Explain How The Policies And Procedures Relating To Health And Safety
Within education and care services there are numerous policies and procedures relating to health and safety that the services must have in place. The approved provider of these services must ensure that these policies are being met; otherwise there is a $1000 penalty.
The compulsory policies and procedures relating to health care and safety include;
168 (a) health and safety, including matters relating to—
(i) Nutrition, food and beverages, dietary requirements:
Children within childcare settings must always have access to safe drinking water and food must be available throughout the day. The food provided must be nutritious and a sufficient quantity. It is important that dietary requirements are taken into account and meet each child’s growth and developmental needs, as well as any specific cultural, religious or health requirements. Each week a weekly menu needs to be displayed at the centre for parents and guardians to see. It is important that these policies are made to ensure that children …show more content…
are getting fed healthy food to support their health and development, and also to ensure that children are not eating anything that they could be allergic to or shouldn’t be eating due to their religion or culture.
This can relate to parents if their child has special dietary requirements. If their child does it is important that during enrolment the chef and the educators are made aware of this.
(ii) Sun protection:
Exposure to the sun can create numerous health problems, including sunburn, skin cancer and dehydration. Education and children services need to provide appropriate shaded areas outside, but must also balance it out with a level of sun exposure due to the benefits of sunlight. Sunlight helps the body create vitamin D. Vitamin D is essential for healthy bone development and maintenance. It is important that when the UV rays are high broad brim hats, appropriate clothing and sunscreen are worn. SPF 30+ sunscreen should be applied 20 minutes before going outside. This is all important to prevent any health problems from occurring due to exposure to high UV rays.
This can relate to parents because they should be supplying hats for their child to wear during care and also dressing them in appropriate sun safe clothing.
(iii) Water Safety, including safety during any water-based activities:
All precautions must be taken when children are participating in water-based activities or playing around water-based experiences. It is important to have constant supervision over children when they are playing, but especially when they are playing around water. Potential water hazards need to be examined and thought about when organizing activities and excursions. Barriers should be used to restrict access to any water hazards when the area cannot be supervised. These are all important to prevent injuries, illnesses and drowning due to water hazards. Water hazards can include but are not limited to ponds, water buckets, baths, toilets, sinks, paddling pools and pools, hoses and water troughs.
(iv) The administration of first aid:
Education and care services must supply enough first aid kids for the service, that are easily accessible and ready to use in an emergency. Each service must have in place policies and procedures relating to the administration of first aid to children. Medication can only be administered to a child with authorization by a parent or a person with the authority to consent to the administration. This includes the administration or prescription, over-the-counter and homeopathic medications. If there is an emergency it is okay to get verbal consent from a parent, or a registered medical practitioner or medical emergency services if the child’s parents cannot be contacted. If the child is at risk of anaphylaxis or an asthmatic, medication can be administrated without authorization, if so the child’s parents and emergency services must be contacted as soon as possible. When medication is getting administered a second person must check the dosage of it and also witness the administration. It must then be recorded. There are certain regulations regarding the administration of the medication. The medication must be administrated:
-from the original container
-before the expiry or use-by date
-in accordance with the instructions attached to the medicine, or instructions provided by a medical practitioner
-for prescribed medication, it must come from a container that has the original label and has the name of the child it is prescribed for
It is a staff members duty of care to apply first aid to an injured or ill child, but it is important that it is done correctly as you could be saving someone’s life. Policies regarding the administration of first aid are made compulsory to prevent a child from receiving the wrong medicine or dosage and to ensure that first aid is administered promptly and appropriately.
Parents need to make sure that they supply the correct medicine to the service with all of the correct details as well as written permission.
168 (b) incident, injury, trauma and illness procedures complying with regulation 85;
Each service must have a procedure to follow if a child is injured, becomes ill or suffers a trauma. Included within this procedure must be the requirement that as soon as possible and within 24 hours a guardian or parent must be notified of any incident relating to injury, illness or trauma occurs, including death. The National Regulations require that the record of an incident, injury, trauma or illness be kept and remain confidential until the child is 25 years old. Records of these incidents must be recorded as soon as possible and it is important that they are recorded within 24 hours. These policies and procedures are important because children and staff could be at risk or becoming seriously ill and it is important to prevent that and treat it a soon as possible before it spreads. If a child is injured it should be attended to as soon as possible to prevent any further health complications.
