Health and safety
Risk assessment, safe working, infection control and RIDDOR in a residential childcare setting.
- Who receives it
- All staff
- Frequency
- Annual
- Delivery
- In-house / e-learning
- Evidence recorded
- Attendance register
Learning outcomes
- Explain employer and employee duties under health and safety law
- Carry out and record a dynamic risk assessment
- Apply safe manual handling and COSHH principles
- Identify what is reportable under RIDDOR
Module 1 of 3
Duties and risk assessment
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 places duties on the employer to provide a safe environment and on every employee to take reasonable care of themselves and others, and to report hazards.
Risk assessment follows five steps: identify hazards, decide who might be harmed, evaluate risks and decide controls, record the findings, and review. Alongside written assessments, dynamic risk assessment happens constantly — outings, new behaviours and building works all change the picture.
Module 2 of 3
Manual handling, COSHH and infection control
Before lifting, assess the load, plan the route, keep the load close, bend your knees rather than your back, and never twist while carrying. Ask for help or use equipment rather than risking injury.
Hazardous substances, including everyday cleaning products, are stored locked away from children with the data sheets accessible. Handwashing remains the single most effective infection control measure, supported by correct PPE and safe handling of body fluids and sharps.
Remember
- Report every hazard, however minor, the day you see it
- Never decant cleaning products into unlabelled containers
- Dispose of sharps in a sealed sharps bin only
Module 3 of 3
Accidents and RIDDOR
All accidents, injuries and near misses go in the accident book on the day they happen. Near misses matter — they show you where the next real injury will come from.
RIDDOR requires reporting to the HSE of deaths, specified injuries such as fractures other than to fingers and toes, injuries leading to over-seven-days incapacity, certain occupational diseases, and dangerous occurrences. Your manager makes the report, but you must flag it.
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