Are there Food Safety Requirements for a Childcare Provider?
The Environmental Health Association of Ireland (EHAI) recommends that where a childcare service provides food to children, relevant staff are required to have food safety training.
The childcare provider needs to have a HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point) Food Safety System in place.
Your food safety management system allows you to identify and control any hazards that could pose a danger to the preparation of safe food. It helps you to:
- identify what can go wrong
- plan to prevent it
- make sure you are doing it.
According to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), If you are responsible for developing and maintaining your business’s HACCP based procedures then you must undertake adequate training in the application of HACCP principles.
HACCP training is a requirement
What Level of Food Safety Training Do Our Staff Need?
The Food Safety (HACCP) Level 1 course is ideal for those with no previous experience, with light food handling duties and/or performing low-risk duties (such as waiters, baristas, caregivers, kitchen porters, deli shop assistants, etc.).
This is the recommended level for all food handlers, or those working in a kitchen setting, who do not have management responsibility for HACCP.
Food Safety HACCP Level 3 defines food safety skills for management and is aimed specifically towards Catering Managers, Supervisors, Executive and Head Chefs within the Hospitality Industry, Industrial and Institutional Catering Units, along with the Health Sector, Retail Sector and Delis.There should be at least one food worker with Food Safety HACCP Level 3 on duty in a food premises.
Managers, Owners, need to be able to manage HACCP systems. They should also have a good understanding of how to implement a HACCP Programme for their workplace. All food businesses are required by law to have a food safety management system in place based on the principles of HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point).
What Can Myelearnsafety Do for You?
Contact Myelearnsafety, HACCP Food Safety Training Consultants can be contacted for free HACCP Food Safety Advice and Guidance.
Telephone the office @ 01 278 1938 – As for Shane or Cormac
Top Challenges That Early Childcare Educators Face
We at Elearn are always looking to share valuable information with our followers. The Houses of the Oireachtas have written a very informative Report on the Working Conditions of the Early Years Education and Care.
Early Childcare Educators Challenges
Training and Upskilling
vi) The Role of State Funded Training Agencies in Improving Quality Standards Training organisations offering accredited childcare training programmes have a crucial role to play in ensuring the high standard of training on offer. Training organisations need to be fully committed to providing the best quality training programmes for the early years workforce. Those facilitating programmes must hold the appropriate skills, experience and qualifications and regularly access continuing professional development themselves to keep updated in early childhood policy and practice.
Quality assurance standards should be consistently applied and all early childhood care and education programme content should be current, relevant and fit for purpose. Training organisations should also ensure that there are sufficient places available on part-time courses so that the early childhood workforce can combine work and study while progressing to levels 7 and above on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). Systems of Recognition for Prior Learning (RPL) should be in place to recognise and reward the skills base developed by staff working in the sector, who require formally recognised qualifications, over a number of years.
Both education and training appear to be better predictors of childcare quality than practitioner’s age, work experience or professionalism. The fact that childcare providers who continuously participate in training offer higher quality care than providers who attended training sporadically is also evident. In Ireland, most training currently supported by State funding in the Early Childhood sector focuses on the ECCE scheme, with less training or development offered for those working with children under three years of age (e.g. Leadership for Inclusion (LINC) training). It was highlighted by practitioners that the level of supports available to those working with children over three should be available to those working with under 3s, and that there cannot be an inequality in relation to supports available. Such inequality serves only to disadvantage both staff and children….. Continue reading
If you are interested in Childcare Courses to up-skill yourself or your colleagues/employees, take a look at our ChildCare Package overview here where we have bundled all the course requirement for early childcare educators for your connivance at a cheaper price then taking all the courses separately.
Children First Legislation
We at Elearn are always looking to share valuable information with our followers. The Department of Children and Youth affairs have written a very informative piece on the Childrens First Legislation, which is the Childrens First Act 2015, this act provides for a number of key child protection measures.
Children First Legislation
The Children First Act 2015 (the Act), which was signed into law on 19 November 2015, puts elements of the Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children on a statutory footing. The legislation was a key Programme for Government commitment, and forms part of a suite of child protection legislation which includes the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts, 2012-2016 and the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012.
The Act provides for a number of key child protection measures, as follows:
• A requirement on organisations providing services to children to keep children safe from harm and to produce a Child Safeguarding Statement;
• A requirement on defined categories of persons (mandated persons) to report child protection concerns over a defined threshold to the Child and Family Agency;
• A requirement on mandated persons to assist the Child and Family Agency in the assessment of a child protection risk, if requested to do so by the Agency;
• Putting the Children First Interdepartmental Implementation Group on a statutory footing.
The Act also includes a provision which abolished the common law defence of reasonable chastisement in relation to corporal punishment… Continue reading
Safety tips for Childcare Providers and Parents
We would all love to spend our time with our kids but unfortunately thats not always feasible for everyone. Childcare is an option for many parents however we can all appreciate the worry of leaving your children with strangers for the first while.
The best way to levitate some of the parents worry is to have strict safety policies that all childcare providers follow and educate parents on these policies Having this in place for day to day activities and routines and also for emergencies will have everyone, both parents and the childcare providers, ready for any event and reduce potential accidents.
According to The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents ROSPA – On average 62 children under the age of five died as a result of an accident and over 76,000 under the age of 14 are admitted for treatment of which over 40% are under 5 years of age.
We have listed some of the top safety concerns and solutions to each;
Staff undertrained for medical emergencies
Concern
Parents want to feel like they are leaving their children in a safe environment. An environment that will act fast and effectively if any injuries or emergencies occur. The single beat way to improve the safety procedures in a childcare facility is to put processes in place to prevent injury. Prevention is key to a safe environment.
Solution
All staff should undergo Paediatric First Aid training. Legislation requires that all registered childcare providers are trained in First Aid for children and are readily available to the children. Paediatric first aid is also a very informative and useful course to have if you are a parent of young children. All creches should have regular checks and drills to make sure all staff are up the date with training and following procedures. A refresher course in Paediatric First Aid training should be taken at least once a year so staff are confident in emergencies.
Please see our Paediatric First Aid training course here.
Food Safety
Concern
Accidental poisoning is the leading cause of illness and death in young children.
Solution
Understanding the legislation and importance around food hygiene, how to identify food safety hazards and understand proper waste management and cleaning procedures.
Please see our Food Safety training course here.
Fire Safety
Concern
Failure to properly prepare for a Fire Emergency. Where do the children go? Who is responsible for leading them out and who is responsible for doing a head count etc..
Solution
Every child care facility should have a fire emergency procedure plan. This should cover fires starting from all areas of the facility and to have multiple fire exits routes in place and kept clear. Child care facilities should;
- Have regular fire drills for evacuation practise and keep a log of them
- Have multiple fire extinguishers and smoke detectors- these should be inspected on a regular basis
- Keep fire doors closed
- Fire first aid kit on hand
Please see our Fire Safety training course here.
Here at Elearn we have put together a childcare training package for your convenience. Our childcare package offers to those who work in the industry and to those who have young children at home. This package includes an introduction into the four core safety training modules that are required when working with and looking after young children.
This package includes the courses listed above and also Manual Handling for your staff to prevent staff injuries which is a safety concern for your employees and also leads to sick leave. For more information on our childcare package click here.