Risk Management

Plan for Child Day

Care Center
 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Purpose
The purpose of this document is to define the risk management processes and procedures, for (Child’s
Home)

1.2 Scope of this document

This document provides information on:
 risk management principles
 risk management process
 risk reporting

RISK MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES

1.3 What is a Risk?
A risk is defined as:
“An uncertain event, which if it occurs, will have an effect on your child care service”
A risk can have either a positive or a negative effect, however, for the purpose of this document the
management processes described will solely focus on dealing with risks that could have a negative
impact on your service.

1.4 Risks or Issues?

A risk is not an issue. An issue is defined as any functional, technical or child care service-related event
that arises requiring a satisfactory resolution for the operation of the service or program/project. An
issue is known to have already occurred and needs an immediate resolution whereas a risk has the
potential to occur. A risk, if not treated, may evolve into an issue.

RISK MANAGEMENT PROCESS

1.5 Process overview
The risk management process is a step by step systematic approach, which is designed to assist your
service in undertaking adequate assessment and planning to support the commitment of resources to
manage and treat your service’s identified service risks.
The risk management process can be divided into the following key activities:
 establish the background in relation to your service
 identification of risks
 Analyse the risks
 treat the risks
  monitor and review

Assess Risk Rating

The risk rating is derived from the estimated impact and likelihood and could be ranked according to a
matrix such as the following:

Likelihood

Rare Unlikely Possible Likely Almost certain

Severe High Very High Very High Extreme Extreme

Major Moderate High Very High Very High Extreme
Impac

Medium Moderate High High Very High Very High

t

Low Low Moderate High High Very High

Insignificant Low Low Moderate Moderate High

The risk ratings and their meaning are:

 Extreme – immediate service management involvement is required, to actively prevent
the risk occurring, to reduce the impact or both. The risk profile must be reported to the
owner of the child care service or service provider in the case of family day care
 Very High – management involvement will be required to actively prevent the risk
from occurring, to reduce the impact or both. The risk must be reported to service
director
 High – service management involvement is required
 Moderate – accept risk or manage it by routine service procedures
 Low – close this risk

1.6 Estimate impact and likelihood

The risk impact and likelihood are expressed in a form of relative (descriptive)
ratings. The impact ratings and their meaning might be:
Name Impact Description
Rating
Severe 5 Would result in catastrophic events resulting child care service
failure and financial sustainability not being realised

Major 4 Would result in significant disruption to your child care service,

resulting in the need to conduct re-planning and re-estimating
of your service’s financial forecasts. In the extreme, it may
result in the failure of your service to be financially sustainable
Medium 3 Would result in delays to your service’s operations that would
exceed existing contingencies, resulting in exceeded time
scales, for example, delays in opening additional rooms,
and/or additional budget requirements
 Low 2 Would result in delays to your service’s operations or
additional work that could be contained within existing
contingencies
Insignificant 1 Would result in negligible delays or disruption to your service’s
operations

The likelihood ratings and their meaning might be:

Name Likelihood Description
Rating
Almost 5 Is a feature of this type of child care service, or has occurred
Certain many times in recent history, or is a brand new risk that has
been identified that is imminent
Likely 4 Has occurred many times in the past, or has occurred a few
times in recent history
Possible 3 Has occurred a few times in the past, or, has occurred
infrequently in recent history
Unlikely 2 Has occurred infrequently in the past, or, a “one off” from the
past
Rare 1 Possible to occur but no known precedents

OBJECTIVES OF RISK MANAGEMENT

RISKS OBJECTIVE
Fire Protection Determining whether or not there is adequate
fire protection and detection for the child care
centre premises. That all equipment is ready
for immediate use; free from obstructions;
appropriate signage, serviced, maintained and
monitored; staff trained in its proper and safe
use.

Heating (Comfort) Heating for child care centre buildings can be varied from
electrical, gas, hydronic or oil coil radiators. Some units
may be portable, others fixed. The type of heating will
reflect the level of risk that may arise from heating
sources
Smoking Controls Poor smoking controls and butt disposal
is in the top three identifiable causes of
building fires. It is important that the
 legislative requirements be observed and
smoking controls strictly managed.
Refer: Smoke Free Legislation in your
State or Territory.

Site and Grounds The child care centre’s grounds can be subject to
damage, vandalism and unauthorised activity eg.
liquor consumption, unauthorised gatherings,
etc.
Security To help ensure the premises and site are adequately
secure against unauthorised entry that may incur
property damage and theft
Building Maintenance Well cared for buildings are less attractive to vandalism.
They represent an attitude of care and concern for the
property and “fitting in” with the neighbourhood
Legal Requirements — Building evacuation scheme approved by Fire
Service and evacuation drills completed each
term.
— Emergency plan meets emergency egress
guidelines.
— Child Care Centre Service’s licence.
Hazard risk assessments completed regularly and
recorded
Playground Equipment To ensure playground equipment is in a good state of
repair and does not pose a safety, vandalism, theft or
security threat.

Housekeeping Tidiness, cleanliness, careful storage and

a lack of congestion is an indication of
good management and helps ensure a
safe and secure environment.

Waste Management It is important that waste (rubbish-daily and weekly) be

properly and effectively controlled, to avoid being a
health hazard and a fire risk.

Hazardous Substances To raise awareness of the dangers of Hazardous

Substances eg., flammable liquids, cleaning
chemicals, paint, ground chemicals such as weed
killers, pesticides and the like, and the threat these
can pose to human health and safety as well as
property protection and safety.
Electronic (Equipment and Data) To ensure computers/equipment and electronic data is
safeguarded and secure against loss or damage
Emergency Procedures It is important that each child care centre
has in place a plan that can deal with
emergencies eg. storm and severe
winds, flood potential, fire, impact
(vehicle impact into building) etc.

Exposure to Perils (Natural/Humane Protection This section highlights the potential for natural and
human hazards to impact upon the child care centre
building(s) and their operations.

Electrical Safety Electrical sources are one of the main

identifiable cause of fires in Australia and
internationally. Extra care is required
when using heating, cooking or the use
of various portable or fixed appliances.