168 (c) dealing with infectious diseases, including procedures complying with regulation 88;
Services must take appropriate precautions to prevent infectious diseases from spreading. They must ensure that parents and guardians of each child enrolled at that service are notified as soon as possible about the fact there is an infectious disease within the service. Each service must have policies and procedures in place about how to prevent and deal with infectious diseases. There are some cases of infectious diseases the local public health department must be notified about as soon as possible. This policy is made compulsory to prevent the spread of infectious diseases to other children, staff or families. There are exclusions periods for certain diseases, meaning children who are ill with a certain disease should not be attending care for the specified duration. This policy relates to parents, as it is important that parents don’t bring their child into care when they have an infectious disease that could end up spreading to others.
168 (d) dealing with medical conditions in children, including the matters set out in regulation 90;
Services must have policies for managing medical conditions. Parents must provide medical plans if their child has a specific health care need, allergy or relevant medical condition. A risk minimisation plan must also be made in consultation with the child’s parents. All staff members and volunteers must be aware of these policies and the procedures. If a child has been diagnosed with anaphylaxis there must be a notice displayed within the center to state this. Asthma, diabetes or children at risk of anaphylaxis are all medical conditions that must be included within the service policy. This policy is made compulsory as it can help save children’s lives if the staff are aware of who has these medical conditions and how to deal with them. Parents must make these conditions known to the center and provide plans for the service, and also supply the medication needed for the child.
168 (e) emergency and evacuation, including the matters set out in regulation 97;
All services must have a procedure for when there are emergencies, and they must have an emergency evacuation floor plan.
The emergency evacuation floor plan must be displayed at each exit within the building. Every 3 months there must be a rehearsal of the evacuation plan done with the staff members, children and any volunteers in the center. An emergency refers to any situation that puts the people within the service at risk. For example, fire, flood or a situation that requires a service to be locked down are all referred to as emergencies. Each rehearsal must be documented to help determine if any procedures need to be adjusted to make them more appropriate and efficient. It is really important that emergency procedures are known to all of the children who attend the service and especially to all of the staff working there. If procedures are known, easy to follow and practiced it will make the evacuation a lot easier, safer and quicker if there ever is an
emergency.
168 (f) delivery of children to, and collection of children from, education and care service premises, including procedures complying with regulation 99;
The collection of children is a very important aspect of the policies. Children may only leave the service with a parent or authorized nominee, when a parent or authorized nominee has provided authorization for the child to leave the premises, when a parent or authorized nominee has provided written authorization for the child to attend an excursion, or when there is an emergency and the child is in need of medical, hospital or ambulance treatment. However, the term parent does not include a parent who has a court order against them preventing them from having contact with the child. These policies are put in place to ensure that each child goes home safely with a trusted adult. Parents and guardians must comply with these regulations to ensure the safety of their children.
168 (g) excursions, including procedures complying with regulations 100 to 102;
For each excursion planned a risk assessment must be carried out prior to attending the excursion to ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of the children and staff.
The risk assessment must include:
-the route, how to get there and back,
-whether there are any water hazards,
-the adult to children ratio,
-the activities on the excursion,
-the length of the excursion,
-items that should be taken on the excursion, and
-whether there are any specialised skills needed to ensure the safety of the children.
A site visit should be conducted before the excursion is actually carried out. During this site visit the risk assessment can be done, and the site can be checked to see the availability of toilets, hand-washing areas, drinking areas and shade coverage. Written authorization must be given by a parent or authorized nominee for each excursion before the child leaves the services premises. Having these policies ensures that all children and staff members will be safe and prevents any hazards from occurring whilst on the excursion. This relates to parents a little bit, as they need to give written permission for the child to go on the excursion.
168 (h) providing a child safe environment;
Each education and care service must have policies and procedures in place to ensure they are providing a child safe environment. Services must be a tobacco, alcohol and drug free environment. All children must be protected from harm and hazards that could cause injuries or an illness. Hazardous products, including chemicals and cleaning products must be securely stored so that no children are able to access them. There should be safety plugs on all electric outlets. It is important that equipment bought for the center meets the Australian standards. All equipment must be safe, kept clean and kept in good repair. Any outdoors space used by the children under the services care must be enclosed by a fence or barrier that children are not able to go through, over or under. Anything requiring maintenance or repair must be dealt with as soon as possible. Some things may be appropriate and safe for older age groups but not so much for younger ones, so it is important that items are sorted age appropriately. These policies are put in place to ensure that children as well as staff members and volunteers are safe within the services environment, and to prevent things from causing injuries or illnesses to anyone.
