Health & safety in childcare
Whether you offer childcare at your home or from a centre, one of your highest priorities should be ensuring the health and safety of the children you look after and the staff who look after them.
After all, since 12 March 2015, the courts can apply an unlimited fine and/or imprisonment for Health and Safety at Work offences.
Which could mean the end for your childcare business.
While accidents occur in even the best-run early years setting, having an effective health and safety policy, held strong through staff training can help to reduce risks of serious injury or illness.
Who needs to stay up-to-date with health & safety in the childcare industry?
- Pre-Schools
- Children's Centres
- Out of School Providers
- Nannies
- Nurseries
- Registered Childminders
- Play Groups and Other Non-Registered Provision
Don't know what you need?
There are a lot of early years settings which are very good at understanding and delivering the EYFS, our statutory framework, but some struggle with their other responsibilities as an employer and place of business, such as their Health and Safety responsibilities.
(For example, how many group providers have sufficient Paediatric First Aiders but no trained Workplace First Aider? How many EY practitioners have back problems?)
What do RB Health & Safety Solutions offer?
Consultancy
- Full H&S audit with written report and RAG rated action plan
- Fire Risk Assessment
- Competent Person Advice (legal requirement)
- Legionella Risk Assessment
- Bespoke H&S Policy Writing
- Bespoke H&S Risk Assessment Preparation
Training
- Paediatric First Aid – including a blended option
- First Aid at Work
- Manual Handling for People Working in Childcare
- Fire Safety
- Fire Warden
- Risk Assessment
Our first aid provision is accredited by the First Aid Industry Body (FAIB) and our health & safety provision by the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). We are also on the Occupational Safety & Health Consultants Register and hold ISO 9001 and 14001 accreditation.
Childcare health & safety packages
| Package | PLATINUM PACKAGE | GOLD PACKAGE | SILVER PACKAGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Audit of premises by a qualified assessor | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Written report following audit | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Designated competent persons advice by email and phone (as required by H&S legislation) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Nominated consultant to your venue | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Preparation of a bespoke Health & Safety policy plus annual review | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Preparation of bespoke Venue H&S Risk Assessment checklists plus annual review | ✓ | ✓ | |
| 1 x 16-place half-day Manual Handling for Staff Working with Small Children training delivered at your venue | ✓ | ||
| 1 x 16-place half-day COSHH training delivered at your venue | ✓ |
We are happy to provide anything from a one-off half-day fire safety course to a bespoke health and safety support package.
Take the next step by clicking the button below to get in contact with us. One of our advisers will answer any questions you may have and help you decide what your business needs to stay compliant with health and safety laws and regulations within the childcare industry
Example childcare health & safety package
An example of a Health and Safety Support Package would be the 3-year plan we recently developed for a medium sized nursery which included:
- A full Health and Safety Audit
- Fire Risk Assessment
- Policy and Risk Assessment writing
- Competent Person advice throughout and a range of training days.
Based on their training needs analysis we scheduled a lot of the training in the first year but the cost of the package is spread over 3 years with equal (monthly or yearly) payments making it more affordable and helping them to manage their budget more closely.
Why choose RB Health & Safety Solutions?
RB Health and Safety Solutions has been providing high quality, common-sense health and safety advice and training since 2003.
We have extensive experience (especially Neil Blumsom*) of working with the early years sector and our strength lies in getting to know our individual clients’ requirements and working with those clients to provide a high quality bespoke tailored service.
We recognise how important it is for you to focus on delivering the best outcomes for the children in your care and will try to support you to ensure that your venue is a safe and healthy environment for children, parents and staff.
* Neil Blumsom whose background in Early Years goes back to the last century! He started as a Registered Childminder and then with the advent of EYDCPs went on to become the first male Childminding Network Coordinator for NCMA (now PACEY) based in a S.W. London borough.
What childcare professionals say about our services
“Very relaxed made the session easy and interesting using personal incidents to emphasise the points, excellent day”
– East Sussex Early Years