This is a specific health and safety policy for Balliol College Day Nursery and employees should read it in conjunction with Balliol College’s health and safety documents.
All employees of the nursery are employed by the Master and Fellows of Balliol College.
The line manager for staff employed in the nursery is the Nursery Manager, Hannah O’Brien. The College Officer responsible for the department is Matthew Robinson who is Chair of the Nursery Committee.
All concerns about health and safety must be reported to the Nursery Manager and/or the Chair of the Nursery Committee.
The Ofsted telephone number is displayed on the parents’ noticeboard for complaints of a more serious nature.
This policy is to be read in conjunction with:
- Balliol College’s Health and Safety Policy and Staff Handbook;
- Balliol Day Nursery’s Policies and Procedures (a comprehensive list of policies dealing in more detail with each area detailed below);
- Balliol Day Nursery’s Safeguarding Children folder;
- Balliol Day Nursery’s Staff Handbook;
- Balliol Day Nursery’s Risk Assessment file;
- Balliol Day Nursery’s COSHH file.
It is our policy to provide a healthy and safe environment for all who attend, visit, or work in our nursery.
Employees will be expected to co-operate fully in implementing health and safety initiatives at all times. They will do everything possible to make sure injuries do not occur to themselves or to others. We expect our employees to take responsible care of their own health and safety at all times.
We expect adults to put the welfare of the children as their priority at all times.
Staff induction and supervision
Procedures for ‘Safer Recruitment’ are followed during all stages of appointing new staff. The principles of Safe Recruitment are employed from the advertising of positions, through to interview procedures and induction.
On starting employment in the nursery, all staff will undergo a comprehensive induction and training period. This will include health and safety policies and procedures for:
- Safeguarding children, whistleblowing, reporting concerns, supervision of visitors and people without a DBS check. appropriate adult behaviour, use of mobile phones, photography, uncollected children, lost children, children’s personal care, opening the door and ensuring the premises are secure.
- Safe working practices and procedures, risk assessments, COSHH, fire safety and emergency evacuation.
- Behaviour management.
- First aid, administering medication, cleaning and infection control.
- Working in partnership with parents.
- The Key Person approach.
- Food hygiene and healthy eating.
- Confidentiality.
The Manager and Deputy Manager will be responsible for new staff induction. New staff will be given sufficient time to complete all areas of the induction, including reading and familiarising themselves with the staff handbooks, Nursery policies and all other relevant documentation. New staff will be given a mentor for the first six weeks and will be trained in safe working practices. A comprehensive ticklist will be used during this process, to ensure that training is provided in all areas.
At the end of the six-week induction period, new staff will have a review meeting with the Nursery Manager, to discuss how they have settled into their role, any problems that have arisen and how these will be addressed. This could be through further training or coaching etc. Thereafter, staff will be under constant review and supervision by the Nursery Manager and Deputy Manager, who work directly with them in the setting at all times.
Private staff supervision meetings will be held throughout the year with the Nursery Manager. In addition to these, appraisal meetings are held annually. During these meetings, staff will be asked if they have any concerns about the welfare or safety of the children. They will be reminded of their legal obligation to disclose any such concerns. They will also be given the opportunity to discuss any concerns over health and safety, as well as personal development requirements, or ideas for nursery improvements. Staff will also be asked if there have been any changes that would make their DBS checks inaccurate.
Any health and safety concerns or policy changes will also be discussed during weekly staff meetings.
Records held on staff and children
All records held on adults and children are stored securely in compliance with the Personal Data Protection Act 2018 and comply with GDPR regulations 2018. Please see our policies on record retention and data protection and confidentiality and our data protection audit.
The nursery keeps detailed records of all the adults who work or volunteer in the nursery. They include names, addresses, telephone numbers, qualifications, references, DBS checks, right to work, appraisal and supervision records and details of next of kin, or person to be contacted in an emergency.
The nursery keeps detailed records of the children who attend. These include the child’s full name, home address and telephone number; the full name, home address and telephone number of their parents, or other persons with parental responsibility; their doctor’s name, address and telephone number; and any medical or dietary requirements.
Attendance registers are kept for all adults and children. These record the dates and times that all children and adults have been on the nursery premises. These are stored in the office and are kept indefinitely and securely.
New child induction
When a new child starts at the nursery, they go through a long and comprehensive induction period (see policy on working in partnership with parents). This induction period centres on building relationships with the child and their family and getting to know as much about the child as possible. Using the nursery’s New Child Induction forms, ecords are made of any illnesses, allergies, medical requirements, developmental issues, or family circumstances that may affect the health, safety, wellbeing or development of the child. These are recorded in the child’s individual folder and shared, where appropriate, with the other staff (these are stored in a locked filing cabinet).
