Activity | Hazards | Likelihood | Severity | Controls | Drawing (Arts and craft) | Sharp pencilsPaper cuts | 22 | 44 | Make sure pencils are not too sharp.Cello tape paper down to tables | Dinner time | Chocking on foodSharp utensils | 31 | 35 | Make sure food is cut up small enough for child not to choke on itDon’t leave utensils out or misplace sharp ones | Reading to children | Fall asleep and suffocateTry eating books | 11 | 35 | Make sure child doesn’t fall asleep sitting upDo not let children read books unsupervised | Taking children to toilets | Not cleaning child properlySlip on water | 32 | 34 | Making sure the child has been cleaned properly to prevent cross contaminationMake sure children are supervised | Playtime | Eat sand Weather | 23 | 43 | Make sure child is supervised at all timesMake sure child is correctly dressed at all times |

P3: Carry out a risk assessment in a health or social care setting.

M2: Assess the hazards identified in the health and social care setting.
D1: Make recommendations in relation to the identified hazards to minimise the risks to the service user group.
In this assignment I will be talking about the risk assessment that I carried out in a nursery. I will be talking about the risks that could take place and how likely it would be of the risk to take place, also I will be talking about the severity of the risk. A risk assessment is simply a careful examination of what, in your work, could cause harm to people, so that you can weigh up whether you have taken enough precautions or should do more to prevent harm. Workers and service users have the right to be protected from harm caused by a failure to take reasonable control measures (Hse.gov.uk, 2015).
Drawing (Arts and Crafts)
Sharp pencils - A child can poke their eyes with sharp pencils or another child’s eye with a sharp pencil, if they are having a fight or if they are playing with them. The sharp pencils can cause great harm if they are used in an incorrect manner as they can cause a lot of damage. I rated the likelihood of this activity to be 2 because in a nursery it would be less likely that a child would poke another child in the eye and cause harm or damage to them. However, the severity of this would be a 4 because if the child was to poke another child in the eye then that could cause a great damage to the other child eye as it could lead to them getting blind or even losing the eye in that case(Anon, 2015). As this activity has a big severity I would not allow it to take place unless all the children are supervised by more than two adults at a time. To avoid this happening the staff should ensure that pencils are not too sharp and that the children are being supervised at all times whilst using them.
Paper cuts – A child can easily get a paper cut by sliding their hands on the edges of the paper which will then lead to them cutting their hands which can then also lead to them getting an infection if it is not treated properly because dirt can get into the cut when it has not been cleaned up properly. I rated the likelihood of this activity as a 2 because it is less likely to happen in a nursery as the child will always be supervised by an adult. The severity of this would be a 4 because if the child was to get a paper cut it would then lead to an infection as the child would not know that they could get a paper cut by sliding their hands on the sides of the paper. If the child was to do this and did not tell the teacher then the child could cause themselves to get an infection or they could tell their parents at home which would then become a concern as it was not logged down and the parent was not informed about this(Anon, 2015). I would let this activity take place but in a safe manner so the child is not able to carry the paper which would then lead them to potentially getting a paper cut. To avoid this happening the staff could cello tape the paper down to the table so the child is not able to lift it or they could give the child gloves to use when they are painting so that way the child can’t cut themselves either.
Singing/dancing- whilst doing this activity a child could fall and hurt themselves which could result in them hurting themselves. Depending on how they fall the damage could vary from a low to high risk. I gave this the rate of 3 for the likelihood of it happening because in a nursey it is likely to happen if the children are not careful enough also because they are little children they would not be able to keep a steady balance for them to stay steady on their feet to prevent themselves from falling. The severity for this would also be a 3 because the harm caused would depend on how the child has fallen and how hard they have hurt themselves as they could hurt themselves very little or a lot. After assessing this activity I would not allow it to be an activity that takes place in a nursery because the children could get hurt a lot which could put their lives in danger. To avoid this I would put out mats to prevent the children from hurting themselves or I would move all objects that could cause harm to them out the way to prevent them from getting seriously hurt.

