CACHE LEVEL 3 AWARD IN PREPARING TO WORK IN HOME-BASED CHILDCARE

(ASSIGNMENT)

1.2 SUMMARIZE CURRENT LEGISLATION AND GUIDELINES

RELATING TO:

a. The Health and Safety of Children

b. The Safeguarding, Protection and Welfare of Children
c. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

1. The Health and Safety of Children

The Health and Safety of a child is vital, and I will, therefore, summarize the following
procedures that I have put together below:

All childcare settings and educational establishments must ensure that children are not at risk of
danger, accidents, harm, or injury. Keeping children healthy and safe is at the heart of children's
care, learning, and development.

The Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) requires employers and employees to take
responsibility to keep themselves and others in the premises safe from any harm or risk of
danger. Every educational and child care setting or establishments are responsible for creating a
safe and healthy indoor and outdoor environment for all children, staff, parents, and visitors
alike.

2. The Safeguarding, Protection and Welfare of Children

This policy will reflect the legal obligations of the current statutory framework and be in line
with the guidance and procedures of my own Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB). I
must also include an explanation of the action to be taken in the event of an allegation being
made against me and cover the use of mobile phones and cameras.
It is a reality that in the Children Act of 2004 and Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018,
it defines the protection of kids and younger people’s welfare as follows:

 Protecting kids from maltreatment;

 Preventing impairment of kids’ fitness or development;
 Ensuring that kids are growing in instances consistent with the delivery of secure and
legal care; an
 Creating surroundings or environment that allows all kids to achieve the best results.

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  Years of experience has shown that protecting children is an important task geared
towards shielding younger ones who are suffering, or are probably to go through the pain
and considerable harm.
 Protective action may be needed to shield children and guardians from neglect, sexual
abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, prejudice-based bullying, (including online
bullying).
 Besides, racist, disability and homophobic or transphobic abuse, gender-based
violence/violence against women and girls and extremist behaviours must all be avoided
against children.

3. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Equality, diversity and inclusion can be practised in the following ways :

By giving the children equal opportunity to reach their full potential;
By not giving one child more attention and support and discriminate against the other;
By behaving professionally at all times, especially where children are involved. For
instance, not at all times would children need adults to teach, guide, and support them as
they grow and learn.
By always remembering what is important to me in life. i.e. remembering that love is the
most important thing in my life.

Love is necessary as air – we exist within it, almost without noticing it. Love is the driver
for all great stories-not just romantic love, but the love of a parent for a child, for family,
and loved ones around me.

The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981

These Regulations require employers to provide adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities
and personnel to ensure their employees receive immediate attention if they are injured or taken
ill at work. The 1981 Regulations apply to all workplaces including those with less than five
employees and to the self-employed.

What would be termed ‘adequate and appropriate’ will depend on the circumstances in the
workplace. This includes whether trained first-aiders are needed, what should be included in a
first-aid box and if a first-aid room is required at the workplace.

Employers are encouraged, as a matter of policy, to carry out an assessment of first-aid needs to
determine what to provide at their place of work.

The Regulations do not place a legal duty on employers to make first-aid provision for children
in schools. Nonetheless, HSE strongly recommends that non-employees are included in an
assessment of first-aid needs and that provision is made for them.

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All employers are compelled to complete a first aid risk assessment which should include the
following:

 The nature of their work and workplace hazards and risks.

 The size of the setting.
 The nature of their workforce.
 The accidents and lone workers history in the organization.
 The annual leave record along with other absences.
 The first aid provision available for non-employees.
 The needs of travelling, for both remote and lone workers.
Suffice it to say that there is no one solution to all businesses as each business needs to look at
the guidelines in the regulations and carry out risk assessments to ensure they meet or exceed the
recommendations featured in The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations document.

Reporting of Injuries, Disease and Dangerous Occurrence Regulations (RIDDOR) 2013

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013, also termed
as RIDDOR, is a 2013 statutory document of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It monitors
the statutory obligation to report deaths, injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences, including
near misses, that takes place at work.

RIDDOR requires "responsible persons" to report deaths at work, major injuries, injuries to
persons not at work that require hospital treatment, injuries arising from accidents in hospitals,
and dangerous occurrences.

In this context, ‘Responsible person’ may be employers and various managers and occupiers of
premises at the place of work. Though the regulations do not impose a specific obligation on
employees, they have a general obligation under some sections of the Health and Safety at Work
Act 1974.

