If you have just started your own day care business, you will want to do whatever possible to keep the children you are watching out of harm's way. There are several different precautionary steps you can take to keep your day care facility safe. Here are a few safety precautions you should have set up within your daycare to keep your students safe.
Employee Safety
Since the children you will be watching will need to be kept safe, the employees you decide to hire will make a huge difference. Never hire an employee without doing background and criminal checks beforehand. Interview all potential helpers yourself to make sure they have a disposition that will work well with small children.
Each employee should have prior experience with children and be able to handle emergencies. Have your employees take a CPR class if they are not certified and hold a safety refresher course so they are aware of what types of emergencies may occur, as well as the proper reaction they should give.
When hiring, make sure you have enough help for the number of children you intend on having in the facility. It is a good rule of thumb to have at least one employee for three infants or one employee for six toddlers. This will ensure the children are within view of an employee at all times, giving them a better chance of avoiding injury.
Fire Safety
Fire alarms should be placed in several spots throughout your facility to ensure children and teachers can get to safety if there is a fire in the building. Have a professional put the alarm system in place. Smoke detectors should also be placed in each room in your day care facility. Hold a session to explain to children the importance of fire safety. Teach children when a fire alarm should be pulled and what to do if they hear an alarm. Hold evacuation procedure practices every week so children will learn where to go and how to act if an alarm goes off.
Stranger Safety
Make sure you have a procedure in place for pickup of the children in your day care facility. If a parent allows someone else to come pick up their child, their credentials should be confirmed before releasing the child into their care. Strict guidelines should be in place regarding the allowance of outsiders into the facility itself. For the safety of the children, no one should be scheduled to tour the school during school hours.
For more information, you might consider contacting a day care in your area like Mendon Child Care Ctr to see how they handle safety.
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