The compulsory policies and procedures relating to health care and safety include;
168 (a) health and safety, including matters relating to—
(i) Nutrition, food and beverages, dietary requirements:
Children within childcare settings must always have access to safe drinking water and food must be available throughout the day. The food provided must be nutritious and a sufficient quantity. It is important that dietary requirements are taken into account and meet each child’s growth and developmental needs, as well as any specific cultural, religious or health requirements. Each week a weekly menu needs to be displayed at the centre for parents and guardians to see. It is important that these policies are made to ensure that children …show more content…
are getting fed healthy food to support their health and development, and also to ensure that children are not eating anything that they could be allergic to or shouldn’t be eating due to their religion or culture.
This can relate to parents if their child has special dietary requirements. If their child does it is important that during enrolment the chef and the educators are made aware of this.
(ii) Sun protection:
Exposure to the sun can create numerous health problems, including sunburn, skin cancer and dehydration. Education and children services need to provide appropriate shaded areas outside, but must also balance it out with a level of sun exposure due to the benefits of sunlight. Sunlight helps the body create vitamin D. Vitamin D is essential for healthy bone development and maintenance. It is important that when the UV rays are high broad brim hats, appropriate clothing and sunscreen are worn. SPF 30+ sunscreen should be applied 20 minutes before going outside. This is all important to prevent any health problems from occurring due to exposure to high UV rays.
This can relate to parents because they should be supplying hats for their child to wear during care and also dressing them in appropriate sun safe clothing.
(iii) Water Safety, including safety during any water-based activities:
All precautions must be taken when children are participating in water-based activities or playing around water-based experiences. It is important to have constant supervision over children when they are playing, but especially when they are playing around water. Potential water hazards need to be examined and thought about when organizing activities and excursions. Barriers should be used to restrict access to any water hazards when the area cannot be supervised. These are all important to prevent injuries, illnesses and drowning due to water hazards. Water hazards can include but are not limited to ponds, water buckets, baths, toilets, sinks, paddling pools and pools, hoses and water troughs.
(iv) The administration of first aid:
Education and care services must supply enough first aid kids for the service, that are easily accessible and ready to use in an emergency. Each service must have in place policies and procedures relating to the administration of first aid to children. Medication can only be administered to a child with authorization by a parent or a person with the authority to consent to the administration. This includes the administration or prescription, over-the-counter and homeopathic medications. If there is an emergency it is okay to get verbal consent from a parent, or a registered medical practitioner or medical emergency services if the child’s parents cannot be contacted. If the child is at risk of anaphylaxis or an asthmatic, medication can be administrated without authorization, if so the child’s parents and emergency services must be contacted as soon as possible. When medication is getting administered a second person must check the dosage of it and also witness the administration. It must then be recorded. There are certain regulations regarding the administration of the medication. The medication must be administrated:
-from the original container
-before the expiry or use-by date
-in accordance with the instructions attached to the medicine, or instructions provided by a medical practitioner
-for prescribed medication, it must come from a container that has the original label and has the name of the child it is prescribed for
It is a staff members duty of care to apply first aid to an injured or ill child, but it is important that it is done correctly as you could be saving someone’s life. Policies regarding the administration of first aid are made compulsory to prevent a child from receiving the wrong medicine or dosage and to ensure that first aid is administered promptly and appropriately.
Parents need to make sure that they supply the correct medicine to the service with all of the correct details as well as written permission.
168 (b) incident, injury, trauma and illness procedures complying with regulation 85;
Each service must have a procedure to follow if a child is injured, becomes ill or suffers a trauma. Included within this procedure must be the requirement that as soon as possible and within 24 hours a guardian or parent must be notified of any incident relating to injury, illness or trauma occurs, including death. The National Regulations require that the record of an incident, injury, trauma or illness be kept and remain confidential until the child is 25 years old. Records of these incidents must be recorded as soon as possible and it is important that they are recorded within 24 hours. These policies and procedures are important because children and staff could be at risk or becoming seriously ill and it is important to prevent that and treat it a soon as possible before it spreads. If a child is injured it should be attended to as soon as possible to prevent any further health complications.
