CHCCN511A: Establish, manage and
monitor the implementation of a safe and
healthy environment
Promote hygiene and safety practices
Contents
Explain and monitor policies for medication administration,
storage and documentation
3
Explaining medication policies to staff
3
Monitor and reinforce the safe storage of hazardous materials
with workers
5
Household cleaners
5
Safe storage of dangerous substances
5
Storing hazardous materials
7
Promoting the safe use and storage of hazardous materials
7
Demonstrate and effectively communicate guidelines for safe
food handling and storage
9
Modelling and reinforcing safe food-handling practices
10
Promote and demonstrate practices for managing children’s
hygiene needs
2
12
Promoting children’s hygiene practices
12
Promoting staff’s personal hygiene
13
Strategies for developing hygiene and reducing spread of infection
14
Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCCN511A: Reader LO 9298
© NSW DET 2010
Explain and monitor policies for
medication administration, storage
and documentation
Administering medication in the centre is an important aspect of childcare health
practices that requires careful attention to detail.
Small children can easily be harmed by the failure to develop and follow proper
procedures.
While some centres do refuse to give medications of any type and require parents
to come to the centre to administer medications to their child, this practice does
not seem very supportive of working parents.
Clear policies and procedures relating to the handling of medications will ensure
that we can administer medication safely to children and support working
families.
Explaining medication policies to staff
Is it enough, though, to believe that if there are clear medication policies and
procedures in place that they will always be followed? Not really.
Our job as team leaders will be to ensure that all staff know exactly how they
should respond in different situations and why it’s important that they should act
in a certain way.
How will we do this?
We can implement strategies such as the following:
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Discuss the medication policy with all staff—in team meetings, on a oneto-one basis and on their arrival at the service as part of induction.
Display clear, concise instructions about safe storage of medications on
the fridge or storage cupboard where medications are kept.
Address sensitively any concerns or inconsistencies of practice as they
arise with individual staff.
Regularly check the medication book and immediately follow up any
mistakes in documentation or inconsistencies.
Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCCN511A: Reader LO 9298
© NSW DET 2010
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Talk to families about the service’s medication policy and the reasons for
its existence. Send copies of the policy to the families—attaching them to
the monthly newsletter is a good idea. Summarise key points in relation to
prescribed and non-prescribed medications in the service newsletter.
Organise a brief staff meeting at specific times during the year, eg at the
beginning of winter when many children will be unwell, to remind staff of
safe practices regarding the handling, administration, storage and
documentation of medications in the service.
Of course, the strategies we will use will depend on our preferred communication
style, the needs of our staff and families we are working with and the particular
situation with which we are dealing.
Activity 1
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Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCCN511A: Reader LO 9298
© NSW DET 2010
Monitor and reinforce the safe storage
of hazardous materials with workers
Which of the following do you think could be considered a hazardous material?
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disinfectant
scissors
knives
fly spray
soap
medicine
carpet cleaner.
If you thought all of them were, you are right! Anything in the childcare service
that has the potential to cause accidents, injury or illness is a hazardous material
and needs to be securely stored.
Household cleaners
It is important for us to be aware of what ingredients there are in the household
cleaners that we use every day—as some of these are harmful to us and our
environment. It would be an excellent idea to look for alternative recipes to make
the same household products yourself. The use of safer ingredients is especially
important for children (and adults) who have asthma as commercial cleaning
products can contain irritants that can trigger an episode of asthma. There are
many websites with recipes. Try this one to begin with:
http://www.metrokc.gov/health/asthma/facts/greencleaning.htm
Activity 2
Safe storage of dangerous substances
Dangerous substances should be stored in a child-resistant container that is
labelled with a description of its contents and directions for their use.
Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCCN511A: Reader LO 9298
© NSW DET 2010
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Dangerous substances that pose a hazard to children are all required to be stored
securely in an area that is inaccessible to children. These include cleaning
materials, disinfectants, poisonous and other dangerous substances, dangerous
tools and equipment, toiletries, medications, first aid equipment and sharp or
jagged objects.
Medications that need to be refrigerated should be kept in a child-resistant
container in the fridge.
Is safe storage always enough to ensure staff and children’s safety? Not really!
