Policy

Nursery MOKSLIUKAS believes that the health and safety of children and nursery practitioners is a matter of paramount importance. Nursery MOKSLIUKAS has developed procedures and safe practices to ensure children’s health and safety is maintained, promoted and prevent the spread of infection. Nursery practitioners are committed to providing a safe, healthy environment where children can learn and develop. Practitioners work closely with parents and health care professionals to ensure all children access nursery facilities safely.

Procedure

In order to ensure the nursery maintains a high standard of health and safety, the following procedures have been developed and are followed by all nursery practitioners:

• Fire evacuation procedure
• Toilet and nappy changing procedures
• Sickness policy and procedure
• Medication policy and procedures
• Procedures for the arrival and collection of children
• Lost child procedure

Full details of these policies and procedures can be found in the nursery office.

This procedure covers the following areas:

• Supervision of children
• Risk assessments
• Recording of accidents
• Food safety
• Allergies
• Fire safety
• Manual handling
• Toys, resources, and equipment
• Electrical appliances
• Nursery practices
• Staff responsibilities
• Working in partnership with parents
• Staff training

Supervision of children

Nursery practitioners ensure that all children are supervised at all times. This includes children sleeping in beds or on mats in quiet areas. Children in cots must be checked every 10 minutes. Practitioners must always be aware of each child’s whereabouts and remain in the main playroom, ready to assist the child if necessary.

The manager or person in charge must ensure that staff-to-child ratios and the required space per child are maintained at all times when grouping children and deploying practitioners. It is essential that there are always two nursery practitioners present when children are on the premises.

In the event of children leaving the nursery for an outing, appropriate adult-to-child ratios must be maintained: a ratio of 1 adult to 2 children for those under 3 years old, and 1 adult to 4 children for those aged 3 and above. A thorough risk assessment must be carried out prior to each outing. Practitioners must take emergency contact numbers for parents, a first aid kit, and a mobile phone on all outings. Small groups of children may be taken on outings, provided there are enough practitioners remaining on the premises to maintain the required staff-to-child ratios. Written permission from parents must be obtained before taking children out of the nursery.

Adults can only be left unsupervised with children once all relevant checks have been cleared. This includes Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, health checks, identification checks and references.

The nursery has visitors and students visiting the nursery. In order for nursery to be able to ensure all visitors are accounted for the nursery maintains a visitor’s book that all visitors must sign themselves in and out of and provided details of the purpose of their visit.

Students are asked to complete a student placement form which provides the nursery with contact details of the college or university they attend and their personal details. Students must document the date and hours they attended the nursery.

All visitors and students must be accompanied by a nursery practitioner. Children must never be left unsupervised with a student or visitor that has not been cleared of all relevant checks by Nursery Manager.

Risk assessments

Nursery practitioners identify and manage risks to children and adults through carrying out risks assessments. A risk is a likelihood of a hazard occurring and the hazard is anything that could cause harm to others. All activities need to be considered, significant risks are identified, measures are put in place to control or eliminate risks and all hazards and measures are recorded. Other risks that are identified must be controlled appropriately. For example a child standing on a chair is a risk and must be controlled; however this would not necessarily be recorded. All risks are dealt with promptly by the manager or person in charge. Risk assessments are required to be “suitable and sufficient”, therefore all risk assessments are carried out in accordance with the nursery guidance which can be found at nursery office.

Each room is checked at the beginning of the day for hazards, in accordance with each rooms risk assessment. These assessments are reviewed once a year or as a result of change to the room. In the event that a risk is identified throughout the day or when opening the nursery, a risk assessment is carried out to determine the severity of the risk and an appropriate course of action to control or eliminate the hazard.

The garden area is checked for hazards before children go out for outdoor play. This check is carried out in accordance with the nursery outdoor play risk assessment that is reviewed once a year or as a result of change to the area. A risk assessment must be carried out prior to practitioners taking children on outings.

 Accidents

The nursery maintains an accident book, which must be completed whenever a child sustains an injury while at nursery. The record must include details of the nature of the injury, the treatment administered, and the time and location of the incident. Each entry must be signed and dated. A copy of the completed record is provided to the child’s parents.

If a child sustains an injury at home, parents are requested to inform the nursery and complete an Accident at Home form. This form should include details of the nature of the injury and the time and date of the incident. It must be signed and dated by the parent. This process helps the nursery ensure that all injuries are properly accounted for and monitored.

If a member of staff or a parent sustains an injury at the nursery, an Accident/Dangerous Occurrence form must be completed and submitted to the Safety, Health, and Environment Office.

The nursery will ensure that all first aid equipment is kept clean, in date, and regularly replenished. Sterile items will remain sealed in their packaging until required.

It is essential that staff clean up bodily fluids—such as urine, faeces, blood, vomit, and eye discharge—immediately, while wearing disposable gloves and an apron. Bodily fluids should be absorbed using Sanitaria Emergency Clean-Up Powder. Any remaining traces of the contaminated powder must be removed promptly and disposed of in a yellow clinical waste bag, along with the used gloves and apron. These should then be disposed of via the designated medical waste unit.

The affected area must first be cleaned with a detergent, followed by disinfection using Milton.

In the event that a child bites another child or an adult and breaks the skin, resulting in bleeding, both parties must seek medical attention. An accident report form must be completed to document the incident.

The manager or person in charge is responsible for notifying OFSTED and the nursery office of any serious injury a child sustains while at nursery. Serious injuries include, but are not limited to: dislocations, fractures, and any cuts or bumps that require medical treatment.

 

Food

In order to ensure the food children are offered has been stored, prepared and served safely nursery practitioners attend training in Basic Food Hygiene and/or ensure they follow hand washing and food handling procedures.

In the event of a member of staff having suffered from food poisoning, occupational health must be informed to determine the period of time that the person cannot handle food.

Allergies

In the event that a child suffers from an allergy the nursery will refer to its Medication Policy in order to develop a Health Care Plan for the child and make arrangements for any necessary training.

Fire safety

Nursery practitioners ensure all children evacuate the building safely and promptly by following the nursery’s fire evacuation procedure, and practices this evacuation at least four times a year.

The Nursery manager carries out a fire prevention checklist every day and submits the checklist to office. This checklist assists the manager in maintaining all fire precautions that are in place. All fire extinguishers and blankets are checked annually in accordance with the nursery procedure.

Manual handling

While it is possible to eliminate manual handling altogether, proper handling techniques must be followed to minimize the risk of injury. Poor manual handling can lead to various injuries, so all staff members must be aware of and adhere to the nursery’s manual handling policy.

Preventing injuries

As with other health and safety issues, the most effective method of prevention is to eliminate the hazard — in this case, by removing the need to carry out hazardous manual handling.

Where manual-handling tasks cannot be avoided, they must be assessed as part of the risk assessment. This involves examining the task and determining what the associated risks are, and how these can be eliminated or reduced by implementing control measures.