The control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH) 2002) is a legislation also passed by the government which requires all employers to assess and control the exposure of hazardous substances for the safety and protection of all staff and service users. This would be done by doing a risk assessment of the premises to first identify all areas of improvement needed, and then implementation to put those improvements into place, this would then be followed by further assessment at a later date, to review whether the risk has been eliminated or controlled as much as within your capabilities at the least. This legislation covers all individuals including the employer, all employees and other persons (i.e. service users and the families of service users). This legislation is useful in a health and social care setting such as a nursery , accessed April 23rd, 2012). For example, the service user in a nursery is young children who don’t always necessarily know how to tell the difference between right and wrong. So it is important to ensure that all hazardous substances are kept locked, out of sight of all children so that they are unable to get their hands on them, because though there are warning signs on most hazardous substances, a child would not be able to comprehend these signs. Therefore for the health and safety of the children at the nursery it is important the rules of the legislation are followed as accurately as possible to ensure that the nursery is a safe environment for all the children.
There are many policies that promote the safety in health and social care settings, including illness. There are specific instructions that should be followed if a child falls ill or injured him/herself during school term time. There are certain illnesses that if the child was to obtain prevent the child from coming into school because of the seriousness of the illness. Illnesses such as Diarrhea and/or vomiting, doubtful rash, conjunctivitis and infectious illness (, accessed April 23rd, 2012) denote that the child is not allowed to attend the nursery until all symptoms have cleared to prevent the illness spreading to other children in the class. If a child falls ill whilst at nursery, the child will be checked by the onsite first aider the parents of the child will be called depending on the seriousness of the situation. This policy is good for all health and social care settings because it ensures that in the case of a service user’s health being at risk the appropriate action is taken to prevent and or improve the situation. This policy protects all service users of a care setting.
Other policies that promote the health and safety in health and social care settings include safeguarding. Safeguarding can be defined as the protection of both adults and children usually those who are vulnerable, this can include children under the age of 18, people with physical, visual, hearing or learning disability, people with mental health issues, the elderly, frail or ill. ( accessed 23d April, 2012) Safeguarding would be important in a nursery, because the service users are classed under ‘vulnerable people’; young children. An example of safeguarding in the nursery would include, basic everyday security requirements, it is inevitable that children are unable defend for themselves and know how to differ between right and wrong at their age, security in the nursery would allow teachers and carers to be able to keep an eye on the children at all times which would reduce the risk of injury or danger.
There are many procedures put in place in health and social care settings, including nurseries to ensure the safety of the service users; i.e. the children. One procedure includes the steps and instructions that should be taken when planning and going for an outing with children. This procedure is to ensure the protection of the children is at the highest possible level. An example to show how this procedure would protect the children includes, when a trip for an outing is planned, steps that should be taken prior to the trip taking place include informing and getting the consent of all parents, if a parents does not allow their child to go arranging alternative activities for the child on the day. Furthermore planning the trip to ensure everything is all planned for the day is essential. On the day all children must be put into groups of 3 or 4 and have their own supervising adult, also all children must be wearing a label on their persons with the name of the nursery in case of any emergency. This is to ensure the safety of the child is put first and to take safety precautions in case anything was to go wrong, for example if the child was to get lost or get separated from the group then with the help of the name label a passerby could identify and aid the child.
Another procedure that promoted the health and safety of a service users in a health and social care environment, includes the ‘end of day’ procedure followed in nurseries to ensure that all children and finished and ready to go home. This procedure is to protect and aid children in a nursery environment. If a child was to have gone missing just before the end of the day and none of the carers/teachers had noticed, the end of day routine would ensure that all the children are in the classroom before the doors are opened to the parents.