Writing a Risk Assessment at JLK

A risk assessment is the thinking you already do (“the floor’s wet, move the children”), done in advance and written down, so everyone in the room does the same thing and anyone can check it. Our policy says exactly what it must contain:

Risk assessments document the hazards or aspects of the environment that need to be checked on a regular basis. These include who could be harmed, existing controls, the seriousness of the risk or possible injury, any further action needed to control the risk, who is responsible for what action, when and how often the action will be undertaken, and how this will be monitored, checked and by whom.
Overall Approach to Risk Assessment policy

Those are the columns of every hazard on the portal. Two more things from the policy:

• The nursery stays responsible. “It would not be a defence to a nursery if a member of staff did not undertake, for example, a risk assessment. The employer must therefore have a system in place to ensure such things are done.” The portal is that system: sign-off, review dates and Monday reminders.
• It is not the daily checks. The risk assessment decides what should be in place. The daily checks on the tablet confirm, every morning, that it is.

• I can name what every risk assessment must cover, from our policy
• I know the difference between a risk assessment and the daily checks

• Every room and area, at least once a year. “The nursery carries out written risk assessments regularly (at least annually).”
• Whenever something changes. “When circumstances change in the nursery, e.g. a significant piece of equipment is introduced or new activity or experience is planned, we review our current risk assessment or conduct a new risk assessment dependent on the nature of this change.”
• Every outing, before it happens (Module 4).
• An individual child: an allergy (before the child starts), a behaviour support plan, repeated biting.
• A member of staff: pregnancy, lifting, lone working, work-related stress, a young worker.
• After a serious incident: “Post-incident risk assessments will be conducted following any incident of this nature to enable the chance of this reoccurring being reduced.” The accident log has a button that starts one.

Who	Writes
Room leader (or the manager, at a nursery with one room)	Their room, activities, outings, other
Deputy or manager	All of the above, plus an individual child, a member of staff, after an incident. These are confidential.
Director	Signs every one off, for now

• I know the six times a risk assessment is needed
• I know which ones I write, and that a director signs them off

Our policy points to the HSE’s five steps. In Risk assessments they look like this:

1. Find the hazards. Pick what it is for, and the portal suggests the usual hazards, each with what our policy says and a link to it. Walk the room (or the route) with the list in your hand. Delete what doesn’t apply. Add what’s missing. The template doesn’t know your room has a step by the door.
2. Who could be harmed, and how. Children, staff, visitors, or one child in particular.
3. What is already in place. This box is always empty to start with, on purpose. Write what actually happens in your room today, not what should happen. “Stair gate closed at all times” only counts if it is.
4. How likely, and how serious, with those controls in place: low, medium or high each. The portal works out the risk:

   	Not serious	Medium	Serious
   Unlikely	low	low	medium
   Possible	low	medium	high
   Likely	medium	high	high

   A high risk with the controls you have means the controls aren’t enough yet.
5. Anything more to do. Write it as an action with a person and a date (the portal won’t save one without). Say how it is checked, and by whom: “Room leader, at the daily opening check”.

What usually goes wrong: copying last year’s controls without walking the room · “staff supervise” as the control for everything · every risk marked low · actions with no name or date, which never happen · writing it once and never reading it again.

• I walk the room or route before I write, and delete or add hazards to fit it
• I write the controls that are actually in place, not what should be
• I give every further action a person, a date and a check

Outings. “A pre-visit checklist, full risk assessment and outings plan will always be carried out by a senior member of staff before the outing to assess the risks or hazards which may arise for the children, and identify steps to be taken to remove, minimise and manage those risks and hazards.” Our outings policies list what the plan covers, and the portal suggests each one:

• the number of children, their ages, the ratio of staff to children, their individual needs and the group size;
• at least one paediatric first aider, a fully stocked first aid box, and any special medication or equipment;
• a mobile phone, and the name of the designated first aider;
• the route, and an alternative in case it is inaccessible; head counts, as often as the risk assessment decides;
• the weather, and transport (seat belts, child seats, ratios kept).

An outing’s review date is the day of the outing. Repeat the same trip often? Review it before each one, and archive it when it’s no longer used.

Risky play. A risk assessment is not a list of reasons to say no. “We take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of children through risk assessments whilst balancing the benefits to learning through providing an element of ‘risky play.’” Write the benefit down too: climbing, balancing and judging risk are learning, and the controls are what make them possible.

• I know what an outing risk assessment must cover, and that it is done before the outing
• I balance the benefit of risky play against the risk, rather than removing it

• Saved = draft. A director signs it off. Until then it is marked as a draft, on screen and on the printed copy.
• Any edit goes back to draft and needs signing off again.
• Actions: tick each one off when it is done; the portal records who and when. Late actions show on the list and in the Monday reminder.
• Review at least annually, before every outing, after an incident, and whenever something changes. If nothing has changed, record the review and it stays signed off. If something has, edit it.
• Share it. Print it for the room or area it covers, and go through it with your team. A risk assessment nobody in the room has read isn’t controlling anything.

• I know a director signs off, and an edit sends it back to draft
• I tick actions off and record reviews on time
• I go through the risk assessment with my team

Eight pre-school children are walking to the library on Thursday, ten minutes along a main road with one crossing. The room leader picks An outing or walk, sets the date, walks the route on Tuesday, and keeps four of the suggested hazards.

Hazard	In place	Risk	Further action · who · when
Roads and the route	Cross only at the lights; adult at the front and back; children hold the walking rope. Alternative route via the park if the crossing is closed.	possible × serious = high	A third adult for the crossing · manager · by Wednesday
A child going missing	Head count leaving, at the crossing, arriving, leaving the library, arriving back. Hi-vis vests.	unlikely × serious = medium	—
Injury or illness while out	A paediatric first aider in the group; first aid box; the one child’s inhaler; nursery phone charged.	unlikely × medium = low	—
Weather	Check the forecast in the morning; coats; postpone in heavy rain.	possible × not serious = low	—

The high risk at the crossing isn’t ignored: it gets an action, with a person and a date, and goes to a director to sign off on Wednesday. After the walk, it’s archived: “Outing happened, no issues.”

What would be wrong: “Staff will supervise” as every control · leaving in the suggested “Transport” hazard when they’re walking · marking the crossing low because nothing has happened before · going before it was signed off.

Reflection prompt: which risk assessment for your room is most out of date, or doesn’t exist yet?

• I have picked the risk assessment I will write or update first