Health & Safety Policies
& Terms

 Principle

 

Little Hands Trading under Akimodo LTD 

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We aim to provide a safe environment for children to play. Accidents can be very distressing so we aim to have a contingency plan in place should a child or staff member have an accident whilst at Little Hands Club.

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Little Hands is covered with public liability insurance. All our entertainers are freelancers and have public liability insurance and an up-to-date enhanced DBS check. Every member of our team undergoes a rigorous recruitment and training process before becoming a member of Little Hands. All electrical equipment used is either brand new or PAT tested for safety

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Statement of intent

A plan of action is essential for the care of all children and staff in the event of somebody having an accident.

Accident Prevention

• As stated in Health and Safety Policy, Staff have a duty of care to ensure the workplace is kept clean and free of any hazards in accordance with the COSHH Policy.

• Staff also have a duty of care to report any accidents and to report any items of risk which may cause injury to children or staff to the Chairperson of the Unit and/or school principal, as stated in the staff handbook.

• As stated in the Health and Safety Policy all outside areas should be checked before children go outside to minimise any accidents occurring.

• All staff should follow all the relevant safety advice given, to minimise risk and accidents. 

• All staff to follow guidelines provided when using chemicals for experiments, ensuring to follow safety procedures at all times

• All staff to ensure children have been given adequate instructions and safety processes during experiments. The children will be closely monitored to ensure safe use of all equipment and chemicals. 

• All staff to ensure children are wearing protective gear when carrying out experiments 

• Parents are given notes when children bring back projects with care and safety instructions provided. It is parents responsibility that they take heed to safety advice given and we cannot be liable for incidents that occur once project is taken home.

Minor accident

• If a child has a minor accident, the first aider should assess the child. Gloves should be worn at all times.

• If the child is bleeding, please ensure the allergy list is checked to ensure the child has no allergies against any of the materials that need to be used from the first aid box.

• The cold pack is kept within the unit’s fridge and should be used if necessary.

• In the case of a head injury, please contact parents and make them aware that this has happened and how the child is, the child should be observed until collected.

Major Accident 

• The first aider/lead instructor in the group should assess the child and decide whether the child needs to go immediately to the hospital or whether they can wait for their parents/guardians to come. See emergency policy as well.

• If the child needs to go to straight to hospital, we will do this by ambulance. The first aider will accompany the child. We will arrange to meet the child’s parents/ guardians there.

• The first aider will stay with the child until the parent/guardian arrives, but at no time sign for any treatment to be carried out.

• The co-ordinator must report serious accident to the principal of the school, for further action to be taken e.g., new risk assessment, contact social services, and contact HSCNI if required under Health and Safety or RIDDOR legislation

Completing the accident book

• The location of the accident and incident book is kept with staff member at all times

•  The person responsible for completing the accident book is the member of staff who witnessed the accident. They must record all of the form and giving full details of exactly how the accident happened and what happened after. Any staff member who witnessed the accident should also sign this form detailing any further information they deem necessary.

• This should be completed as soon as the accident has been dealt with whilst the details are still clear.  When completed the form must be shown to the co-Ordinator who will also sign the form.

• The parents must be informed immediately when they arrive and asked to sign the accident book and should be given a copy.

Dropping & Collection of children

• ​We encourage parents to share important information, especially if the child has been unsettled or has been given any medicine at home before coming into the unit.

• If you are late to the session, we cannot repeat any missed activities and no refunds will be made for missed sessions. 

• We stress to all our parents or visitors in the unit to take into consideration the units health and safety policy when coming in and out, front door must be closed securely after each person

• We will only let your child leave with another person when we have written consent, or the names and security password is displayed on the enrolment form. Without any of this information we are unable to let any child leave the unit.

• Any parent running late must inform staff so your children can be reassured that you are on your way. We run from hired spaces and are limited to how long we can wait, if you are late for more than 15mins we will have to charge the parent for any additional staffing and space hire costs we incur as a result.

