Duty Of Care

Duty of Care
In a work setting where we are working with children our duty of care is of utmost importance, we need to ensure that we do everything within our power to ensure that children and young people that use our setting get the best care possible and that no harm comes to them. When working with children and young people we not only have a duty of care to the children but also to their parents and carers who will be trusting and expecting us to provide the best care for their children. A duty of care is the legal obligation that we have, as practitioners, to keep children safe from injury, other people who may harm or abuse them and any extreme danger that may face them. This duty of care does not only apply within the setting but also
Suitability to work with children
Any person that is going to be working your setting needs to have an up to date CRB check to ensure that they have no previous criminal convictions that could potentially pose a risk to the children and young people in your setting. Not only this but any person employed to work in your setting should have some sort of relevant qualification to be working with children and young people or at least be in training towards a qualification as parents and carers expect the best care for their children and this will only come from qualified professionals.
Suitable Premises
A suitable premises consists of many things from using a safe building, that is not falling down or surrounded by busy roads, to ensuring that your setting is accessible to all parents and carers. This is important as the state of a premises will have a direct impact on the safety of a child and thus it will be within your duty of care to ensure that your premises is suitable and not going to cause any risks to the children, young people, parents and carers that use your
It is important that any equipment in the room is in good condition and is correct height for the children for example tables and chairs will need to be lower in a nursery as the children using the nursery will be smaller and would find it difficult to use large tables and chairs. When looking at protecting children by providing a safe environment it is important to consider the doors in the nursery, any external doors need to be locked so that children cannot just wander out of the nursery, and any internal doors need to be light enough for children to open and may need liners in the hinges of the door to protect children from trapping their fingers, it is also a good idea for internal doors to have a high handle for a staff member to use whilst the children can have a lower handle to