When there is a change to an individual child’s care plan, routines or medical needs, the key person is responsible for sharing this information immediately with the rest of the team. Any changes are also discussed during the weekly staff meeting.
Visitors and keeping the premises secure
All visitors to the nursery are required to read our ‘conduct of behaviour’ before they sign the visitors book. They must give their full name, company name and reason for the visit, and record the date and time in and out of the building.
Visitors who do not have a police check, such as contractors, maintenance men or delivery drivers, must be supervised at all times by a member of staff.
Visitors are only able to access the premises via the front door, which is always locked. They gain access by ringing the doorbell, which is only opened by a member of staff who is competent to do so. The door is fitted with a double handle system, to ensure that children are unable to open it. The member of staff opening the door is also responsible for ensuring that it is closed securely. At busy times when lots of parents and children are either arriving or leaving, the children are separated into the two buddy groups, where the key people are responsible for keeping the children in that room until their parent or authorised collector will come and get them.
Because of our open door policy, parents and families are welcome in the nursery at all times. Staff will ensure that they are never left alone with children, other than their own.
Risk assessment
The Nursery Manager will be responsible for carrying out risk assessments on all equipment, activities and routines that take place in the nursery. Risk assessments must be carried out for all new equipment and activities and must be reviewed annually as part of the annual review calendar.
Staff will be required to carry out visual risk assessments of the setting before each session.
All staff will be responsible for reporting any broken or dangerous toys, equipment or parts of the building to the Nursery Manager immediately. The Nursery Manager will be responsible for securing or removing the item and arranging for any repairs or replacements.
Adults must carry out a thorough risk assessment of the garden every day, before allowing the children access. The assessment must be recorded to confirm that it has been carried out and by whom.
Risk assessments must be carried out before outings, in accordance with the outings policy.
Managing the learning environment
In order to provide a safe, secure, yet challenging environment for the children, adults will be trained to think about the level of risk involved in activities and make a judgement based on the children’s abilities and stage of development. Children will be supported to calculate risks for themselves and challenge themselves physically in a safe way.
Staff must be aware of the health and safety implications for children of being in a mixed age group setting. Care should be taken when setting out activities to ensure they are suitable to be used by all the children. Games and activities containing small parts that could present a choke hazard should be restricted for use with the older children and then only in a designated area, with direct adult supervision. Staff must ensure that all small parts are accounted for at the end of an activity and stored in a safe way, out of the children’s reach.
Staff should be mindful to the implications of children of mixed ages sharing play spaces. Adults will actively train and encourage the older children to be thoughtful and take care around the babies. This will include curbing running or boisterous play when babies are joining in or are crawling nearby.
The older children will be given ample opportunity to take part in more active, boisterous activities away from the younger children.
Fire safety
The Manager is responsible for carrying out and recording all checks in accordance with the nursery’s’ fire safety policy and procedures. Appropriate fire safety detection and firefighting equipment will be available and serviced regularly using an external contractor. Fire practice evacuations will be carried out every six months. All staff are responsible for ensuring that evacuation routes are kept clear at all times.
Medical attention
A qualified first aider will be on the premises at all times. All full-time, permanent staff will be funded to attend Ofsted-approved Paediatric First Aid training.
A first aid box, provided by the College Nurse, containing items that are suitable for use with children is always available. This is checked regularly by the person responsible for health and safety, to ensure that stocks are maintained. The College Nurse will check the box annually and replace if necessary. The first aid box is a specific-for-purpose box, which is easily identified and marked as ‘First Aid’. It is located in the children’s bathroom, out of the reach of the children.
Any accidents or injuries to children, staff or visitors whilst on nursery premises must be recorded in the nursery accident book. Details of how, where, when and to whom the accident happened must be recorded by the member of staff who saw and dealt with the injury, along with any treatment given. Parents will be informed about any accident or injury when they collect their child and asked to read and sign the accident book. In order to preserve confidentiality, accidents are recorded one to a page on an accident form. Accident books will be kept securely for a period of 26 years. When an incident is recorded in the book, a pink sticker will also be placed on the child’s peg. This will notify the parents that they need to ‘ask to see the accident book’. This is a safeguard to ensure that reporting to parents is not missed during busy handover periods. If a child sustains a more serious injury whilst at nursery, the Manager or Deputy Manager will inform the parents by telephone. In cases of more severe injury, or when there is any element of doubt, the Manager or Deputy Manager will request that parents collect their child and will advise them to seek further medical advice from a doctor.