Dinner time
Chocking on food – the child could easily eat big chunks of food all at the same time which would then lead to them choking on their food which would then lead to them not breathing which would result in putting their lives in danger. The likelihood of this happening would be a 3. I have given this a three because it’s a 50/50% that the child would actually choke on the food. The severity would also be a three for this because the staff always makes sure the food is up to standards with the child and that they are able to eat the food without choking on it (Brookes.ac.uk, 2015). As this activity isn’t as dangerous I would allow it to take place in my nursery because the staff are always precautious about the food and the child’s safety. To avoid this happening the staff would have to cut the food up into small pieces and make sure the child is earing in a good manner and is taking the food in at a slow paste to prevent them from putting too much into their mouths and chocking on it.
Sharp utensils – The children could pick up any misplaced utensils, like if a knife was left out a child could easily pick it up and harm themselves or another person that is present. The likelihood of this happening would be a 1 because the staff would have to be extra careful in a nursery when cooking and leaving utensils out and if they do they have to leave them in a high area where the children cannot reach them. However the severity of this happening would be a 5 because if the child was to get hold of knife they could put their own life in critical danger as well as another child’s or even a staff members (Brookes.ac.uk, 2015). I would personally have all cooking done away from the children so that they are not able to get hold of utensils so I would allow this activity with that change being made. The two things that I would control in this activity is that not letting the children be anywhere near the kitchen area and making sure staff are extra careful with where they are placing utensils and making sure the table tops are higher than the children.
Reading to children
Suffocation – the risk that can arise from this is that the child could fall asleep on their stomachs whilst a story is being read out to them which can then lead to them suffocating (Capt.org.uk, 2015). The likelihood of this happening would be a 1 because at a young age the child is more active than tired so during a story they may get bored and start playing with other toys also they could fall asleep on their backs in they are lying down before the story has started. The severity of this happening has been rated 5 because if the child was to fall asleep flat on their stomach and their face was in the cushion then they could stop breathing which could then end to the child risking their life if the staff member does not see them and turn them around. I would not allow this activity to take place in the nursery because it is too risky and kittle things like the child sleeping on his front could go a miss very easily and if it was allowed then the story time would have to be very short and simple to not slow the child to actually fall asleep. To avoid this from happening the staff could make sure that the children are all lying on their back or sides when the story is being read out or they could check that all children are lying or sleeping in a position they are able to breathe with.
Eating books - The children could possibly pick up books and start ripping the paper out of them and eat the paper or get paper cuts. The likelihood of a child trying to eat a book would be 1 because it is less likely to happen in a children’s nursery as the staff hardly have any books out in a nursery and when they do they make sure the child is supervised at all times. The severity of this happening would be a 5 because if the child did eat the paper and swallow it then it could cause harm to the child by preventing them to breathe. I would not let this activity take place in a nursery because it could put the child’s life in danger or the child could get paper cuts which can then also lead to infections if the cut is not treated properly. To avoid this happening I would have the children supervised at all times when books are handed out and I would make sure that the child is not picking the book up or ripping paper out of the book.
Taking children to the toilet.
Child not properly being cleaned up - This could happen a lot if the staff member is not paying attention properly and not cleaning the child up properly which can then lead to infection due to cross contamination(Child-smile.org.uk, 2015). The likelihood of this happening would be a 3 as there is a 50-50% chance of it happening in a nursery because the child are on little and they do not know how to clean themselves properly yet. Similarly, the severity could also be 3 because there is also a 50-50%chance that the infection could be really bad or it could be a mild infection. To avoid this happening the staff could make sure the child is always supervised appropriately when they go the toilets and make sure they are washing hands properly. Also the staff could make sure they are disposing nappies and used wipes properly, cleaning hands and wiping the nappy change after each child has used it.
