is competent to carry out these responsibilities.
Risk assessments
q Sue Thirsk provides a risk assessment for each area of the building and for specific activities when necessary. The risk assessments take into consideration the hazards and risks; the level of risk; who might be affected; any action required; time-scales for action and person responsible for action. All staff/ volunteers are aware of risk assessments.
q Lists of health and safety issues are checked:
Ø Daily, before the session begins.
Ø Weekly
Ø Termly – when a full risk assessment is carried out.
q Staff meetings always discuss any accidents, near misses or dangers.
Building and Environment
q The main responsibility of the building lies with the WI committee. It is the responsibility of the staff and parents to report any dangers, damage or disrepair of the premises.
q Safety inspections are carried out regularly and all electrical/gas equipment conforms to safety requirements.
q The boiler and meter cupboard are not accessible to children.
q Heaters, electric sockets, wires and leads are properly guarded and children are taught not to touch them.
q The temperature of hot water is controlled to prevent scalds.
q Lighting and ventilation is adequate in all areas.
q All floor surfaces are checked daily to ensure they are clean and not damaged.
q We take precautions to prevent children’s fingers being trapped in doors.
q A mobile phone is kept on the premises at all times.
Outdoor Area
q Our outdoor area is securely fenced.
q A safety check is carried out before the use of the outdoor area.
q Adults and children are alerted to the dangers of poisonous plants, herbicides and pesticides.
q Where water can form a pool on equipment, it is emptied before children start playing outside.
q The outside door is hooked back safely.
q The children have free flow access in and out of the garden area. The kitchen is not accessible to the children and the barrier is put in place to ensure that children do not have access to the kitchen area. Children are taught about the safety of moving from one area to another.
q Our outdoor sand pit is covered when not in use and is cleaned regularly.
q All outdoor activities are supervised at all times. If only one member of staff is outside then half the outdoor area is closed. The full outdoor area can only be opened if two members of staff are outside. Staff must continuously monitor the numbers of children outside and call upon other staff members when necessary to ensure a good ratio of adults;children. Staff must never leave children outdoors unattended. Particular supervision is given to energetic play.
Fire Safety
q The emergency fire drill is practised once every term and all children, staff, parents and volunteers must take part. It is practised on every day for a week to ensure all children have taken part in the fire drill.
q Fire procedures are written out and displayed at the pre-school. New members of staff, volunteers and parents are made aware of the emergency procedures.
q Records and assessments are kept of fire drills and the servicing of fire safety equipment.
q Fire doors are clearly marked, free from obstruction and open easily from the inside.
q There is a smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector in the hall and a heat detector in the kitchen area.
q There are fire-extinguishers in the hall.
Accidents
q All accidents will be written up in the accident book at the time at which they occur. All entries will be read and countersigned by the parent/ carer on collection of the child. The entries will be confidential.
q The accident book is kept safely and is accessible to staff. Staff know where it is kept and how to complete it.
q The accident book is reviewed half termly so that any issues or recurrent accidents can be picked up and addressed.
Ofsted is notified of any injury requiring treatment by a general practitioner or hospital doctor, or the death of a child or adult.
We meet our legal requirements for the safety of our employees by complying with RIDDOR (the Reporting of Injury, Disease and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations). We report to the Health and Safety Executive:
· Any injury requiring general practitioner or hospital treatment to a child, parent, member of staff, volunteer or visitor or where there is a death of a child or adult on the premises.
· Any dangerous occurrences – an event that caused injuries or could have caused injuries.
First Aid
q There will be at least one qualified First Aider present at every session, or on an outing, who has Level 2 Paediatric First Aid qualification.
q Sue Thirsk is responsible for the first aid kit. It is checked regularly and kept clean and supplied, in line with the most recent advice from staff members who have attended training courses. Sterile items are kept sealed in their packages until needed. The box is marked with a white cross on a green background. It is kept in a set position that is easily accessible to adults but kept out of reach of children.
q At the time of admission to the setting, parents' written permission for emergency medical advice or treatment is sought. Parents sign and date their written approval.
q Parents sign a consent form at registration allowing staff to take their child to the nearest Accident and Emergency unit to be examined, treated or admitted as necessary on the understanding that parents have been informed and are on their way to the hospital.
q It is the pre-schools aim to have all members of staff qualified in first aid. Currently all staff are first aid qualified: Sue Thirsk, Rachael Linley, Caroline Thompson, Kath Oeppen and Jane Strong hold a valid Level 2 Paediatric First Aid qualification.
