📒Water Safety Policy (QA2) Video needed

National Quality Standard (NQS) - Quality Area 2: Children's Health and Safety

Implementation

Management/Nominated Supervisor/Responsible Person will :

• Provide direction and education to educators, staff and families on the importance of children's safety and supervision in and around water.
• Ensure health and safety practices incorporate approaches to safe storage of water and water play.
• Ensure premises adjacent to or providing access to, any water hazards that are not able to be adequately supervised at all times (e.g. dams, swimming pool) are to be isolated from children by a child-resistant barrier or fence.
• Conduct a risk assessment in accordance with the requirements prior to taking children on an excursion, which contains or may contain water.
• Ensure at least one Educator who holds a current approved first aid qualification must be in attendance at all times.
• Display a Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) guide near any water.
• Ensure water play experiences and hazards are physically supervised at all times.

Educators will:

• Supervise children near water at all times
• Never leave children alone near any water
• Ensure children in a bath are directly supervised at all times
• Ensure fish/ frog ponds and water features that are not able to be adequately supervised at all times and/or pose an unacceptable risk to children are guarded or effective barriers are in place.
• Complete a daily Safety Inspection of premises to ensure that all hazards are known and minimised. When a hazard or potential hazard is detected, Educators will complete a risk assessment to address any concerns.
• Utilise water activities in appropriate weather
• Allow the children the opportunity to experiment with water, sand and mixing materials plus a place for boats & floating objects to be used with other water play equipment.
• Monitor the tap and turned off securely when not in use
• Safely cover or make inaccessible to children all water containers, e.g. nappy buckets
• Empty wading pools immediately after every use, store to prevent the collection of water, e.g. upright, also check garden after rain or watering and empty water that has collected in holes or containers.
• Encourage children to use water effectively and along with staff learn new ways to save and re-use water.
• Children have safe independent access to clean and cool drinking water at all times
• Ensure water troughs are not used without a stand, keeping it off the ground with sand on the bottom of the trough
• Ensure children remain standing on the ground whilst using the water trough Ensure buckets of water for soaking toys or clothing are inaccessible to children
• Ensure water troughs or containers for water play are filled to a safe level and emptied into the garden areas after use.
• Children will be discouraged from drinking from these water activities.
• Ensure laundry, storerooms and Educator areas are to have No Children Allowed Sign-on doors to remind adults to close doors behind them.
• Teach children about staying safe in and around water
• Ensure wading/water troughs are hygienically cleaned, disinfected and chlorinated appropriately:
  1. On a daily basis remove leaves and debris, hose away surface dirt and scrub inside with disinfectant.
  2. Wash away disinfectant before filling the pool/trough.
  3. Add chlorine to pool before children use the pool
  4. Check chlorine levels frequently.
  5. Children with diarrhoea, upset stomach, open sores or nasal infections should not use the pool.
  6. All children should wear appropriate bathers, go to the toilet before
  7. entering the pool, and follow correct toileting hygiene practices while in the pool.
  8. Remove all children immediately, empty and disinfect the pool should a child pass a bowel motion whilst in the pool.

Operational Safety

• Water tanks will be labelled with "Do Not Drink" signage and the children will be supervised in this area to make sure they are not accessing this water for drinking.
• Educators will discuss with the children the use of water tank water and how it differs from drinking water.
• Hot water accessible to children will be maintained at the temperature of 43.5° which will be tested annually.
• Water for pets at the service must be changed daily and only be accessible to children when educators are present.
•  Important: parents will be notified as soon as practicable but within 24 hours if their child is involved in an incident/accident at the Service or while under Service care. Also, details of the incident/accident will be recorded on an Incident, Injury, Trauma and Illness Record.
•  Important: if the incident/accident, situation or event presents an imminent or severe risk to the health, safety and wellbeing of the child or if an ambulance was called in response to the emergency (not as a precaution) the regulatory authority will be notified within 24 hours