In cases of serious injury, where it is necessary to transfer the child to hospital, or phone for the emergency services, parents will be contacted as soon as possible. It is a requirement of the nursery that at least one parent is contactable at all times, whilst their child is in nursery. In addition parents are required to provide the name and telephone number of an emergency contact person.
In cases of severe injury to, or death of, a child, Ofsted and the Area Child Protection Agency will be notified within 14 days.
Medication
Other than Calpol, only medicine provided by parents can be given to children in our care. A medicine record is kept, recording details as outlined in the EYFS. These will include the full name of the medicine and storage instructions, times given, dosage, name of person administering medicine, name of witness to person giving medication, permission from parent to administer and signature of parent to confirm that medicine was given. All permissions will be kept for a period of three years after the child has left the setting or up until their 25th birthday if there was a safeguarding concern.
Medicines must be clearly labelled with the child’s name and stored in their original container. They will be stored securely in a locked drawer in the Manager’s desk or if necessary in the top shelf of the fridge door. Urgent medication, i.e. inhaler or Epipen, are kept in a clearly labelled box in the middle of the setting (shelf ‘down the bottom’) as only needed in emergencies. These are locked away every evening.
During the ‘new child induction’ process, the nursery will obtain written permission from parents to administer non-prescription drugs, such as Calpol, to relieve high temperature or for use as pain relief. Parents will always be contacted and notified verbally, prior to Calpol being administered. They will also be asked to sign confirmation when they collect their child acknowledging that Calpol has been given. Calpol sachets will be stored in a locked drawer in the Manager’s desk or on the top shelf of the fridge if it is a bottle.
When children have a known or suspected allergy or other special dietary requirement, this is shared verbally with all other members of staff. All food allergies and special dietary requirements are listed on a sign, which is prominently displayed in the kitchen, and are recorded on the children’s individual placemats. Children’s placemats are white, unless they have an allergy or special dietary requirement, when the placemat will be red.
Staff medication and other substances
Staff must not be under the influence of alcohol or any other substance which may affect their ability to care for the children. If it is necessary for a member of staff to take medication that may affect their ability to care for the children, they should seek medical advice. They will only be permitted to work directly with the children if medical advice confirms that the medication is unlikely to impair their ability to look after the children properly. Staff medication on the premises must be securely stored, and out of the reach of children, at all times.
Infection control
All staff are expected to take precautions to prevent contamination and the spread of infection. Good hygiene practices and procedures must be adhered to at all times. The Nursery Manager will be responsible for ensuring that sufficient supplies of cleaning and protective equipment are provided. Staff must use these in accordance with nursery policies and procedures.
Staff and children must adhere to the nursery’s sickness policy and stay away from nursery if they have an infectious illness or disease. If a member of staff becomes ill with an infectious illness or disease whilst at nursery, they will be asked to leave immediately. If a child becomes ill with an infectious illness or disease, their parents will be contacted and requested to take them home as soon as possible (ideally within an hour). Every effort will be taken to isolate the child in accordance with the sickness policy, until their parents arrive.
Children will be taught about germs and the importance of hand washing.
Food hygiene
The Nursery Cook, Manager and Deputy Manager and all permanent staff have food hygiene training. All other staff will be given in-house training in basic food hygiene, based on the Food Safety Standards Agency’s document ‘Safer Food, Better Business’ if needed. Staff are expected to maintain safe practices at all times during the preparation and serving of food.
Records on food temperatures, fridge and freezer temperatures, cleaning routines and checks will be kept in the kitchen folder.
Cleaning routines are displayed prominently in the kitchen and hand-washing facilities are always available.
Babies’ drinking bottles and feeding utensils are all thoroughly sterilised and boiled water used in the preparation of baby milk and cereals.
The nursery has a dishwasher to wash all cutlery and crockery.
The nursery is inspected annually by the Environmental Health Agency and follows any recommendations made.
The nursery promotes a balanced healthy diet (see policy on healthy eating). No food containing nuts is ever given to the children. Care is taken to cut up food which may present a choke hazard to children under five years old, such as grapes, cherry tomatoes and strawberries (these will be cut into quarters lengthways). Extra care is taken for younger children, making sure that food is a safe size and texture to eat. For example blueberries should be cut in half until the child is able to chew foods safely and completely, which will be judged by the parent and key person. Food is always allowed to cool and is served at a safe temperature for the children. No salt or other artificial preservatives are used in the preparation of nursery food.
Any incidents of food poisoning effecting two or more people will be reported to Ofsted within 14 days, in accordance with regulatory requirements.
Policies and parent permissions
The nursery has a comprehensive list of policies which promote a healthy, safe and enabling environment for the children and staff. During the new child induction period parents are given many opportunities to read and discuss the nursery policies. We also have some of our policies online.
