8.10 Nursery Health and Safety |
In partnership with parents and carers, Wakefield MDC has duty of care to maintain safety and welfare of all children who access its Early Years Services. This includes a responsibility to ensure the health and safety of all those using and/or visiting nursery premises.
It is a legal requirement that the Local Education Authority and Nursery Manager work together to ensure that health and safety (H&S) is achieved within our setting. This policy is designed for use alongside, and does not override the Local Authority Health and Safety Policy and Procedure; "General Statement of Health & Safety Policy Family Services Directorate" Available on request.
Nursery Manager Responsibilities include:
- Ensuring that the Local Authority and nursery specific H&S policies are implemented and monitored.
- Ensuring all relevant H&S information is displayed clearly and distributed appropriately
- Ensuring the staff, volunteers, students etc. have completed a full induction
- Day to day responsibility for health, safety and welfare of all those using or visiting the premises.
- Acting as the focal reference point for H&S matters and advice or signposting.
- Making clear any duties in respect to H&S that are delegated to other members of staff.
- Ensuring that any difficulties in implementing H&S policy are reported to the appropriate officer within the Local Authority and the service host.
- Ensuring that relevant risk assessment of the premises are undertaken daily and those of working practices are undertaken, recorded and reviewed on a regular basis.
- Ensuring information on hazardous situations or accidents are fed back without delay to the appropriate officer within the Local Authority and the Service Host.
- Undertaking periodical review of first aid facilities.
- Ensuring that Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Welfare Requirements are applied in respect of outdoor and indoor spaces, furniture, equipment and toys. Available on request.
Risk Assessment
- Nursery managers will complete a comprehensive risk assessment and review this regularly.
- The risk assessment will identify aspects of the environment that need to be checked on a regular basis. A record will be maintained of these particular aspects and when and by whom they have been checked. Nursery staff will determine the regularity of these checks according to their assessment of the significance of individual risk
- Nursery will take all reasonable steps to ensure that hazards to children, both inside and outdoors are kept to a minimum
Obligations of all employees under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974
All employees are expected to:
- Know the H&S organisation and arrangements to be adopted in their own working areas and ensure that they are applied.
- Observe standards of dress consistent with safety & hygiene.
- Exercise good standards of house keeping and cleanliness.
- To know all procedures with respect to fire, first aid and emergencies.
- To co-operate with others in the promotion of H&S
- To report all incidents, accidents, defects and dangerous occurrences to the Manager.
- Check all areas and equipment before use.
- Give clear instruction to children a necessary.
- Avoid the introduction of personal items of equipment in to the setting without prior authorisation from the Manager.
- Follow safe working practices personally.
Visitors and other users are expected to observe health, safety and welfare policies of the nursery.
Volunteers and students on placement will be required to read the H&S policy and other related documents.
All staff and visitors will be regularly updated with regard to fire evacuation procedures.
Smoking is not allowed on the premises at any time.
Staff are not permitted to smoke in their nursery uniform or whilst wearing their ID badge.
Staff should try and cover all signs/smells of smoking for the welfare of the children and other staff.
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