Little Footprints Care & Education Centre

Transcription

1 Little Footprints Care & Education Centre Health & Safety Policy Rationale: Policy 3.2 The purpose of this policy is to ensure that all practicable steps are taken to create a safe and healthy environment for all our children, staff and visitors. Objective: To ensure the well-being and safety of all our children, staff & visitors to the centre at all times. Little Footprints aspires to have a culture of Health & Safety being the responsibility of all staff. The intent of the Culture of Health & Safety is to ensure that children, staff and visitors are protected and the health and safety standards are maintained at all times. GENERAL HEALTH & SAFETY Both children and adults have accidents, even in safe environments. Children can also get sick quite suddenly or can be unwell on arrival at the centre. Our job is to maintain the wellbeing of our children by creating a safe and healthy environment and acting urgently and effectively to ensure health and well-being of all children. Supervision of Children High quality supervision and interactions reduce the likelihood of accidents and injury. Therefore the Centre Manager will ensure that; 1. Adequate staff is present at all times to meet licensing requirements. A designated Person Responsible will be on site at all times. 2. Staff will be rostered to ensure all areas have adequate staff supervision to meet the needs of the children as require. Children will be in the sight of an adult at all times. 3. Staff or adults visiting will be well supervised and visible in the activities they perform with children. Only permanent staff is allowed to toilet/change children s nappies. 4. Breaks for staff will be scheduled to enable adequate supervision of children. 5. Frequent staff communication to inform each other about movements within the centre will ensure children are not left unsupervised under any circumstances. Injury Prevention Strategies 1. Staff will take all reasonable steps to eliminate, minimise or isolate potential dangers from things such as liquid spills, toys in traffic ways; sharp objects etc. (see Hazard Register). The staff will be responsible for adding to the Hazard register as new hazards arise. 2. All doors to adults areas i.e. kitchen, laundry, entrance-exit ways and resource rooms will be kept closed at all times. 3. All chemicals will be stored in marked containers and be kept out of reach of children at all times.

2 4. Hot drinks will be consumed in staff only areas and use a covered cup while outside these areas. 5. Children will remain seated while eating or drinking and will be supervised by a staff member at all times. 6. Staff will wear gloves when blood or body fluids is present, where practical, and/or wash their hands thoroughly. 7. Children may not climb on gates, sit on tables or jump off furniture and chairs. 8. Resources provided for children will be non-toxic e.g. paints. d\crayons etc. Occupational Safety and Hazard Management Maintenance 1. The Centre Manager will ensure that all equipment is maintained in a safe condition. 2. It will be the responsibility of the Centre Manager to ensure that the repairs are carried out. Site Safety and Hazard Management 1. An assigned educator will complete a safety check on the outdoors every morning and complete a maintenance/hazard report of any repairs to be carried out. 2. Strategies will be in place to : I. Eliminate the hazard wherever possible II. Minimise the risks of hazards III. Isolate the hazard to ensure that no harm come to a person as a result of the hazard. 3. Annually complete the Hazard Register Review. Child Injury Minor accidents/injuries procedure 1. At any time there will be at least two staff/educators on duty with up to date first aid certificates. 2. The priority will be to administer first aid immediately by the witnessing staff member or person responsible, and to inform the Centre Manager. a) Comfort the child who is hurt b) Apply ice to injured area immediately by wrapping an ice cube or two in a facecloth. (Ice pack is in a plastic bag in the freezer). Face cloths especially for this purpose are kept in an ice cream container in the utility room. c) Whenever possible, it is recommended that the child who has injured another should be encouraged to come and help hold the ice pack to help make better. d) Face cloths must be put into soiled washing basket after use. 3. For all injuries, first aid treatment must be administered and recorded in the accident book. If necessary contact parents and request them to take the child to their doctor as a precautionary measure. 4. For any accident ensure parents are informed as soon as possible. Staff will inform the parents when their child is collected and ensure they sign the accident book.

3 Serious Accident/Injuries Procedures 1. If necessary the Ambulance will be called. Parents will be contacted immediately and may arrange to meet ambulance at the hospital. If a parent is not present at the time of transfer the Team Leader or Centre Manager will accompany the child and stay with child while in hospital until parents arrive. 2. If any child is taken to hospital the Centre Manager must be informed immediately. 5. The staff member who performed first aid is to record what happened, action taken and day and time in the accident book. For serious injury which requires hospital treatment or ongoing medical attention, the Centre Manager is required to notify Worksafe NZ (24 hours) or on-line 6. The Team Leader will ensure that details of all parents current contact details and at least one additional emergency contact are easily accessible and kept up to date on a monthly basis. Staff Injury/Accident 1. All permanent qualified staff will hold a current first aid certificate. On-line or face to face instruction, to avoid back injury and hearing loss, will be provided every 2 years. 2. Staff will take all reasonable steps to minimise potential dangers from things such as burns, water spills, toys in traffic ways etc. 3. In the case of accident or injury, administer first aid immediately. 4. If necessary call the ambulance and notify the emergency contact for that staff member. 5. Ensure the staff member is able to get home safely and follow up to see what support if necessary. 6. At the time of an accident or injury other staff will supervise and reassure children. 7. The Centre Manager is to ensure staff member completes the Staff Accident Register. Serious injury must be reported to Worksafe NZ (24 hours) or on-line 8. The First Aid cabinet is on the wall in the utility room. It is mounted high on the wall, out of reach of children. A First Aid procedure is displayed alongside the First Aid cabinet. The contents of the cabinet are checked monthly. 9. All qualified staff, are required to have (and keep updated) full First Aid qualifications. Staff s First Aid qualifications are displayed on the centre notice board. Illness and Infectious Diseases 1. All people will make every effort to protect all others form contacting infectious diseases, by using standard precautions e.g. hand washing, hand sanitisation, coughing into elbow, disposal of tissues immediately. 2. Children and adults who are sick are not to be present at the Centre. This will include vomiting, diarrhoea, high temperatures. Conjunctivitis, impetigo and any other contagious illness, as per Ministry of Health Contagious diseases publication. 3. The Ministry of Health Contagious Diseases Chart is used as the authoritative list of illnesses and details will be displayed on the parent noticeboard to be used by parents and staff.

