There is no denying the importance of Childcare Site Assessment. Local authorities are required by law to undertake the Childcare Site Assessment for any new childcare proposals. However, there are always key factors that must be considered when undertaking this process:
Health & Safety of the children Carers/Staff Health & Safety of Parents Signage Requirements
Working with an experienced health and safety consultant can help you quickly understand your responsibilities and implement procedures to ensure compliance with these demands. It is essential because it will make inspections easier and because bad management practices can create natural hazards that put everyone at risk of injury or death. Sound assessment systems provide documentation that shows why certain health and safety policies were implemented; they reduce managers’ liability exposure; lead to lower premiums for insurance providers, increase employees’ morale; facilitate smoother operations within the workplace; minimize liability exposure to the company, and can provide an excellent defense against any subsequent claims.
Different types of assessments should be performed at your site. A good health and safety consultant will help you determine which areas need to be assessed for each type of assessment. Some examples of these include:
Hazard identification — This is a fundamental process because it forces us to consider how we work on a day-to-day basis and what risks might require particular attention from a HA&S perspective — potentially saving lives or minimizing injury! Before we can identify hazards, we must first understand two things: 1) the purpose(s) for this business/facility and 2) risks associated with the purpose(s). i.e., a childcare center is a place where children are gathered to be looked after and educated by adults, there may also be a small number of staff members who work at our site, but they are not always present. The purpose of this site will be to keep the children safe. At the same time, in our care, so we must assess what risks could cause injury or death during their stay here, whether it is someone other than us causing the danger (i.e., one child pushes another down the stairs) or something that one of us causes (i.e., an electrical fire because someone didn’t follow correct procedures when installing new fuse boxes), etc.
Threats & Opportunities — This step involves identifying all possible HA&S issues, and the assessment team should be looking at each potential point from two perspectives: 1) Threats to People and Property (things that can harm us or things we own); 2) Opportunities for Improvement (things we do well). For example, in a childcare center, there may be threats such as hazards associated with toys which can result in cuts, burns, or even strangulation of a child. There may also be the risk of overcrowding if too many children are placed in one area without sufficient supervision. However, these certainly aren’t the only dangers!
In conclusion, it is important to have a well-designed assessment program in place. Yes, it takes time and costs money, but you are ultimately saving lives or avoiding injury! Health & safety consultants work with childcare providers every day. They understand the issues that these types of businesses face in terms of ‘duty holders’ (the people in charge) and how to make health & safety assessments effective in their workplace environments in order for them to meet their legal requirements.