The Health and Safety Executive recommends that employees report incidents to their employer
and encourages voluntary notification to the relevant regulating authority. Breach of the
regulations is a crime, punishable on summary conviction with a specified fine.

If offence is proven beyond all doubt on indictment in the Crown Court, an offender can be
sentenced to an unlimited fine. Either an individual or a corporation can be punished and
sentencing practice is published by the Sentencing Guidelines Council within the UK.

Safeguarding-
The National Care Standards Act 2000

The Care Standards Act 2000 (CSA) was enacted in April 2002, to provide for the administration
of a variety of care institutions, including children's homes, independent hospitals, nursing
homes and residential care homes.

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The (CSA) replaced the Registered Homes Act 1984 and parts of the Children Act 1989, which
pertains to the care and accommodation of children.

In a UK document put together by The Stationery Office Limited under the authority and
superintendence of Carol Tullo, Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office and Queen’s
Printer of Acts of Parliament, it stated that,

For the purpose of this Act,

(1) to provide accommodation, together with nursing or personal care, for any of the following
persons.

(a) those who are or have been ill;

(b) those who have or have had a mental disorder;
(c) those who are disabled or infirm;
(d) those who are or have been dependent on alcohol or drugs.

(2) The Act states that an establishment is not a care home if it is one of the following—
“(a) a hospital;
(b) an independent clinic; or
(c) a children’s home, or if it is of a description excepted by regulations.” UKPGA (2000)

Again, at ‘Where You Stand,’ a valuable resource on the web, the publisher highlights the
importance and reach of the Act, stating as follows:

 That Local authorities will be regulated and be expected to meet the same care standards
as independent sector providers.
 That agencies that provide personal care are the only agencies to be registered.
 National minimum care standards, and standards regarding staffing levels is also
introduced into the Act.
 a general social care council for England and a Care Council for Wales was established
by The Act.
 Qualification framework, with N.V.Q targets set for managers and care staff are
regulations introduced.
 Through codes of conduct and practice the councils will register social care workers,
regulate the training of social workers and raise standards in social care.
 Registration of Domiciliary care agencies will be mandatory. Any organisation arranging
for people in their homes to receive personal care must be registered under The Act.
 Registration of all Adult Placement services will be mandatory as a matter of policy.
The Children Act 1989

“The Children Act 1989 is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament which allocates duties to local
authorities, courts, parents, and other agencies in the United Kingdom, to ensure children are
safeguarded and their welfare is promoted.” Wikipedia (2020).

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The primary aim of the Act is that it “addresses a wide range of issues concerning parents and
children.” Journal of Interprofessional (1992)

Positive attitudes and support for families are what the Act aims to achieve and to create more
effective powers to protect children, while safeguarding parental/guardian interests and
encouraging parental responsibility.

A brief breakdown of the Act shows that it is divided into six (6) sections namely:

 Part 1: Introduction
 Part 2: Orders with respect to children in family proceedings
 Part 3: Local authority support for children and families
 Part 4: Care and supervision
 Part 5: Protection of children
 Part 6: Community Homes

The Act states that children's welfare should be the number one concern of the courts. It reveals
that the court needs to think of the following factors:

 The wishes of any child

 The physical, emotional and educational need of a child
 The age of the child
 The gender of the child
 Background circumstances of any child
 Any harm the child has suffered or is likely to suffer
 The ability of parents to meet the need of the child
 The effect of any change on the child.

In part two of the Act where different orders are fully explained, these orders include the
following:

Prohibited steps order: This section of the Act reduces the authority of parents from exercising
their full parental responsibility without consent of the court.

Residence order/Child arrangement order: Makes the arrangement possible for whom a child
should live with under this Act.

Specific issue order: This section deals with the directions given from the court to address a
query that has arisen regarding parental responsibility for a child.

Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018

In an attempt to develop the working together to safeguard children, I discovered that the Assets
publishing services defines safeguard clearly as:

 shielding children from maltreatment

 to prevent the impairment of a child’s health or development

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  to ensure that children grow up in circumstances that adheres to the provision of safe and
effective care
 as taking action to enable all children to have the best result in life.

Wikipedia on the other hand defines safeguarding as:

a term used to denote measures to protect the health, well-being and human rights of individuals,
which allow people — especially children, young people and vulnerable adults — to live free
from abuse, harm and neglect.