Following the reading of specific policies parents are asked to sign permission forms indicating that they have read and agree to the relevant policy. They are also asked to sign permission slips for a variety of practices, such as permission to take their child on local outings, to take and share pictures of their child using the nursery camera and permission to seek emergency medical advice or attention.
Mobile phones and cameras
The nursery has a specific policy on mobile phones and cameras. All parents, visitors and staff are made aware of this policy and the use of mobile phones and cameras is not permitted in any area, other than the staff room. Visitors are required to hand over their phones and or camera, which are stored in the office until they leave (see Safeguarding Children policy).
Smoking
Smoking is not permitted on any part of the nursery premises, including the front driveway.
Adequate facilities
The nursery will provide a safe, stimulating and enabling environment, which is light and spacious, with adequate space, resources and facilities for the number of children catered for. Staff will ensure that designated areas are available for different activities, including spaces for messy activities and quiet times.
A separate baby room will be provided, where the babies can sleep away from the hustle and bustle of the main nursery. The temperature of this room will be regulated to ensure that it is at a desirable temperature for sleeping babies. This will be done with the aid of a wall thermometer, which indicates the desirable temperature. Babies will have their own designated cots, which will have high sides and vented mattresses. Nursery staff must ensure that the baby monitor is turned on when babies are sleeping. In addition, staff must check on them, on a regular basis (every 15 minutes for under one year and 30 minutes for over one year).
Children will be allocated their own individual mattress to sleep on. These will be clearly labelled with the child’s name. Staff will ensure that clean bedding is provided at all times. Bedding will be laundered weekly following a laundry rota and changed more frequently if required. Children will be made comfortable with loose clothing, adequate blankets and comforters for sleep. Adults will ensure that clothing and comforters are safe and do not present a hazard (for example, necklaces and hair bands will be removed). At least one adult will stay with the children in the front room whilst they go off to sleep. Once all the children are asleep a monitor will be switched on and regular checks are made on the children.
The nursery has a well-equipped kitchen, where all meals are freshly prepared. Children will not be permitted access to the kitchen without an adult. The child gate must be kept shut at all times. Staff are trained in safe food preparation and use of the kitchen equipment.
Fresh drinking water will be available for the children at all times via the water table and the younger babies will be offered frequent drinks to supplement their bottles.
The nursery has separate bathroom areas for the children and adults. Adults must be vigilant in cleaning these areas to ensure good hygiene at all times.
The nursery will provide a separate ‘quiet’ staff room area, where staff can take their breaks away from the main areas. Staff will be provided with facilities to store their personal items. Adults will be permitted to use their phones in the staff room. Children will not be permitted in the staff room at any time.
Children will be provided regular access to a secure garden, which is enclosed by a high fence. Staff must carry out and record a thorough risk assessment of all areas before allowing the children access. The large beech tree in the garden will be surveyed each year by an approved arborist to ensure its safety. Any recommendations will be followed.
The nursery provides its own laundry facilities and staff must ensure a constant supply of clean linen and spare clothes are available at all times. The nursery supplies each child with facecloths which will be laundered after each use. All other linen will be laundered daily or as required. Weekly routines are in place to launder dressing-up clothes, duvet covers, cushion and seat covers, aprons, etc.
Staff will ensure that baby toys are alternated and disinfected on a weekly basis.
All other toys and equipment will be washed regularly, using the toy cleaning rota.
The nursery will employ a cleaner for two hours each week (which is currently our cook, Naima) to supplement the cleaning routines carried out by nursery staff.
The Nursery Manager is responsible for ensuring that adequate supplies of cleaning and protective equipment are available.
Ratios
The Nursery Manager and Deputy Manager are responsible for ensuring the correct adult to child ratios are maintained, in accordance with the EYFS. The Nursery Manager is supernumerary and will provide immediate cover. Regular agency staff will be brought in when they are not available. In the unlikely event of multiple staff absence, where it is not possible to find supply cover through the agency, parents will be asked to volunteer to keep children at home. Parents will be reimbursed fees accordingly. In the unlikely event that insufficient parents volunteer to keep children at home, the Chair of the Nursery Committee will take the decision as to whether to close the nursery or not.
PAT testing
The College will arrange for all portable electrical devices to be PAT tested every year.
Asbestos
The College has commissioned a full asbestos survey of the premises. No evidence of asbestos was found.
Health and safety assessments by external agencies
The nursery has two additional, external inspections, which are arranged annually by the College: a health and safety inspection, by its external health and safety advisors, and a fire safety inspection by a Fire Safety Officer employed by the College.
Any recommendations are carried out immediately, with support given by other College departments where necessary.
19 November 2024