Slip on water- The child could be washing their hands in the toilets and create a puddle of water on the floor which they could later slip on and fall and badly hurt themselves. The likelihood of this happening in a nursery would be 2 because the children are most likely to play with the water once they have gone to wash their hands which would then result into a puddle of water on the floor. The severity of this would be a 4 because the child could slip on the puddle which could then result to them either hitting their face or head off the sink which could then make them bleed or cause severe damage to them or the child could fall and hit their face off of the ground which could also cause great harm to them. To avoid this all pupils should be supervised by an adult when they go to wash their hands or use the toilets so that they can make sure the children are safe and they are not creating puddles, if they do so then the staff member should put a sign up so the children and other staff members are aware of it.
Playtime
Eat sand – In this activity the child is most likely to go outside to the play area and eat sand. A lot of children do it which could lead to the child having an upset stomach or even choking on it (Chait, 2015). The likelihood of this happening would be a 4 because most children thing that it’s good to eat sand or dirt off the floor. It’s a really big common thing that children do it. However, the severity of this activity would be a 4 because the child could get really ill after doing it and be left with an upset stomach or even get really ill. I would not allow the children to be playing with sand as it creates a huge risk in their life and could affect their health. To avoid this happening I would make sure that there is staff always present by the sand pit area to ensure that children are not eating sand or even trying to eat the sand. I would also, not let the children play in the sand area too much or make them wear gloves whilst they are playing in that area because then that will prevent them from putting sand into their mouths.
Weather - The weather could affect a child’s health a lot, especially with the weather change. Many children fall ill during the weather change and its most common for little children to get ill quicker as their immune system is not that strong at that age. The likelihood of the child falling ill would be a 3 because it depends on the child’s body and which season it is as the different season affect different children. The severity of this would also be a 3 because all children are different and they have different needs and the season change can affect the children in different ways which makes them require different medical attention. I would allow this activity to take place as long as in the summer the children are using sun cream to protect their skin and in the winter/ autumn they are dressed up warm enough to go play outside and not get ill. To avoid the child getting ill in any way I would advise parents to put sun lotion on children to prevent them from getting any type of sun burn and for the colder days I would advise them to make sure they have dressed their children up warm and have given them scarfs, gloves, hats and coats to keep themselves warm.
In conclusion I think risk assessments are highly important as they help you protect your staff and service users and ensure they are safe at all times. They also make you aware of what risks can occur in the nursery. Then after you have done the risk assessment you can see how severe the risk is and what are the likelihoods of the risk. After that you can make recommendations to what can be done to get rid of the risk or if you cannot get rid of it then what you can do minimise the risk.

References
Anon, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.bartoncamp.co.uk/pdfs/Risk%20Assessment%20-%20Arts%20and%20Crafts.pdf [Accessed 19 Nov. 2015].
Brookes.ac.uk, (2015). Health and safety: staff responsibilities - Nursery - Directorate of Human Resources - Oxford Brookes University. [online] Available at: https://www.brookes.ac.uk/student/services/nursery/policies/health_safety_staff_respon.html [Accessed 19 Nov. 2015].
Capt.org.uk, (2015). Keeping your child safe from strangulation | Child Accident Prevention Trust. [online] Available at: http://www.capt.org.uk/safety-advice/keeping-your-child-safe-strangulation [Accessed 21 Nov. 2015].
Chait, J. (2015). Playground Hazards. [online] LoveToKnow. Available at: http://safety.lovetoknow.com/Playground_Hazards [Accessed 21 Nov. 2015].
Child-smile.org.uk, (2015). Control of infection section of toothbrushing standards - NHS Health Scotland. [online] Available at: http://www.child-smile.org.uk/professionals/childsmile-core/prevention-and-control-of-infection.aspx [Accessed 22 Nov. 2015].
Hse.gov.uk, (2015). Risk assessment. [online] Available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/controlling-risks.htm [Accessed 22 Nov. 2015].