Purpose
To identify, assess, and manage health and safety risks for ECE staff and children in the early childhood education environment.
Scope
All ECE centres, playgrounds, and off-site activities. Applies to teaching staff, support staff, and volunteers.
Procedure steps
Identify hazards
Walk through the environment and identify physical hazards (surfaces, equipment, chemicals), biological hazards (illness, food handling), and psychosocial hazards (workload, conflict).
Assess risk
For each hazard: assess likelihood and consequence. Use your risk matrix. Prioritise by risk level: High → act immediately, Medium → plan within 30 days, Low → monitor.
Implement controls
Apply the hierarchy of controls: Eliminate, Substitute, Isolate, Engineer, Administrative, PPE (in that order). Document controls chosen and rationale.
Child safety integration
Ensure risk controls also protect children. Review adult-child ratios when assessing any outdoor or off-site activity risk.
Document & review
Complete your risk assessment form. Review at least annually and after any incident, near-miss, or significant change to the environment.
Worker participation
Involve teaching staff in hazard identification — they know the environment best. Document their input and how it was considered.
Legislation
| HSWA 2015 s36 | PCBUs must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers and others in the workplace |
| Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 r46 | Services must take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of children |
| HSWA 2015 s62 | Workers must be given the opportunity to participate in health and safety processes |
📋 Customise before use — Add your risk matrix, site-specific hazard register, and the name of your designated Health & Safety Representative.
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