• For external clubs - parents must provide consent to collect their child from class and be taken to the external location. Children must then be collected from the external location. We can take children's scooters/cycles to external location but cannot be held liable for any damages that occur to these items. Children will be walked in pairs with instructors at front and back of the line whilst wearing HI VIS waistcoats. Children will be given strict instructions on safe walking. We reserve the right to call the parent for child collection if the child is not following the safe walking procedure. 

Child protection & Safeguarding policy 

Our policy is to ensure that children are never placed in risk whilst in the charge of our staff. Our staff will be vigilant about the signs of abuse and how to respond to any disclosure. All of our staff are vetted and undergo an induction program which includes a staff handbook and sign copies of all of our policies. Employment is always subject to a probationary period and staff are not confirmed in their post until a satisfactory period is reached. All staff are encouraged to participate in training on Child Protection regularly. The onus on Little Hands Club is to provide a safe environment by employing people who are suitable for working with children and by having effective procedures for reporting any suspicions through their own structures to the relevant Gateway Services. Staff will inform the Safeguarding lead on any concerns they have, and this will be reported to the relevant authorities. You can request to see a full version of our safeguarding policy.

Data Protection Policy 

• In order to work effectively Little Hands Club needs to gather information about staff, parents, children and professionals involved in the day to day running of the group. By adhering to the policy, we will ensure that data is handled properly and confidentially at all times. 

• Comply with the 1998 Data Protection Act and any subsequent relevant legislation

• Only relevant personal data will be collected. Data will be updated on a regular basis.

• Data will be stored securely at all times and only those persons with legitimate reason to view will be able to view that data.  The computer is not a place which is visible to passers-by or to customers.

• Parents are requested to update information with us as soon as possible i.e. new telephone number, update allergies etc.

• Any request for data enclosure must be submitted in writing to the club

• In cases of child protection, data will be disclosed without parental / carer consent to social services and relevant officers

Managing behaviours

• Children are given respect and their ideas and opinions are valued. This enables the child to build on their confidence and self esteem, making them a valued member of the group.

• Positive behaviour can be reinforced through encouragement and praise.

• Negative behaviour is dealt with promptly and the method of the High scope approach ‘Conflict Resolution’ will be put into place. 

• When dealing with chemicals, we ask children to follow instructions carefully and staff members are always on hand to help and monitor safe use. However, if a child is causing harm to himself or others during a certain activity and 'Conflict resolution' has not worked we will separate the child from the group for a short period and will return to the activity once the situation has calmed

• We reserve the right to place any child causing harm and being hazardous on time out and we may call the parent to end the session for the child. In this case any fee's paid for the session are not refunded.

• We cannot be held liable for any accidents/incidents that occur due to child's misbehaviour despite repeated efforts from staff to resolve the behaviours. 

• We are not liable for any damage caused to personal items where child has not headed to given safety precautions or instructions.

• We retain the right not to conduct certain activities if we feel the children are not responding appropriately or are too riotous and therefore we deem it unsuitable to conduct certain activities.

• Children must be responsible for their own personal belongings we are not liable for any loss or damage to personal belongings brought into the sessions

• The parents/school are responsible for providing Little Hands with any information regarding a child's behaviour history or incidents that can impact the session. We cannot manage behaviour issues that were previously known to parent/school but not notified to Little hands. 

Multimedia Policy 

We aim to ensure that children have a valuable play experience during their time at Little Hands Club. Often the best for a child to observe what they have achieved is through showing them photographs of them or their group participating in activities.

• We will be taking photographs and videos of children in each session; these will be used for social media and publications for Little Hands 

• If you do not want your child's images to be used, please inform the staff upon arrival or in writing via email. 

Emergency closure

In the event of having to close our facility due to a decision being taken by the school/setting - snow, ice, industrial action, contagious illness outbreak or for any other reasonable incident outside the direct control of the setting - the setting cannot organise alternative arrangements- although fees will be reimbursed.

Your statutory rights will not be affected if the company has in any way been negligent