Childcare health and safety policy

Do you own a childcare facility? You are required to have an up to date health and safety policy. In this policy you state how your organisation protects children from health risks. For instance how you ensure the safety and hygiene of different rooms.

You should draft, implement and evaluate this policy with all concerned parties and adapt it accordingly to ensure continual improvement. The municipal health service (GGD) is responsible for checking your policy and monitoring how you implement it.

How to create a health and safety policy

Every childcare facility or child centre must have a health and safety policy (in Dutch). You decide which risks are covered by the policy together with the pedagogical staff and the parents’ committee. Everyone employed at the facility needs to work according to the health and safety policy.

You are required to keep the health and safety policy up to date. You need to adapt the policy accordingly when something in your facility changes, or when your policy falls short of its intended purpose.

Main health and safety policy requirements

In your health and safety policy you should address:

• how you address the main risks with serious consequences for the health and safety of the children
• how to limit risks which might create unsafe or unhealthy situations for children under your care and how you take action in case such a situation occurs
• how your pedagogical staff teach the children to deal with small risks
• how you minimise the risk of transgressive behaviour on the part of both adults and children
• how you create, implement and evaluate your health and safety policy with your pedagogical staff
• how you explain the procedures laid out by the policy to the pedagogical staff, interns, volunteers, and parents
• in the case of childcare centres, how you apply the four-eyes principle
• in the case of just 1 pedagogical employee on hand, how you handle emergency support (achterwachtregeling)

Risk Assessment and Evaluation (RI&E)

In addition to your health and safety policy, you must also describe which risks exist and how you can prevent or minimise those risks. This a Risk Assessment and Evaluation (RI&E).