How will we know how to store a material or substance safely if we aren’t familiar
with it? Take the example of chemicals. We really need to know a little about
what we are using or storing to ensure our own safety and that of others in our
workplace.
We can find information about the chemicals we might be using in the service in a
resource called material safety data sheets (MSDS).
Material safety data sheets
These fact sheets must be available to all staff under the Children’s Services
Regulation 2004 and can be obtained by contacting the manufacturer of the
chemical. Material safety data sheets contain information on:
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what chemicals are in the container
what the potential health effects are if the chemical is inhaled, ingested or
comes in contact with skin or eyes
where it should be stored and at what temperature
how the chemicals should be used
what precautions we need to take (eg wear gloves when using it, use in a
well-ventilated room, etc)
what first aid actions are recommended in case of accidents involving the
chemical
what the use-by date is.
This information needs to be recorded and stored in a place accessible to all staff.
A hazardous materials register stored with the chemicals or where chemicals are
prepared is ideal.
NOTE: By carrying out a ‘risk assessment’ on the use and needs for these
chemicals, it is a good time to see if you actually need this product. It may be
totally eliminated, or replaced by a safer/greener product.
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Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCCN511A: Reader LO 9298
© NSW DET 2010
Storing hazardous materials
The storage of hazardous materials must be up high and away from where
children can access the products. You will need to consider the age and skill level
of the children in your care when choosing a storage location. You will need to ask
yourself if the children will be able to reach the shelves or cupboard where the
hazardous materials will be stored and if they will be able to access the storage
area.
Some other strategies to reduce the risk of potential injury or illness caused by
exposure to hazardous materials include:
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Install child-proof locks and trying to only purchase chemicals with childproof caps.
Regularly clean out storage cupboards and dispose of old or empty
containers appropriately.
Try to reduce the numbers of chemicals in the service. Warm soapy water
is sufficient for most cleaning purposes in the childcare service (NSW
Infection Control Policy 2001). ‘Green’ cleaners that are environmentally
friendly can be used instead of chemicals. Did you know vinegar mixed
with water can be used to clean most bathroom surfaces?
Promoting the safe use and storage of
hazardous materials
Once you have ensured the safe storage of hazardous materials in the service, you
need to promote the safe use and storage of hazardous materials with all staff.
This is best done in an ongoing way, monitoring and reinforcing positive practices
and discussing any inappropriate or incorrect use, storage or handling of
chemicals or materials with the individuals concerned as soon as possible.
Strategies to use with staff
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Spend adequate time discussing the safe storage of chemicals with the
group at induction or orientation.
Display clear notices and posters to reinforce the procedures and
practices near storage areas for hazardous materials.
Make sure there are adequate supplies of gloves, aprons and safety
glasses (personal protective equipment) for staff to wear when necessary.
Observe staff and recognise positive behaviours verbally to reinforce
appropriate practices.
Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCCN511A: Reader LO 9298
© NSW DET 2010
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Sensitively remind staff when inappropriate practices are observed.
Choose the time and place for these reminders carefully. Nobody wants to
be corrected in front of co-workers or family members.
Provide training opportunities for these staff either to attend outside of
the service or you might even present some in-house training.
Remember:
Never use soft drink bottles or other food or drink containers to store or dispense
chemicals. This is an extremely dangerous practice as children and adults alike can
unknowingly drink from these and be poisoned.
All chemicals are potential poisons. All of them can cause injury or death if
someone is exposed to them in a dangerous way.
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Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCCN511A: Reader LO 9298
© NSW DET 2010
Demonstrate and effectively
communicate guidelines for safe food
handling and storage
Proper food-handling and storage techniques are critical if the children and staff
in the childcare service are to be safe and healthy. A number of diseases can be
easily transmitted while preparing food because of poor food-handling and
storage practices.
It is essential that these are maintained in the childcare service:
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strict hygiene procedures
effective food storage
ongoing monitoring of staff workplace practices.
What are safe food-handling practices?
You may already know quite a bit about safe food-handling and storage practices.
Can you identify at least 10 hazards in the picture below?
A dirty kitchen and unsafe food handling practices
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Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCCN511A: Reader LO 9298
© NSW DET 2010
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Whether you are preparing food at home for family and friends or preparing
meals for children in the childcare setting you need to be aware of the following
strategies to ensure you don’t spread disease and make others sick.
