At Just like Home care, the safety and welfare of our staff and the children in our care is
paramount. It is best practice for at least two members of staff to be on duty at any one time, but situations may arise where only one member of staff will be on duty, In this case we will follow the procedures set out in this policy.
Preparation and planning
The Manager must approve all instances of lone working in advance and such instances will be recorded on the staff rota.
Parents will be notified if only one member of staff will be on duty for a session or part of a session.
A full risk assessment for lone working must be carried out before lone working is approved.
Our insurers have confirmed that our club is covered in situations when only one member of staff is on duty
In addition, an ‘on call’ person whom the member of staff can summon in an emergency will be nominated for each session. The ‘on call’ person must be able to be on site within 5 minutes.
Suitable staff
Staff members who are suitable for lone working will be approved in advance. Staff members approved for lone working must have all the relevant qualifications, training and skills.
For example:
Holds a current 12 hour paediatric first aid certificate
Has had child protection training
Has food handling and hygiene certificate
Has competent use of English
Has the necessary skills and experience to supervise the children alone
Does not have any medical condition that might affect their suitability to work alone.
Is familiar with the emergency evacuation procedure – and how this can be adapted to
lone working situations
Lone working situations
When a member of staff is working alone, they must still keep all children “within sight or
hearing at all times” as required by EYFS 2014. Therefore all essential resources must be readily to hand and not kept in a separate part of the building.
child records
emergency contact details
first aid kit
club mobile phone
any forms that may be required during a session, eg accident and incident logs, logging
concern form, collection by unknown person, visitor log, etc
spills box / cleaning products / sick bowl
If intimate care is given, a record will be made using an Incident log and parents will be asked to sign this on collection of their child.
Related policies
See also: Safeguarding policy, Emergency evacuation policy, Intimate care policy, Illness and
accidents policy, Risk assessment policy.
This policy was adopted by: Just like home childcare
Date 1st Dec 2016
To be reviewed: 1st Dec 2017
Signed
Written in accordance with the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (2014):
Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements: Child protection [3.5-3.6], Suitable people [3.19], Staff
qualifications, training, support and skills [3.25 – 3.26], Key person [3.27], Staff:child ratios [3.28-3.29,
3.40], Food and drink [3.48], Accident or injury [3.50], Premises [3.55, 3.58], Risk assessment [3.64