The Early Years Health and Safety
Handbook
The layout and presentation of the text, with bullet points, checklists and sample
policy documents make the book useful for staff training sessions as well as a reference point for practitioners with management responsibility for any aspect of early
years practice.
Early Years Update
If you work in early years settings it is essential that you are well informed and aware of
health and safety issues and procedures that you may face on a day-to-day basis.
Building on the author’s previous books How to Keep Children Safe and How to do a
Health and Safety Audit, this book offers clear, concise and practical information about
health and safety, whilst fully translating the legislative documentation that surrounds it
to ensure that you meet the statutory requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.
Each chapter includes a summary of key points, self review activities and best practice checklists to help you apply the information to everyday activities. There are also
clear guidelines on how to carry out a health and safety audit along with photocopiable
templates and forms that can be easily adapted for your own use. Covering all aspects
of health and safety, The Early Years Health and Safety Handbook includes guidance
on issues such as:
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planning for a safe environment;
risk assessments;
the most common types of accidents and how to prevent them;
safety for indoor and outdoor play;
preparing for outings and trips;
first aid for staff and children.
Written in accordance with national health and safety standards that have to be
achieved at inspection, this ‘how to’ guide is vital for anyone working in an early years
setting looking to certify that their environment is safe as well as fun.
Lynn Parker is a qualified nurse specialist with over 20 years’ experience and cofounder of Healthcare A2Z, a company that provides web-based information, education
and resources for healthcare professionals.
The Early Years Health
and Safety Handbook
Lynn Parker
First published 2006 as How to Do a Health and Safety Audit and How to Keep Young Children
Safe by David Fulton Publishers
This edition published 2012
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2012 Lynn Parker
The right of Lynn Parker to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. The purchase of this copyright material confers the right on the purchasing
institution to photocopy pages which bear the photocopy icon and copyright line at the bottom
of the page. No other parts of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form
or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Parker, Lynn.
The early years health and safety handbook / Lynn Parker. — 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. School children—Health and hygiene—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Early childhood
education—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. School health services—Handbooks, manuals, etc.
4. Schools—Safety measures—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 5. Schools—Security measures—
Handbooks, manuals, etc. 6. Day care centers—Health aspects—Handbooks, manuals, etc.
7. Day care centers—Safety measures—Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title.
LB3405.P37 2012
371.7’1—dc23
ISBN: 978-0-415-67532-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-80966-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Helvetica
by FiSH Books, Enfield
Contents
Acknowledgements
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1
Planning for safety
Introduction
Appointing a safety worker
Areas of responsibility
The early years environment
The building
Safety routines
Routine tasks
Record keeping
Communication
Staff training
Teaching parents and families
Teaching children about safety
Planning for safety
Drawing up a safety plan
Legal requirements
Best practice checklist
Self review activity
Summary
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Developing a safety culture in your setting
Introduction
Key requirements for implementing health and safety
Key elements of a health and safety policy
Advice before you write a health and safety policy
What to put in a health and safety policy
Risk assessment
Looking for hazards
Identifying people at risk
Evaluating risk
Drawing up an action list
Recording the findings
Reviewing the assessment
Developing a safety culture
Legal requirements
Best practice checklist
Self review activity
Summary
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Contents
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The essentials of health and safety legislation
Introduction
The essentials of health and safety in early years settings
Responsibilities of the employer
Responsibilities of the employees
Assessment of risk
Welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
Meeting the welfare requirements
The general welfare requirements
The specific legal requirements
Ofsted inspections
Health and safety legislation applicable to all places of work
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992
Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992
Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (Amended 2002)
Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981
Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulations 1989
Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences
Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995
Electricity at Work Regulations 1989
Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997
The Management of Health and Safety at Work and Fire Precautions
(Workplace) (Amendment) Regulations 2003
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002
Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992
(Amended 2002)
The Food Safety Act 1990 (Amendment) Regulations 2004
Legal requirements
Best practice checklist
Self review activity
Summary
