Risk assessments
You risk assess all the time - before children arrive, during their time in the setting and when they have gone home.
The EYFS states that it is up to you to decide whether you want to record risk assessments or not.
Your risk assessments must cover the house, resources and equipment, the garden, different types of outings and situations that you feel are best risk assessed such as fire practices and changes to the house and garden.
Consider...
Step 1 – Identify the hazards.
Step 2 – Think about who might be harmed – you, the children, visitors etc.
Step 3 – Evaluate the risk by deciding whether you need to do anything more to make the area safe.
Step 4 – Reflect on you have found - make changes if necessary.
If you write the risk assessment, make a note of who has done the assessment, the date and when you intend to review - it is good practice to diary this date, so you don’t forget.
Risk assessment - cooking with children;
Date ...
The hazards are ... children getting burned; children falling; wet floors; raw ingredients being eaten; children sneezing into food... etc;
Who might be harmed? – everyone in the house including children, adults and visitors;
Your evaluation might include – keeping mop handy; washing hands; teaching children about not eating raw ingredients; keeping children away from burners / using back burners;
How risky do you think it is? – on a scale of either 1 – 5 or high (H), medium (M) and low (L).
Do your risk assessments work? – yes or no.
I have 2 e-books relating to Risk assessments on my website which will help you including -
- E-book 5 'Risk assessments';
- E-book 24 'Safety checklists'.