The risk of burns in early learning centres

Every year Guild Insurance receives hundreds of notifications of children being injured during a variety of incidents in early learning centres.  We know centres do their best to minimise both the likelihood of these incidents occurring as well as the severity of the injury, yet unfortunately they still occur. 

A recent analysis of claims highlighted a very concerning injury trend; there’s been an increase in children suffering a burn while at an early learning centre.  It’s vital that staff understand how these are occurring so they’re able to consider what they can do to prevent a child in their centre receiving a burn.

Case examples

A child was playing outside on synthetic grass without shoes on.  It was a very hot day, which meant the grass was hot and it burned the soles of the child’s feet.

A mop bucket, which was filled with hot water, was left unattended while the staff member was distracted by two children fighting.  A toddler tipped the bucket over and sustained burns to their legs and torso.

A child was taken into a kitchen/food preparation area by a staff member who was warming some bottles.  While in there, the child was splashed with water from the warmer and received burns to their arm and hand.

Minimising the risk of burns

At first glance when reading the examples above, the ways to prevent those events occurring seem obvious.  For example:

  • Children should always wear shoes when playing outside, not just to prevent burns but also other potential injuries to their feet.
  • Mop buckets, or anything else holding hot water such as mugs, should never be left unattended when children are present.
  • Children should never be taken into, or allowed to enter, a food preparation area.

Most educators would agree with the above suggestions and most centres would already have these rules in place.  So why are children receiving burns as described above?  Why are simple risk mitigation strategies and centre processes not always being applied?

Understand the risk

To effectively minimise risks, it’s vital that staff understand and appreciate the potential risks in terms of what could occur and the consequence if it did.  If a staff member was considering briefly stepping away from a mop bucket, they’d most likely decide against this if they paused and considered what could happen.  It only takes a moment for a child to tip a bucket.  Staff also need to think about the potential consequence for the child.  Fortunately many of us have never been seriously burned.  However we’ve all received minor burns and we know how painful they are.  That decision to leave the bucket unattended, even just for a short moment, could lead to long term pain and scarring for the child.

Don’t cut corners

It’s easy for early learning staff to become stressed, rushed or distracted when performing their job.  There’s usually lots going on and children make the centre an unpredictable environment.  And unfortunately when people are working under stress, they don’t always do things as they know they should.  People are prone to cutting corners and not following processes fully when trying to do things quickly.  Therefore all staff need to remember that processes are there for a reason.  Taking the time to do something properly might sometimes take longer, however it’s worth taking the time to do things the right way and the safe way.

Lead by example

Unfortunately an all too common reason staff don’t do things the way they’ve been taught is because they see other staff, and particularly senior staff, doing things the wrong way.  When senior staff do this, they’re inadvertently setting an example and telling staff it’s ok to not always follow correct processes.  All staff need to remember that there’s a reason tasks are to be carried out in particular ways, and not adhering to these processes carries consequences for children and staff.

In summary…

Incidents which commonly lead to children being burned can be prevented.  However it requires staff do things the right way each and every time and continually ask themselves what could go wrong before it does.

Guild Insurance Limited ABN 55 004 538 863, AFS Licence No. 233 791.  This article contains information of a general nature only, and is not intended to constitute the provision of legal advice. Guild Insurance supports your Association through the payment of referral fees for certain products or services you take out with them.

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