Health and Safety – General Policy

At Pepperberry Day Nurseries we provide and maintain safe and healthy working conditions, equipment and systems of work for all our employees and a safe early learning environment in which children learn and are cared for. To develop and promote a strong health and safety culture within the nursery for the benefit of all staff, children, parents and any visitors, we provide information, training and supervision. We also accept our responsibility for the health and safety of other people who may be affected by our activities.

The allocation of duties for safety matters and the arrangements which we will make to implement our health and safety procedures are set out within this policy and we make sufficient resources available to provide a safe environment.

Legal framework 

We follow all relevant legislation and associated guidance relating to health and safety within the nursery including:

• The requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Statutory Framework 
• The regulations of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act (1974) and any other relevant legislation such as Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulation (COSHH)
• Any guidance provided by UK Health Security Agency, the local health protection unit, the local authority environmental health department, fire authority or the Health and Safety Executive.

Aims and objectives

The aim of this policy statement is to ensure that all reasonably practical steps are taken to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all persons using the premises. 

To achieve this, we will actively work towards the following objectives:

• Establish and maintain a safe and healthy environment throughout the nursery including outdoor spaces
• Establish and maintain safe working practices amongst staff and children
• Make arrangements for ensuring safety and the minimising of risks to health in connection with the use, handling, storage and transport of hazardous articles and substances
• Ensure the provision of sufficient information, instruction and supervision to enable all people working in or using the nursery to avoid hazards and contribute positively to their own health and safety and to ensure that staff have access to regular health and safety training
• Maintain a healthy and safe nursery with safe entry and exit routes
• Formulate effective procedures for use in case of fire and other emergencies and for evacuating the nursery premises. Practice this procedure on a regular basis to enable the safe and speedy evacuation of the nursery
• Maintain a safe working environment for pregnant workers or for workers who have recently given birth, including undertaking appropriate risk assessments
• Maintain a safe environment for those with special educational needs and disabilities and ensure all areas of the nursery are accessible (wherever practicable)
• Provide a safe environment for students or trainees to learn in
• Encourage all staff, visitors and parents to report any unsafe working practices or areas to ensure immediate response by the management. 

We believe the risks in the nursery environment are low. To maintain the maximum protection for children, staff and parents the nursery:

• Ensures all entrances and exits from the building, including fire exits are clearly identifiable, free from obstruction and easily opened from the inside
• Regularly check the premises room by room for structural defects, worn fixtures and fittings or electrical equipment and take the necessary remedial action
• Ensures that all staff, visitors, parents and children are aware of the fire procedures and regular fire drills are carried out
• Has the appropriate fire detection and control equipment which is checked regularly to make sure it is in working order
• Ensures that all members of staff are aware of the procedure to follow in case of accidents for staff, visitors and children 
• Ensures that all members of staff take all reasonable action to control the spread of infectious diseases and wear protective gloves and clothing where appropriate
• Ensures there are suitable hygienic changing facilities (see Infection control policy) 
• Prohibits smoking or vaping on the nursery premises
• Prohibits any contractor from working on the premises without prior discussion with the officer in charge 
• Encourages children to manage risks safely and prohibits running inside the premises unless in designated areas 
• Risk assesses all electrical sockets and take appropriate measures to reduce risks where necessary and ensure no trailing wires are left around the nursery
• Ensures all cleaning materials are placed out of the reach of children and kept in their original containers
• Ensures staff wear protective clothing when cooking or serving food
• Prohibits certain foods that may relate to children’s allergies, e.g. nuts are not allowed in the nursery
• Follows the EU Food Information for Food Consumers Regulations (EU FIC) by identifying the 14 allergens listed by EU Law that we use as ingredients in any of the dishes we provide to children and ensure that all parents are informed 
• Follows the Allergies and allergic reactions policy for children who have allergies or have a reaction at the nursery
• Ensures risk assessments are undertaken on the storage and preparation of food produce within the nursery
• Familiarises all staff and visitors with the position of the first aid boxes and ensure all know who the appointed first aiders are
• Provides appropriately stocked first aid boxes and check their contents regularly
• Ensures children are supervised at all times
• Takes all reasonable steps to prevent unauthorised persons entering the premises and have an agreed procedure for checking the identity of visitors
• Ensures no student or volunteer is left unsupervised at any time
• Ensures staff paediatric first aid (PFA) certificates or a list of staff who hold a current PFA certificate are on display (and/or made available to parents).