Administration of Medicines
If a child is on prescribed medication, they must be well enough to attend the setting, and the following procedures will be followed:
q If possible the child’s parent/ carer will administer the medicine.
q If not, the medicine must be brought in its original container and clearly labelled with the child’s name, dosage and any instructions. Medicine is to be stored as recommended. If the medicine needs refrigeration, it will be kept in a cool box with an ice pack, in the locked store cupboard.
q Parents give prior written permission for the administration of medication. This states the name of the child, name/s of parent(s), date the medication starts, the name of the medication and prescribing doctor, the dose and times, or how and when the medication is to be administered.
q The administration is recorded accurately each time it is given and is signed by staff. Parents sign the record book to acknowledge the administration of a medicine.
q Sue Thirsk is responsible for administrating medicine (or deputy if Sue Thirsk is absent).
q If the administration of prescribed medication requires medical knowledge, individual training is provided for the relevant member of staff by a health professional.
q We use the Pre-school Learning Alliance’s publication Medication Record book for recording administration of medicine and comply with the detailed procedures set out in that document.
Application of suncream
q It is the responsibility of every parent to ensure suncream is applied to their child before attending the morning session at pre-school.
q Parents are reminded regularly of our suncream policy through newsletters, notices on the door, and verbal reminders by staff. Suncream is available at preschool for parents to use on their own child if they have forgotten to apply it that morning,
q On hot sunny days, children are reminded to wear sunhats, play in the shade and drink lots of water. A supply of hats are available at pre-school for the children to wear.
q On days when the child attends for longer than a morning session, then staff will apply suncream at lunchtime, with prior written consent from the parent.
q Within our curriculum, children are taught about how to keep safe in the sun
q For further details, please see our Sun Protection Policy
Sick Children
q Parents are asked to keep their children at home if they are unwell, have a temperature, sickness, diarrhoea or have an infection, and to inform the preschool of the nature of the infection. This will allow us to alert other parents as necessary e.g. if there is a case of chicken pox.
q Children who have been vomiting or had diarrhoea are asked not to come back until atleast 48 hours has elapsed since their last attack.
q Children with headlice are not excluded, but parents must be informed so that the condition can be treated. Parents are notified if there is a case of headlice in the setting.
q Cuts and sores, whether on adults or children, need to be covered.
Food and Drink
q When a child is due to start the pre-school, parents/ carers will be asked of any known allergies or special dietary requirements. This information will be recorded and communicated to all staff and volunteers who need to be aware of them. We ensure that children do not have access to food/ drink to which they are allergic.
q All food and drink is stored appropriately.
q Snack times are supervised and children do not walk about with food and drinks.
q Fresh drinking water is available to the children at all times.
q Adults do not have hot drinks in the hall/ garden during the pre-school session.
q For further details, please refer to our allergens policy and our food and drink policy.
Children’s safety and welfare
q We ensure all staff employed have been checked for criminal records by an enhanced disclosure from the DBS. (please refer to DBS policy)
q All children are supervised by adults at all times.
q Whenever children are on the premises at least two adults will be present.
q Volunteers/ students must be supervised by member of staff. They must not be involved in any personal care, take photos of children or have access to any children’s records. (please refer to volunteer/ student policies)
q On open days parents/ carers must take full responsibility for their child. Parents must look after younger siblings when on a rota or visiting pre-school. Younger siblings are not staff’s responsibility.
Security
q The outside doors are kept locked during the session and so prevent any unauthorised access onto the premises.
q Children are unable to leave the premises unnoticed.
q One member of staff is on the outside door and one member of staff are on the inner door at the beginning and end of each session and ensures children only leave with the nominated person for their collection. If another adult is to collect the child this must be recorded in the “Collection Book” – see Non-collection of children policy.
q The times of children’s arrivals and departures are recorded.
q Staff and visitors are responsible for their own coats and bags and these must be kept in the storage room during sessions.
q Visitors are requested to sign in and out of the visitors book.
q Staff are required to ensure that doors are locked and lights and heaters are turned off at the end of each session.
Missing child
If a child goes missing from the setting:
q The person in charge will carry out a thorough search of the building and garden.
q The register is checked to make sure no other child has also gone astray.
q Doors and gates are checked to see if there has been a breach of security whereby a child could wander out.
q The person in charge talks to staff to establish what happened
q If the child is not found, the parent is contacted and the missing child is reported to the police.
q If the incident warrants a police investigation, all staff co-operate fully. In this case, the police will handle all aspects of the investigation, including interviewing staff. Social Services may be involved if it seems likely that there is a child protection issue to address.
q The incident is reported under RIDDOR arrangements and is recorded in the incident book; the local authority health and safety officer may want to investigate and will decide if there is a case for prosecution.