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Safety inside the early years setting
Introduction
Types of accidents
Common types of accidents
Trips and falls
Cuts and abrasions
Burns and scalds
Suffocation
Choking
Poisoning
First aid
Preventing accidents
Minor injuries and near misses
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Contents
5
Moving around safely
Hazardous areas
Specific indoor areas
Space and facility requirements
Toilet and hand washing facilities
Rest and sleep facilities
Toys and play equipment
Safety standards for equipment
Other equipment hazards
Safety equipment
Little Owls Day Care at the Nene School, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire
Legal requirements
Best practice checklist
Self review activity
Summary
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Safety outside the early years setting
Introduction
Play and activity areas
Toddler areas
Playgrounds
Sawtry Day Nursery, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire
Different surfaces
Paths, paving and stairs
Water
Children most at risk of drowning
Drowning
Sandpits
Having a wildlife garden
Garden plants
Allergic reaction to plants
First aid
Common names of some poisonous plants
Ideas for a child-friendly garden
Fences and hedges
Insect bites and stings
Bees, hornets and wasps
Signs and symptoms of anaphylaxis
Poisons and chemicals
Outdoor play equipment
Storage of outdoor equipment
Sun safety
Heatstroke
General rules for children
Legal requirements
Best practice checklist
Self review activity
Summary
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Contents
6
Preparing for outings and trips
Introduction
Educational visits
Planning for an educational visit
Travel arrangements
Planning the outing
On the day of the outing
Local outings
Farm visits
Before visiting the farm
During the visit
General advice
Coastal visits
Missing children on outings
Legal requirements
Best practice checklist
Self review activity
Summary
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Aiming for quality and auditing the early years setting
Introduction
Quality issues
Dimensions of quality: definitions
Encouraging a positive health and safety culture
Monitoring and auditing performance
What audit is and how to do it
Legal requirements
Best practice checklist
Self review activity
Summary
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Individual policies and procedures
Introduction
Security
Fire
Moving and handling
Assessing the risk
Moving and handling children
Electrical safety
The main hazards
Risk assessment
Prevention
Slips, trips and falls
First aid and reporting accidents
First aid provision
What is an appointed person?
What is a first-aider?
First aid materials, equipment and facilities
Infection control precautions
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Contents
First aid records
Reporting accidents
Workplace violence and personal safety
Legal requirements
Best practice checklist
Self review activity
Summary
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Bibliography
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Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge and offer my thanks to the following people who have
supported me through the writing of this book.
To the Little Owls Day Care at the Nene School, for allowing me to use their photographs of the inside activity areas.
To Sawtry Day Nursery for allowing me to take photographs of their outside activity
area and to use them in this book.
To Patricia Higham for providing her expert knowledge in this area of childcare and
her support and encouragement in bringing this second edition to completion.
Finally I would like to thank Annamarie Kino and James Hobbs at Routledge for
guiding me through the publishing process.
1 Planning for safety
Introduction
Children are naturally curious and need constant supervision. This is why it is important
to assess your setting for risks and to incorporate safety features into your structure,
policies and practice. When considering both inside and outside spaces it is important
to think of the activities that will be undertaken there. Whilst most accidents that happen
to young children occur in and around the home, accidents can and do happen to children in early years settings. Children experience minor injuries every day, ranging from
scratches to bumps and bruises. Most injuries of the minor or indeed more serious type
are the result of falls, burns, scalds, poisoning and near drowning. Planning for safety
means that everyone has to be involved – including parents and the children themselves. This chapter provides a template for a suggested safety plan, a self review
activity and a checklist of best practice to consider.
Appointing a safety worker
Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 everyone has a responsibility to
maintain a safe working environment but there should be one person with overall
responsibility for co-ordinating and making sure that it happens. It is important to be
clear about who will manage this responsibility when the named worker is on holiday or
off sick.
Even the smallest of early years settings needs to have someone to be named as
being specifically responsible for safety.
Areas of responsibility
Once appointed, the person responsible for safety should look at the physical environment and the routines in place for maintaining a safe environment. The named worker
has responsibility for:
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arranging inspections of the premises on a regular basis;
making an inspection after an incident or change in use/purpose has happened;
maintaining accident records and organising practice drills for evacuation and fire;
maintaining first aid provision;
providing information to parents of existing safety plans;
taking a leadership role in developing, implementing and monitoring safety plans;
regularly reviewing the accident records of the facility to identify areas for improvement;
arranging and supervising work that needs doing;