168 (c) dealing with infectious diseases, including procedures complying with regulation 88;
Services must take appropriate precautions to prevent infectious diseases from spreading. They must ensure that parents and guardians of each child enrolled at that service are notified as soon as possible about the fact there is an infectious disease within the service. Each service must have policies and procedures in place about how to prevent and deal with infectious diseases. There are some cases of infectious diseases the local public health department must be notified about as soon as possible. This policy is made compulsory to prevent the spread of infectious diseases to other children, staff or families. There are exclusions periods for certain diseases, meaning children who are ill with a certain disease should not be attending care for the specified duration. This policy relates to parents, as it is important that parents don’t bring their child into care when they have an infectious disease that could end up spreading to others.
168 (d) dealing with medical conditions in children, including the matters set out in regulation 90;
Services must have policies for managing medical conditions. Parents must provide medical plans if their child has a specific health care need, allergy or relevant medical condition. A risk minimisation plan must also be made in consultation with the child’s parents. All staff members and volunteers must be aware of these policies and the procedures. If a child has been diagnosed with anaphylaxis there must be a notice displayed within the center to state this. Asthma, diabetes or children at risk of anaphylaxis are all medical conditions that must be included within the service policy. This policy is made compulsory as it can help save children’s lives if the staff are aware of who has these medical conditions and how to deal with them. Parents must make these conditions known to the center and provide plans for the service, and also supply the medication needed for the child.
168 (e) emergency and evacuation, including the matters set out in regulation 97;
All services must have a procedure for when there are emergencies, and they must have an emergency evacuation floor plan.
The emergency evacuation floor plan must be displayed at each exit within the building. Every 3 months there must be a rehearsal of the evacuation plan done with the staff members, children and any volunteers in the center. An emergency refers to any situation that puts the people within the service at risk. For example, fire, flood or a situation that requires a service to be locked down are all referred to as emergencies. Each rehearsal must be documented to help determine if any procedures need to be adjusted to make them more appropriate and efficient. It is really important that emergency procedures are known to all of the children who attend the service and especially to all of the staff working there. If procedures are known, easy to follow and practiced it will make the evacuation a lot easier, safer and quicker if there ever is an
emergency.
168 (f) delivery of children to, and collection of children from, education and care service premises, including procedures complying with regulation 99;
The collection of children is a very important aspect of the policies. Children may only leave the service with a parent or authorized nominee, when a parent or authorized nominee has provided authorization for the child to leave the premises, when a parent or authorized nominee has provided written authorization for the child to attend an excursion, or when there is an emergency and the child is in need of medical, hospital or ambulance treatment. However, the term parent does not include a parent who has a court order against them preventing them from having contact with the child. These policies are put in place to ensure that each child goes home safely with a trusted adult. Parents and guardians must comply with these regulations to ensure the safety of their children.
168 (g) excursions, including procedures complying with regulations 100 to 102;
For each excursion planned a risk assessment must be carried out prior to attending the excursion to ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of the children and staff.
The risk assessment must include:
-the route, how to get there and back,
-whether there are any water hazards,
-the adult to children ratio,
-the activities on the excursion,
-the length of the excursion,
-items that should be taken on the excursion, and
-whether there are any specialised skills needed to ensure the safety of the children.
A site visit should be conducted before the excursion is actually carried out. During this site visit the risk assessment can be done, and the site can be checked to see the availability of toilets, hand-washing areas, drinking areas and shade coverage. Written authorization must be given by a parent or authorized nominee for each excursion before the child leaves the services premises. Having these policies ensures that all children and staff members will be safe and prevents any hazards from occurring whilst on the excursion. This relates to parents a little bit, as they need to give written permission for the child to go on the excursion.
168 (h) providing a child safe environment;
Each education and care service must have policies and procedures in place to ensure they are providing a child safe environment. Services must be a tobacco, alcohol and drug free environment. All children must be protected from harm and hazards that could cause injuries or an illness. Hazardous products, including chemicals and cleaning products must be securely stored so that no children are able to access them. There should be safety plugs on all electric outlets. It is important that equipment bought for the center meets the Australian standards. All equipment must be safe, kept clean and kept in good repair. Any outdoors space used by the children under the services care must be enclosed by a fence or barrier that children are not able to go through, over or under. Anything requiring maintenance or repair must be dealt with as soon as possible. Some things may be appropriate and safe for older age groups but not so much for younger ones, so it is important that items are sorted age appropriately. These policies are put in place to ensure that children as well as staff members and volunteers are safe within the services environment, and to prevent things from causing injuries or illnesses to anyone.