Health, Safety, and Security in Childcare Setting

‘Health and Safety at Work Act or ‘HASAW’ is an act put in place by the UK parliament and is the main piece of health and safety legislation. This sets out that employers have a duty of care to all employees to protect their health, safety and welfare at work’.

1.1 Outline current legislation, guidelines, policies and procedure within own UK Home Nation affecting the safeguarding of children and young people.

Law and guidance regulate the way you should work with children in your childcare setting to support and encourage their well-being and safeguard them from abuse and maltreatment. Legislation provides a comprehensive instruction on what must be attained in respect to child protection and safeguarding. Whereas Legal guidance is more precise and provides details on how the law ought to be applied and fulfilled in early years settings and services. Laws and statutory regulation are compulsory and should reinforce policies and procedures that are used in your setting.

1.1 Legislation is a set of laws that have been created by the government to make sure all childcare settings are run correctly. To promote positive behaviour, legislation’s such as the Children Act 1989, Human Rights Act 1998, Every Child Matters 2004, Equality Act 2010 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 are followed by the setting. These Act’s include rules and regulations that a setting is required to follow in order to promote positive behaviour.

Children Act 1989 – Protecting children’s welfare and to provide services according to the specific needs of children.

1.1 outline current legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures within own UK home nation affecting the safeguarding of children and young people.

The children act 1989 has influenced some settings by bringing together several sets of guidance and provided the foundation for many of the standards practitioners sustain and maintain when working with children. The act requires that settings work together in the best interests of the child and form partnerships with parents or carers. It requires settings to have appropriate adult to child ratios and policies and procedures on child protection. This act has had an influence in all areas of practice from planning a curriculum and record keeping. The every child matters framework has

It is important to ensure children and young people are protected from harm within the setting, as the parents are leaving their children in your care with the expectation that they can trust you and your colleagues to keep their children from harm. It is difficult for parents to leave their children in an education or care setting and then go to work; they need to be confident that their children will be in safe supportive hands with people that will help them develop.

Must be able to identify and record possible signs of abuse or neglect as soon as possible

Section 2 of the HSW Act deals with employersʹ duties, and states: ʺIt shall be the duty of all employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health safety and welfare of all their employees whilst they are at work.ʺ

1. Setting the standards for the learning, development and care, ensuring that every child makes progress and that no child gets left behind. Parents, providers should deliver individualised learning, development and care that enhances the development of the children in their care and gives those children the best possible start in life. Every child should be supported individually to make progress at their own pace and children who need extra support to fulfil their potential should receive special consideration. All providers have an equally important role to play in children’s early years experiences and they have to ensure that the provision they deliver is both appropriate to children’ needs and complementary to the education and care provided in child’s other settings.

The main current legislation guidelines policies and procedures within own UK home nation for safeguarding children and young people.

To be able to safeguard children effectively we need to be aware of the following policies:

Legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures affecting the safeguarding of children and young people would be:-

1. Outline current legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures within own UK Home Nation affecting the safeguarding of children and young people.