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Unit 5- Keeping Children Safe P1+M1
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Thanyha KirisankerUnit 5 Keeping Children Safe
P1 + M1
Health, safety and safeguarding in early years’ settings
Introduction
In this report on health and safety and safeguarding in early years settings, I will be covering the
legal responsibilities and approaches to the children’s health and safety in early years also in this
report I will be referring to approaches promoting children’s health and safety. I did my work
placement at Sherwood Park where they had their own policies for health and safety. 1 They also had
a volunteer’s policy which we had to read and remember them to help us work safely around the
children. 2
Duty of care
A duty of care describes the standard of care that is needed from the adults who work with the
children within a setting. It is a legal obligation of the adults to protect the child and to act in a way
that promotes the best interest of the children. The adult is also obligated to do nothing to harm a
child through their actions.
United Conventions of the Rights of the Child
The United Conventions of the Rights of the child sets out the rights and freedoms of all children in
54 articles. It was drawn up in 1989 and came into UK law in January 1992. All the countries that
signed are legally bound to implement legislation to ensure children’s rights are maintenance. Article
19 states that the government must do all they can to ensure that children are protected from all
forms of violence, abuse, neglect and bad treatment by their parents or anyone else who looks after
them. In Article 3 it states that the best interests of the child must be top priority in all decisions and
actions that affect the children.
legislation and Policies
Legislation refers to the process of making laws. Legislation is a bill that has been passed through
parliament and the House of Lords to become an act. There are many different pieces of legislation
that impact on day-to-day practice within a setting. Policies are a deliberate system of principles to
guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented
as a procedure or protocol at a setting. It is a settings responsibility to have policies as it is a legal
requirement, required by Ofsted, all staff including helpers, students, volunteers know the
procedure to follow, having policies is for the safety to themselves and others. In my work
placement at Sherwood Park before starting to volunteer there we had to read their volunteer policy
and in the section about safeguarding and child protection it states “To always ensure the safety and
well-being of our pupils, regular Volunteers must be cleared by Disclosure Barring Service (DBS). DBS
is issued the individual; the school is notified of the clearance by the DBS and a central record is
maintained from the school.”3
Legislation and regulations are required for a safe working practice as having regulations and
legislations helps prevent accidents and deaths. All practitioners working with children must comply
1
https://www.sherwoodparkprimary.co.uk/bexley/primary/sherwood/arenas/websitecontent/web/Health
%20&%20Safety%20Policy%202021-21103.pdf
2
https://www.sherwoodparkprimary.co.uk/bexley/primary/sherwood/arenas/websitecontent/web/Volunteer
%20Policy-50971.pdf
3
https://www.sherwoodparkprimary.co.uk/bexley/primary/sherwood/arenas/websitecontent/web/Volunteer
%20Policy-50971.pdf
, Thanyha Kirisanker
Unit 5 Keeping Children Safe
P1 + M1
with all the legislations and regulations in place at the settings. It is illegal not to comply with the
legislation and regulations and negligence is not an excuse. It is a duty of care to yourself and the
child to comply with all the necessary legislation and regulation.
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 covers any workplace and places responsibilities on
employers as well as employees. The employers’ responsibilities are for them to take reasonable
steps to maintain the health and safety of their employees and other people, such as learners, while
they are on the premises. Section 2 of the employers’ responsibilities is that it shall be the duty of
every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety, and welfare at work
of all his employees. The employers have a duty towards employees and the workplace, and it is
their job to have policy and procedure if there are more than five employees and make sure the
employees are aware of it. For example, in my work placement at Sherwood Park Primary the
nominated health and safety lead who is the deputy head teacher who will manage the risk
assessments and make sure the school is a hygienic place as the health and safety lead will hire
caretakers and cleaners to make sure that they school is safe. In case of a fire Sherwood Park
practice emergency evacuations at least once a term and fire alarm testing will take place at least
once a week and that new staff will be trained in fire safety and all staff and pupils will be made
aware of any new fire risks.4 When I was at Sherwood Park, they informed me on the fire safety and
evacuation procedure in case a fire took place I would know how to evacuate properly. As an
employee you must cooperate with your employer in relation to health and safety. In section 7 of
the Health and Safety Act the employees have a duty of safety in the workplace such as following the
health and safety policy which will be provided by the setting, use equipment and protection that
have been provided by the setting, report any hazards or dangers promptly and make sure their
actions do not put others at risk. In the Health and Safety Policy that was provided by Sherwood Park
it states that Staff will: Take reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others who
may be affected by what they do at work, Co-operate with the school on health and Safety matters,
Work in accordance with training and instructions, Inform the appropriate person of any work
situation representing a serious and immediate danger so remedial action can be take, Model safe
and hygienic practice for pupils and understand emergency evacuation procedures and feel
confident in implementing them. 5 Every day you will do something to make the school safe such as
tucking in chairs so that children don’t trip over them, picking up rubbish from the floor and putting
it in the bin. Move trailing wires from where children or adults are walking so they don’t trip over
the wires
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulation 1999
The management of health and safety at work regulation requires employers to carry out risk
assessments, decide to implement necessary measures, appoint competent people, and arrange for
appropriate training. A member of staff should be responsible for health and safety in a setting such
as caretakers. Daily risk assessments must be carried out and take measures to minimise risks. To
have a policy risk assessment & emergency procedure e.g., fire drill. Fire drills should be practiced,
evaluated, amended, and logged. Training and information must be provided for all employees
including voluntary staff. There is a specific type of risk assessment of health and safety of expectant
4
https://www.sherwoodparkprimary.co.uk/bexley/primary/sherwood/arenas/websitecontent/web/Health
%20&%20Safety%20Policy%202021-21103.pdf
5
https://www.sherwoodparkprimary.co.uk/bexley/primary/sherwood/arenas/websitecontent/web/Health
%20&%20Safety%20Policy%202021-21103.pdf
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