Childcare

Explain how the 5 pieces of legislation in E1 establish and maintain healthy, safe and secure environments Five main laws that support the provision of health, safe and secure environments for young children are: Health and Safety At Work Act 1974 Under the act 1974, both employers and employees have duties. Employers must produce a written policy explaining how they will ensure the health, safety and welfare of all people who use the premises. Employees must cooperate with these arrangements and take reasonable care of themselves and others. Employers have a duty to display a health and safety law poster. Control of Substances Hazardous To Health Regulations (COSSH) 1994 Early years setting’s regularly uses cleaning products that could potentially be hazardous. Cleaning maybe required after toileting or any other accident. The following guidelines should be followed to minimise risk of injury: Employers should give training on control process and how to use them, provide protective clothing and equipment along with emergency procedures. COSHH requires employers to continually assess the risks from chemicals and decide what control is needed. They also need to ensure all staff use the control methods, that they work properly, inform workers about risks and provide enough training. If a child has a bump on head you should apply a cold compress and reassure that child will be ok. You would then send for first aid and record in accident book. Once you have recorded it in the accident book and the first aider is attending to the child you would fill out a head injury form and send it to parents. If the think the child is fine then once he/she has recuperated he can join the others but if you are worried record vital signs e.g. pulse, breathing, level of consciousness and eyes. If child is showing no improvement ring an ambulance and let the parents know. For sickness and diarrhea one of the most important things is you wear gloves and an apron to prevent any contamination towards you. The next step would be to isolate the child while reassuring him/her as keeping the child around others could cause infection to other children. You should also give the child plenty of water to drink to keep him/her hydrated. Next you should contact the parents to come pick up the child as he can't stay at school with his infection. In the event of an asthma attack you must stay calm and reassure the child while helping the child find a comfortable position. You should give the child his/her blue relief inhaler and wait 5-10 minutes to see if the side effects of an asthma attack have gone, if not you should phone for an ambulance rafter the 10 minute wait. You should also record the pulse and check the child's breathing every 10 minutes.