Responsibilities 

The designated Health and Safety Officer in the nursery is Emma Jones (Nursery Manager)

The employer has overall and final responsibility for this policy being carried out at:

Pepperberry Day Nursery, Cygnet Court, Hawthorn Street, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK95EL

The Deputy Nursery Manager will be responsible in her absence.

All employees have the responsibility to cooperate with senior staff and the manager to achieve a healthy and safe nursery and to take reasonable care of themselves and others. Neglect of health and safety regulations and duties will be regarded as a disciplinary matter (see separate Disciplinary procedure).

Whenever a member of staff notices a health or safety issue or problem which they are not able to rectify, they must immediately report it to the appropriate person named above. Parents and visitors are requested to report any concerns they may have to the *senior member of staff in the area/*deputy manager/*manager.

Daily contact, monthly staff meetings and health and safety meetings provide consultation between management and employees. These include health and safety matters.

Health and safety training

Person responsible for monitoring staff training is Emma Jones (Nursery Manager).

Health and safety are covered in all induction training for new staff.

Training table  

Area Paediatric First Aid
Training required Course
Who All staff 

Area Dealing with blood
Training required In house training/course
Who All staff and students

Area Safeguarding children and child protection
Training required In house training/course
Who All staff and students

Area Care of babies
Training required In house training/course
Who At least half of the staff working with under twos

Area Risk assessments
Training required In house training/course
Who All staff 

Area Fire safety procedures 
Training required In house training
Who All staff and students

Area Food hygiene
Training required In house training/course
Who Anyone involved in preparing and handling food

Area Allergy awareness
Training required In house training/course
Who All staff and students

Area Manual handling 
Training required In house training/course
Who All staff and students

Area Stress awareness and management 
Training required In house training/course
Who All staff 

Area Changing of nappies
Training required In house training
Who All staff 

Area Fire marshall duties
Training required External course
Who Fire marshall

Area Medication requiring technical or medical knowledge, e.g. Epi Pen
Training required External course
Who As required

Area SENCo
Training required External course
Who SENCo

Area Supervision and appraisal
Training required External course
Who Manager, Deputy & Room Managers

At least one member of staff on the premises and available at times when children are present MUST hold a full paediatric first aid (PFA) certificate in the nursery and must accompany children on outings. The certificate must be for a full 12-hour course consistent with the criteria set out in Annex A of the EYFS. 

This must be renewed every three years. 

In addition to this, all newly qualified entrants to the early years workforce who have completed a level 2 and/or level 3 qualification on or after 30 June 2016, must also have either a full PFA or an emergency PFA certificate within three months of starting work and ongoing

To be included in the required staff: child ratios at level 2 or level 3.  To continue to be included in the ratio requirement the certificate must be renewed every three years.

At nursery, we take into account the number of children, staff, layout of premises to ensure that a paediatric first aider can respond to emergencies quickly.

Health and safety arrangements

• All staff are responsible for general health and safety in the nursery
• Risk assessments will be conducted on all areas of the nursery, including rooms, activities, outdoor areas, resources, cleaning equipment, legionella and lone working
• Risk assessments are reviewed at regular intervals and when arrangements change
• All outings away from the nursery (however short) will include a prior risk assessment – more details are included in our Visits and outings policy
• All equipment, rooms and outdoor areas are checked thoroughly by staff before children access them or the area. These checks are recorded and initialled by the staff responsible. Unsafe areas are made safe where possible, or the area is not used to promote the safety of children. In these cases, the manager will be notified immediately  
• We provide appropriate facilities for all children, staff, parents and visitors to receive a warm welcome and provide for their basic care needs, e.g. easy to access toilet area and fresh drinking water
• We adhere to the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulation (COSHH) to ensure all children, staff, parents and visitors are safe in relation to any chemicals we may use on the premises
• We identify and assess any water sources at risk of legionella, and manage these risks including avoiding stagnant water
• All staff and students receive appropriate training in all areas of health and safety which includes risk assessments, manual handling, fire safety and emergency evacuation procedures. We may also use benefit risk assessments for activities and resources for children
• We have a clear Accidents and first aid policy to follow in the case of any person in the nursery suffering injury from an accident or incident
• We have a clear fire safety policy and procedure, which supports the prevention of fire and the safe evacuation of all persons in the nursery. This is shared with all staff, students, parents and visitors to the nursery
• We review accident and incident records to identify any patterns or hazardous areas
• All health and safety matters are reviewed informally on an ongoing basis and formally every six months or when something changes. Staff and parents receive these updates, as with all policy changes, as and when they happen
• We welcome feedback from staff and parents. They can contribute to any policy through informal discussions, the suggestion scheme and/or during regular meetings held at nursery.