Remember:
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Wash your hands before handling raw food.
Prevent cross-contamination between raw and cooked foods by keeping
raw and cooked foods separate as well as using separate utensils for
them.
Keep food hot (over 60 degrees Celsius) or keep food cold (under 4
degrees Celsius).
Discard food that has been partially used or heated once already.
Reheat meals thoroughly (above 60 degrees Celsius) and them let them
cool down.
Heat milk for infant bottles once only and then discard leftovers.
Pin back hair to lessen the likelihood of it falling into the food or using
fingers to push it out of the way.
Wear disposable gloves on hands if you have cuts or sores on your hands.
Ensure food-handling and nappy-changing duties are carried out by
different caregivers. As this is often difficult to enforce, we need to keep
the two areas separate and reinforce and practise effective hand washing.
Clean up any spills immediately with warm soapy water.
Ensure food is not stored on the floor.
All of these factors are probably familiar to you but are you as comfortable with
knowing how to encourage these behaviours in the other members of your work
team? The following discussion highlights some strategies you might find helpful.
Modelling and reinforcing safe foodhandling practices
When you see unsafe or inappropriate work practices happening in the service it
is important to realise that the worker may not know what they have done wrong.
As coordinators, it is important that we model and consistently reinforce service
guidelines in a clear fashion.
Our response must be sensitive and timely. It is much more effective (and safe!)
to give feedback immediately than wait for a more appropriate moment that may
never happen. However, correcting someone in front of other staff or a family
member is not likely to make them feel very good about themselves or to change
their workplace practices!
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Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCCN511A: Reader LO 9298
© NSW DET 2010
Some other ways we can help staff to know the right thing to do when preparing
food include:
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recording and displaying procedures for bottle and food preparation near
the areas where these tasks will be carried out
organising regular reviews of the service policy and procedures in team
meetings and using the opportunity to discuss issues that may have come
up in the service
offering immediate feedback and gentle, sensitive reminders when you
notice inappropriate practices and remember it is just as important to
provide feedback to staff when you notice staff modelling appropriate
practices to other staff and children, eg ‘Quan, I heard you telling the
children how important it was to wash their hands before they made the
fruit kebabs today. You’ll be pleased to know I heard Elvie and Soumitra
talking to their parents just a little while ago, telling them they wanted to
help make dinner tonight but they all had to wash their hands first to stop
the germs from getting into the food.’
collecting professional journal articles and media clippings that focus on
health and hygiene in children’s services and then developing a system for
storing and displaying these as a trigger for staff discussion and ongoing
professional development.
Essentially we need to use every opportunity we can to promote a culture of
safety where all staff are committed to providing safe food-handing and storing
practices.
Activity 3
Children learn so much from cooking experiences and learning how to safely
prepare food can and should be part of this learning experience too.
Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCCN511A: Reader LO 9298
© NSW DET 2010
11
Promote and demonstrate practices
for managing children’s hygiene
needs
Another important aspect of maintaining wellness in the childcare service and also
in developing knowledge and skills that foster independence is promoting and
modelling the importance of good personal hygiene with the children in our care.
You will be aware that children in full day care are exposed to more people and
are at greater risk of illness and accidents because of their age and stages of
development. (National Health and Medical Research Council, Staying Healthy in
Child Care 2001)
Young children have a tendency to explore their world by ‘mouthing’ materials
and equipment in their environment. While this is a normal stage of play it is also
unfortunately a means of contracting and spreading illnesses.
Promoting children’s hygiene practices
You have an important role to play, therefore, in promoting children’s hygiene
practices from an early age to manage the spread of infection in the service.
Remember children are great imitators so if we role model best practice then the
children are more likely to copy our ‘healthy’ behaviours.
Below are some strategies:
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Encourage effective hand washing at regular times during the day, ie after
going to the toilet, after having their nappy changed, before meal times,
after blowing or touching their noses, after touching animals, after playing
outside, when they first arrive at the service and before they go home.
Encourage children to use toilet paper and flush the toilet after use.
Encourage children to use tissues to wipe their noses and then put their
used tissue in the rubbish bin immediately.
Encourage children to rinse their mouths well with water after meals.
Encourage children to cover their mouths when coughing, sneezing or
yawning (and then washing their hands of course!).
Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCCN511A: Reader LO 9298
© NSW DET 2010
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Talk to children throughout the day about the importance of good
personal hygiene. Make sure you use language that is clear and easily
understood by them.
Encourage children not to share food and to put any dropped food
immediately into the bin.
All of these practices not only help children develop a sense of what good
personal hygiene is but also helps to slow the spread of disease in the service.
Encourage children to wash their hands
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Promoting staff’s personal hygiene
How do we make sure that the staff in our work team do role model appropriate
personal hygiene behaviours?
Just as we role model best practice for the children, we need to role model best
practice for our co-workers too. We need to do this every day, not just when we
might feel we need to make a point to another staff member about their
inappropriate hygiene practices.
We can organise staff meetings to explain, discuss and promote ideas and
procedures about aspects of personal hygiene.
We can collect and share current information and thinking about health. Start
saving clippings you see in papers and magazines with relation to personal
hygiene and use them to trigger discussions about what should and shouldn’t be
done!
Foster that sense of shared responsibility for workplace safety by encouraging coworkers to give each other feedback on their hygiene practices. Remind staff to
acknowledge the positive behaviours as well as giving gentle encouragement
when they don’t practise good hygiene.
Create clear procedure sheets or notices and place them near to where tasks are
carried out, ie put the steps for an effective nappy change near the nappychanging bench and the steps to effective hand washing near the wash basins,
etc.
Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCCN511A: Reader LO 9298
© NSW DET 2010
13
Ask staff to develop a short newsletter article to share with families about
procedures within the service aimed at minimising or eliminating infections.
You could also ask staff to put together and present a brief workshop session
about an aspect of hygiene. They could then present this best practice workshop
to each other at a team meeting focuses on professional development.
Ask staff to put together a resource folder on diseases and health care. This needs
to be updated regularly.
Activity 4
Strategies for developing hygiene and
reducing spread of infection
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Organise a workshop for all staff on current hygiene principles or ask
some of the staff to research and present a hygiene workshop to each
other.
Focus on the accreditation principles your team needs to develop over a
series of team meetings.
Source and purchase resources that can be used to educate staff and
children about effective personal hygiene. The Germ Busters Kit produced
by Queensland Department of Health is a wonderful resource that would
be useful here, also Eceen, the NSW Early Childhood Environmental
Education Network, at www.eceen.org.au.
Encourage staff to research and suggest strategies for how their work
practices and work environment could improve. Re-training of staff may
be required. You might discover that the reason why staff often aren’t
wearing gloves is that there is no storage space in the nappy-change area
for a supply of gloves.
Encourage staff to share some fun programming ideas to develop the
children’s self-help skill of hand washing. Staff might share some great
stories or songs with each other that they can use with the children. Retraining of staff may be necessary.
Ask a creative staff member to develop some attractive posters or signs
on hand washing and glove use to be displayed in a prominent place.
These will act as reminders to staff throughout the day.
Spend time in each room observing staff and children. Give them positive
feedback on the improvements you have noticed in their personal
hygiene.
Continue to monitor and review the hygiene practices of staff and
children and the incidence of illness in the service over time to ensure
that all staff continue to maintain a safe and healthy environment.
Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCCN511A: Reader LO 9298
© NSW DET 2010
Remember that the hygiene practices of children and staff are vital to a quality
programme. We can achieve this with consistent role modelling, effective
leadership and communication skills and a commitment to best practice for health
and safety in our workplace.
Activity 5
Strategies to promote safe workplace practices both in the short term and over a
longer period could include:
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spending adequate time discussing the safe storage of chemicals with the
work team.
displaying clear notices and posters to reinforce the service procedures
and practices near storage areas for hazardous materials.
observing staff and verbally commenting on positive behaviours to
reinforce appropriate practices.
sensitively reminding staff when inappropriate practices are observed.
Remember to choose the time and place for these reminders carefully.
Nobody wants to be corrected in front of co-workers or family members.
providing training opportunities on the storage of hazardous substances
for all staff. This training could be accessed through a reputable training
organisation or you might even present some in-house training.
reviewing the action plan. Check that the new location is working, ie
children are unable to access areas where chemicals are stored and that
all staff are complying with procedures consistently.
Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCCN511A: Reader LO 9298
© NSW DET 2010
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