Health and Safety Checklist

We are going to panel in a months' time, and have now been sent Form A7 - the health and safety checklist.

Any advice on the following questions would be gratefully received:

Are materials such as alcohol, cigarettes, matches & lighters kept out of reach?
We have some alcohol bottles in our dresser at low level in a cupboard which has no locks - we have no facilities to store them at high level - should we fit a lock to the door?? (we have no cigarettes, matches or lighters indoors (matches are in the shed which is locked))

If appropriate, do front and back doors have lock that are out of reach or have child-proof locks fitted? We live in a new house. The front door has one handle in the middle which can be double locked. Our back door is just on a key lock with a spin bolt to the top and one to the bottom - does this mean they are childproof?

Is there a thermostat on the hot water control to prevent scalding? We have our own ensuite with a thermo shower and so does our guest bedroom. Our family bathroom however has a bath with separate hot and cold taps only - no thermostatic control - even if we fit a mixer tap - this won't be thermo controlled.

Bathroom door - Is there a lock on the door? (is it out of reach of small children? If necessary can it be defeated from the outside?) There is a lock mid way, a simple twist lock, so no it's not out of reach of small children but could be defeated if the 4 screws were unscrewed from the outside - would this be sufficient?

Our ensuite has all our things e.g. shampoos etc. on a shelf from feet to waist height - would be sufficient to put a lock on the outside of this door e.g. at a height, so our child couldn't gain access easily?? (not on the form but just popped into my head)

and the last question is vehicles......

We currently have no car seats fitted at all as we don't know the age or weight etc. of the child - our vehicles are serviced regularly, with insurance and MOT's etc. so will we have to get a seat fitted before SW comes around???

Sorry for all the questions.

You have provided solutions to your questions which seem spot on
Most of the form will be common sense, For your alcohol if you can fit a lock then I would do so.
For the doors I would think through scenario's like If the bath was running and the child locked the door and locked you out how would you feel? maybe take off the lock for peace of mind? For the taps if not thermastat maybe look at bathing your little sprog in your bathroom?
For your car seat I would indicate your intentions to provide a seat which conforms to British safety standards if not provided with junior
The little rascals will always find something they shouldnt
Pixxie x

hi
if it is a new house, doesnt your boiler have a control on it that allows you to adjust the temperature of the water?

and about the car seats - our assessor advised that we only buy equipment as needed and not in advance as we have a large range of ages for fostering- so i would assume as long as u indicated that u were going to buy equipment appropriate to any placements that should suffice.


[isnt it wierd that they check insurance and mot - but not you license or check if u have points for drinking and driving - or running red lights
lol - we thought there were quite a few oddities they wanted to know about - but things we thought were important weren't mentioned in questionnaires, health and safety checks or during any discussions]

Just thought I'd let you know what we did, I moved all our alcohol onto the top of one of our kitchen cabinets, so it's now out of reach but not out of sight, fine for a littly but with an older child who could get up on a chair and climb to get if they really wanted to that wouldn't be ideal, in that case a locked cupboard may be the best option. Because we're now thinking about one child in particular who's 16 months we're more concerned about accidental swallowing of liquids rather than trying to get hold of them on purpose.

Your doors sound like they're fine, I would have thought that as long as they couldn't be opened by a little child that would be fine. For an older child they're obviously going to be able to get out if they want to.

Not really sure about the hot water issue, we just had to buy a water thermometer, but as suggested your boiler should have an thermometer on it so telling your sw that you can change the temp of that should be enough, then when your child's placed you can see if it's necessary to do that or not.

The locks on our bathroom doors are the those ones that you can turn from the outside with a flat screwdriver, so I'll just plan on having said screwdriver someone to hand. If it's not that easy to unlock from the outside then I guess you may have to consider removing them if you have a little child placed. Don't know about an older child, hadn't really got that far in my thinking!

Car seats, we just said, as with a few other things on the form like stair gates, that we would buy if they are needed as we have been approved for under 5 years that's quite a wide age range. Our sw was absolutely fine with that and said that's what everyone says.

You also need to make sure you have any fire arms and swords locked safely away!

we were told that we needed a fire extinquisher and a carbon monoxide detector also we have to show certificates that the boiler has been serviced and our car insurance, licence etc. we are registered for 0-18 and we have no baby equipment so we would have to buy it.
you need plug covers and make sure you can open the bathroom from the outside in case a child gets locked in or self harmer.

Thanks for all your replies so far.
I have looked into the boiler situation and YES you can regulate from there - thanks for the tip off.
We have bought plug covers, table edge cushions (as we have a glass table) 2 plug in night lights for the landing upstairs and one for the childs room if needed and all the door catcher things, which we are sure a child will easily work out (we are going for 5+)
We both have clean driving licences, insurances are fully comp for all 3 cars and taxed etc. We have a carbon monoxide detector (freestanding) and mains fire and heat sensor (which we know works as I have burnt stuff before!!) We have the boiler serviced every year but no certs so I will have to get him to do one for us.
The chest freezer key is now hooked up out of reach and hubby's wine cellar key will be the same. dogs area is hygenically clean at all times (and always has been) as is the rest of the house.
Everything else can be done nearer the arrival date e.g. purchase of car seats, etc.
Oh and we have fire extinguishers and blankets - just need to make them more accessible - at least I know where they are!!
Thanks again to everyone - keep em coming!! The more the merrier