While explaining the major changes in this new legislation, Wirral Safeguarding on its page on
the web stated that there are a number of significant changes in the new guidance from the
previous version which are:

 that Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCB’s) will be replaced by new multi-
agency safeguarding arrangements in local areas established by three statutory
safeguarding partners, made up of the Local authority, the Police and the local Clinical
Commissioning Group.
 that changes to the current process for Serious Case Reviews will be replaced by local
and national child safeguarding practice reviews in the Act.
 that the child death review process will sets will be changed to be the responsibility of
the child death review partners (the Local Authority and Clinical Commissioning
Group).

The document on safeguarding children also states the responsibilities of different organizations
that has to do with children to include among other things the following:

 Assessing Need and Providing Help

 Organisational Responsibilities
 Multi-agency Safeguarding Arrangements
 Improving Child Protection and Safeguarding Practice
 Child Death Reviews

For instance, a closer look at improving child protection and safeguarding practice (point [iv]
above), the 2018 legislation states that this new Child Safeguarding Review Panel will consider
all notifications of serious incidence. It defines ‘a serious incidence’ as one where the local
authority knows or suspects that a child has been abused or neglected and:

(a) that the child dies or he/she is seriously harmed in the local authority’s area: or

(b) that the child dies or he/she is seriously harmed outside of England, while normally resident
in the local authority’s area.

 will decide whether cases will be reviewed as a national child safeguarding practice
review. This is because Safeguarding partners are required to identify cases to be
reviewed locally and keep a dialogue with the Panel

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  Cases of national significance will be commissioned by the Panel including appointment
of an independent reviewer, as local reviews will be commissioned by the safeguarding
partners.
 Following notification of a serious incident, safeguarding partners are required to
undertake a rapid review of the case.
The rapid review is designed to gather the facts of the case and consider whether a
detailed review is likely to neglect learning. The completed review must be shared with
the Panel as a matter of policy.

Equality-
The Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom with the primary purpose
of combining, updating and supplementing the numerous prior Acts and Regulations, that formed
the basis of anti-discrimination law within the UK.

The Equality Act of 2010 has replaced the Equal Pay Act of 1970, Sex Discrimination Act of
1975, Race Relations Act of 1976, Disability Discrimination Act 1995, Employment Equality
(Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations
2003, and the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations of 2006.

“The Act protects people against discrimination, harassment or victimisation in the place of
work, and as users of private and public services based on nine protected characteristics which
include age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and
maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.” Docplayer (2020).

In many quarters, most concerned practitioners may be wondering how their settings can comply
with the Act. As a matter of policy many settings are already complying with parts, (if not the
entire part) of the Act in developing their practice over the years to take account of the
following:

 the Early Years Foundation Stage required by the Act

 previous anti-discriminatory legislation
 OFSTED inspection requirements

Naturally, every setting will have its own particular circumstances. Depending on these
circumstances, each will need to consider how best they can take action to comply with the Act.

In my opinion, those which are not subject to the duty should consider taking steps that are
recommended for compliance with the duty as this will assist them in complying with the anti-
discrimination provisions of the Act.

Disability discrimination act 2005- How it is integrated into the Equality act 2010

The Disability Discrimination Act (often referred to as the DDA) was introduced in 1995 to end
discrimination against people with disabilities. It has been continually expanded and revised over

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the years, with the most recent change being in 2005. It covers a number of areas, these include:
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 Employment
 Education
 Access to Goods, facilities and services
 Buying or renting land/property
 Functions of public bodies

Defining Disability

The DDA defines disability as physical and mental impairments. People who had a disability in
the past that meets this definition are also covered by the Act.

Discrimination defined

The DDA states that there are two forms of unlawful discrimination. These are:

 That to treat a disabled person less favourably is unlawful. If this is done for a reason that
relates to his or her disability than someone to whom that reason does not apply, unless
there is justification for this treatment.
 Not making reasonable adjustments to assist a disabled person is unlawful, unless there is
justification for that failure.

Meanwhile, “the Equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination on the basis of age,
gender reassignment, sex (i.e. man or woman), race, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity,
marriage and civil partnership, sexual orientation and disability. These are called the protected
characteristics of the Act.” Royal College of Nursing, (2020)

From the foregoing, a clear mind can see a very close link between the Disability discrimination
act 2005 and how it is integrated into the Equality act 2010, since both serve exactly the same
purpose. To me, a violation of one of the acts, violates the other and vise-versa.

Race Relations Act 1976-How it is integrated into the Equality act 2010

The Wikipedia online page says this about the Race Relations Act 1976:
The Parliament of the United Kingdom established The Race Relations Act 1976 to prevent
discrimination on the grounds of race. This includes discrimination on the grounds of race,
colour, nationality, ethnic and national origin in areas of employment, the provision of goods and
services, education and public functions.

