Health and Safety in a Childminding Setting

This is a free resource that has been designed to enable registered childminders to plan a safe environment in which children can grow and develop.

Childminders are key people who offer an important service to young children and their parents. Being entrusted with the care of a child carries with it the challenge of balancing safety with encouraging the natural curiosity and exploration which allows children to learn and develop resilience. To achieve this, registered childminders must be able to minimise risks through having in place good health and safety processes in the home. That way, children can enjoy structured self-directed everyday play activities in a home where health and safety requirements have been anticipated and planned for in advance.

The Minimum Standards for Childminding and Day Care for children under Aged 12 require childminders to have core training in Health and Safety. To enable childminders to meet this requirement, the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) has developed the App in partnership with NICMA, the Childminding Association, the HSCT Early Years Teams and Childcare Partnerships.

The free resource will help childminders

• Understand how to plan and provide environments and services that support children and young people’s health and safety
• Be able to recognise and manage risk to health, safety and security in the work-setting or outings
• Understand how to support children and young people to assess and manage risk for themselves
• Understand appropriate responses to accidents, incidents, emergencies and illness in work settings and outings.

The content of the app has been tailored specifically for childminders who are caring for children in their own homes and has been endorsed by the Health and Social Care Board (HSB) for use by registered childminders throughout Northern Ireland.