4 4. The Centre manager will ensure that children and staff do not re-enter the Centre until 48 hours after they have stopped vomiting/normal bowel motion or are cleared by a Medical Authority, when necessary. 5. If children or staff returns to work in less than the recommended timeframe, they will be asked to go home, to minimise the potential of cross-infection. 6. Staff and children who become ill while at the centre will be allowed to leave immediately or if necessary, stay in isolation until a family member arrives to collect them. A designated isolation area will be identified in the centre. 7. If staff observes such things as lowered activity, temperature fluctuation, sleepiness, fussiness, complaints of sore throats or diarrhoea the child s parents will be contacted and requested to collect the child as soon as possible. 8. Staff will give first aid when necessary e.g. keeping child cool by sponging them down with lukewarm water. 9. The staff member will record and sign the accident and illness book with action taken and time child was collected from the centre. 10. For pandemic illness follow Pandemic Policy. Child Immunisation 1. When a child is enrolled, immunisations are also discussed. Any immunisations that the child has had are recorded on their enrolment form. An electronic immunisation register is kept on Infocare with details of all children. Any immunisations that the child has had are copied from the child s well-health (plunket book) and stored in the child s file. 2. We respect that immunisation of children is a personal choice. A record of children not immunised will be kept to allow appropriate precautions to be taken if the need arises. Administration of medicine 1. It is the policy that all persons take all reasonable steps to ensure that correct medication is given to children. Only permanent staff will administer medicines to children and must sign medicine book when medicine is administered. Another staff member will double check the correct details of the child s name and dose before medicine being given. 2. On arrival at the centre, all medication must be handed to staff member. The amount, date, time to be given and type of medicine must be written by the parent on the Medication Administration form. 3. Only medication authorised and signed by parents will be administered to children. All prescribed medication must have a chemist label attached to the bottle with the child s name, date, doctor s name, amount of medicine to be given and the length of time the medicine is to be given. No medicine will be given if it has been prescribed to another member of the family or it is an out-dated medicine, or is a non-pharmacy container. 4. On rare occasions, verbal consent from parents (by phone) may be accepted by the Centre Manager or person responsible, to administer medicine to a child that is not on the medicine chart. This will be entered on the chart and the parent will be required to sign when collecting the child. Handwashing 1. Children will be taught to wash and dry their hands thoroughly after using the toilet, before eating and after handling pets. In addition to the specific occasions as listed above, staff will ensure that the children wash their hands when necessary. 2. Both the adults and children s toilets and the wash hand basin by the food area will have liquid soap and paper towels supplied at all times.

5 3. Staff must use gloves and wash their hands after any interaction with children that involves contact with bodily fluids. 4. Staff will wash their hands before they handle food or drink, and after bathroom duties. All hand-washing will take place in the bathroom area or the small sink just inside the kitchen. COMMUNICABLE DISEASES Little Footprints is committed to a positive approach in dealing with any serious communicable disease. We aim to provide an awareness of all communicable diseases, through appropriate health education. This is done through providing information to be read and discussed. Guidelines The Centre will provide a supportive environment for, and prevent unfair treatment to, any person (adult or child) affected by any disease such as Hepatitis or HIV positive (AIDS). Confidentiality, tact and privacy will be observed when dealing with any person suffering from a communicable disease. Information relating to any known case suffering from a communicable disease will not be disclosed without their permission, or that of their caregiver as appropriate. To reduce the likelihood of a communicable disease spreading within our Centre, safety and hygiene procedures will be adhered to at all times, for example: Disposable gloves are provided. All blood contaminated cloths used for First Aid are either destroyed or soaked in a bleach solution Blood spills wiped up with bleach solution. (1:10) Food Preparation and Consumption 1. Breastfeeding will be supported at Little Footprints. Infant formula and breast milk will be kept chilled in the fridge and heated to body temperature as needed. 2. Food is to be stored correctly and all unheated food not eaten by children is returned home. Reheated food will be checked as at a safe temperature before being given to children. 3. Morning & Afternoon tea is provided, staff will plan morning and afternoon tea menus, considering a low salt, sugar, fat and food colouring options in advance. A daily menu will be provided which outlines the food served to children. These menus will be kept on record for 3 months. 4. Children will have access to their drinking bottles at all times. Related Policies: - Nappy-changing and Toileting policy - Sleep Policy. - Emergency and Civil Defence Policy - Excursion Policy - Sunsafe Policy - Animal Care Policy - Pandemic Policy - Medication Administration Policy - Sick Leave Policy

6 - Substance Abuse Policy Related documents: - Food preparation Procedures - Hygiene & Infection Control Procedures - Sleep Procedures - Food Procedures

7 Date of approval: June 2011 Date of review: July 2015