Potential hazard

Who is at risk?

Control measures

Risk rating

How is the person at risk?

Corona Virus Covid-19

BIOLOGICAL

The virus is spread in minute water droplets that are expelled from the body through sneezing, coughing, talking and breathing. Too many staff in the building will result in social distancing measures not being maintained increasing the potential for serious illness or death

Staff,

Staff should work from home if at all possible (Consider who is needed to be on-site , safe Facilities Management, or regulatory requirements which cannot be performed remotely); Plan for the minimum number of people needed on-site to operate safely and effectively etc; Monitoring the wellbeing of people who are working from home and helping them stay connected to the rest of the workforce, especially if the majority of their colleagues are on-site; Keeping in touch with off-site workers regarding their working arrangements including their welfare, mental and physical health and personal security; Providing equipment for people to work safely and effectively, for example.

Enhanced cleaning regimes and PPE put in place.

A fogger disinfectant machine to be used at the end of every shift.

High

Staff not taking adequate precautions personally and picking up the virus from surfaces etc that have become contaminated; increasing the potential for serious illness or death

Staff that are not able to maintain social distancing when physical meetings are absolutely necessary, increase the potential of contracting the virus which, in turn, increases the potential for serious illness or death.

Staff and children

Only essential staff or key workers should attend the nursery; Parents have been notified they cannot enter the building unless essential or emergency  and  visit should be kept as short as possible; Social distancing should be maintained throughout; Objects such as stationery should wiped down frequently with disinfectant.; Meetings should be held in a well-ventilated room whenever possible or ideally outdoors;.;

Install additional hand sanitisers, including at entrances and exits (NB: do not install near electrical items); Cleaning work areas and equipment frequently; Have signage and posters to provide regular reminders to staff to maintain hygiene standards; Removing all personal waste and belongings from the work area at the end of each shift; Washing your hands often and thoroughly; Avoiding touching your face: particularly your eyes, nose and mouth; Coughing or sneezing into a tissue and binning it safely and immediately, or into the crook of your elbow if a tissue is not available; Do not share stationery such as pens

Hand sanitisers are provided around the nursery  and staff keep a bottle in their apron. Surface cleaner (spray or wipes) and towels will be provided so that surfaces like tables and chairs can be cleaned frequently and staff have their own area they are responsible for throughout the day

Purchased a fogger machine to be used every evening after children and most staff have gone home.

High

Staff that are not able to maintain social distancing when physical meetings are absolutely necessary, increase the potential of contracting the virus which, in turn, increases the potential for serious illness or death.

Not being able to maintain social distancing in communal areas of a building increases the potential of staff contracting the virus and becoming ill

 Staff and children

Workstations will be spaced out; Hazard tape for floor marking marked out to help staff socially distance

Working back to back or side to side with children and staff (rather than face to face) where possible; Introducing one-way systems to reduce instances of staff having to pass each other in close proximity; Staff receive training on the areas around nursery such as the kitchen only having one member of staff in at a time , break areas, toilets,; Encourage staff to bring cold drinks/ flasks and cold food items to limit time and use of equipment in the kitchen areas.

Continued homeworking if possible; Only 2 persons allowed in the office at a  time; Printers, stationery, measurement equipment etc.could be located in another room so staff don’t need to access the working office areas; Where there is more than 1 team in the building, is it possible to coordinate specific days for individual teams to all be in. If needing to cross rooms of working masks should be worn and adhere to socially distancing at all times.

High

Not taking adequate precautions themselves and picking up virus from surfaces etc that have become contaminated, increasing the potential for serious illness or death

Contracting virus from face to face interactions between staff and public/ visitors. Virus is spread in minute water droplets that are expelled from the body through sneezing, coughing, talking and breathing.

Staff

Parents

Visitors

children

Wash hands frequently with soap and water for 20 seconds; Use alcohol based hand rub where available if no access to soap and water; Washing hand stations allocated before entry outdoors for children to wash before entering. No parents allowed past the nursery door. Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands; Not come to work if they or a household member has symptoms of COVID-19 (follow the stay at home guidance); Follow the social distancing advice; Wherever possible, avoid direct contact with people that have a respiratory illness and avoid using their personal items such as their mobile phone; Cover the nose and mouth with a disposable tissue when sneezing, coughing, wiping and blowing the nose. Dispose of all used tissues promptly into a waste bin. If you don’t have any tissues available, they should cough and sneeze into the crook of their elbow.

High

Not taking adequate precautions themselves and picking up virus from surfaces etc that have become contaminated.

Picking up virus from surfaces etc that have become contaminated. Poor ventilation, lack of fresh air or an increased concentration if the virus is being carried by someone who is not yet showing symptoms.

Staff

Children

Routine cleaning and disinfection of frequently touched objects and surfaces (e.g. telephones, keyboards, door handles, desks and tables); Ensure regular environmental cleaning is done; Promote frequent hand hygiene by making sure that staff, service users , children and visitors have access to hand washing facilities and where available alcohol based hand rub; Ensure any crockery and cutlery in shared kitchen areas is cleaned with warm general purpose detergent and dried thoroughly before being stored for re-use; Ensure staff have the space to allow for appropriate distancing between colleagues when working/moving around. This can include floor markings to encourage people to stand a safe distance back from staff and ensuring staff have appropriately staggered breaks; Ensure good ventilation by keeping windows open where possible and not closing doors for small rooms (unless someone is presenting symptoms).

Staff and children to use the outdoors as frequently as possible for learning to reduce the risk of contamination.