With a view to review the legislation, The Act also established the Commission for Racial
Equality which was put in place to make sure the regulations were adhered to. The Act
incorporates the earlier Race Relations Act 1965 and Race Relations Act 1968 and was later
amended by the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000. Notably this includes a statutory duty on

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public bodies to promote race equality, and to demonstrate that procedure to prevent race
discrimination are effective.

With the Equality Act 2010, The Act was repealed. This goes to show that The Equality Act
2010 supersedes and consolidates previous discrimination law in the UK.

The last sentence above explicitly explains how the Race Relations act 1976 was integrated into
the Equality Act 2010.

The Equality Act 2010 explains that one must not be discriminated against because of race. For
instance, in The Equality Act, race can mean one’s colour or nationality. It can also mean one’s
ethnic or national origin, which may not be the same as one’s current nationality. For instance,
one may have Canadian national origin and be living in Britain with a British passport.

Discrimination against race can be two-fold, namely direct discrimination and indirect
discrimination.

Direct discrimination: This is a situation where someone treats one person worse than the other
person in a similar situation because of their race. For example, if a shop owner would not sell
an item to a person because of his/her race, this would be described as a direct race
discrimination.

Indirect discrimination: This happens when an organized establishment has a particular policy
that puts people of a racial group at a disadvantage. For instance, a school refuses to employ a
qualified professional because his race grows beards. This would put any Muslim man at a
disadvantage when applying for a position as a teacher in that school.

REFERENCES

Healthline (2013) Administration of medication [online] Available at

https://www.healthline.com/health/administration-of-medication#training by Christine Case-Lo
(Accessed 22 August 2020)

York Hospitals (2011) Preparing Formula Feeds [online] Available at

https://www.yorkhospitals.nhs.uk/seecmsfile/?id=1003 (Accessed 24 August 2020)

NHS (2019) Sterilising Baby Bottles [online] Available at

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/sterilising-bottles/ (Accessed 24 August
2020)

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Norcal Compactors-Compactor Management Company (2020) Waste Disposal Methods [online]
Available at https://www.norcalcompactors.net/waste-disposal-methods/ (Accessed 24 August
2020)

Scribd (2020) Procedures to Follow In the Event of Accidents [online] Available at

https://www.scribd.com/document/218567134/policies (Accessed 23 August 2020)

Pacey (2017) Policy on Accident and Emergency [online] Available at

https://www.pacey.org.uk/Pacey/media/Website-
files/Sample%20policies/Sample_Policy_Accident_and_EmergencyApr-17-Childminders.doc
(Accessed 21 August 2020)

Health and Safety Executive (2010) The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 [online] Available
at
https://www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid/legislation.htm#:~:text=The%20Health%20and%20Safety%20(First,or%
20taken%20ill%20at%20work. (Accessed 24 August 2020)

Health and Safety Executive (2010) Reporting accidents and incidents at work [online] Available at
https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg453.htm#:~:text=From%201%20October%202013%20the,related%
20accidents%20which%20cause%20deaths (Accessed 17th August 2020)

UKPGA (2000) National Care Standards Act 2000 [online] Available at

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/14/pdfs/ukpga_20000014_en.pdf (p.8) (Accessed 24th
August 2020)

Oshcr (2015) RIDDOR – Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations [online]
Available athttps://www.oshcr.org/riddor-reporting-of-injuries-diseases-and-dangerous-occurrences-
regulations/ (Accessed 21st August 2020)

Where You Stand (2020) National Care Standards Act 2000 [online] Available at
https://www.whereyoustand.org/adults/care-standards (Accessed 24th August 2020)

Journal of Interprofessional Care Volume 6, (1992) The inter-agency implications of the

Children Act 1989 [online] Available at
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/13561829209014930#:~:text=The%20Children%20Act%
201989%20addresses,interests%20and%20encouraging%20parental%20responsibility. (Accessed 18th
August 2020)

Delta (2019) The Children Act 1089 Health & Safety Knowledge Base | Safeguarding [online] Available at
https://www.delta-net.com/health-and-safety/safeguarding/faqs/what-is-the-children-act-1989
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Assets (2018) Working Together to Safeguard Children [online] available at
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file
/779401/Working_Together_to_Safeguard-Children.pdf pp. 5-6, (Accessed 23rd August
2020)

Wikipedia (2020) Safeguarding [online] available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safeguarding

(Accessed 24th August 2020)

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