Variation

[Little Pumpkins]

Hi

I need to send a variation in to ofsted to use my spare bedroom as a sleep room.

I know I have to send a risk assessment and a fire assessment but I am really unsure how to set them out. Or really what to include I dont want to waffle on to them.

Can anyone out there help

[sarah707]

Fire escape procedure
When children are sleeping on the upper floor, they will be at the front / back of the house.
The nearest fire escape is the window in the bedroom / bathroom / the staircase off the landing.
The door to the bedroom is a well-fitting fire door / self closing fire door and will remain closed when the room is in use, as this adds 30 minutes protection in case of fire.
There is a mains wired smoke alarm on each floor.
On hearing the alarm sounding, my immediate responsibility is to leave the house by the safest exit with children who are with me, then ring 999.
I have taken advice from my local Fire Service and they do not recommend re-entering the house or trying to rescue children from upstairs as this will be putting me in danger. They advise waiting for their attendance as they will have ladders and specialist breathing equipment.

Risk assessment
Look at the bedroom - think about corners of units, plug sockets covered, carpet / flooring in good state of repair, beds / cots not sited by radiators (ever), no cot bumpers, cot mattress safety, bed mattress safety, no ties on toys, no hanging ties on curtains / blinds, no curtains near bed / cot, no bookcase to be climbed (or fixed to wall), no cables or wires, no drawers to be climbed or pulled out, no wardrobe to be pulled down, consider damp dusting / regular vaccuming for allergies, no animals in bedrooms, mains baby monitor with battery back-up etc
Look at the staircase - think about gates on top and bottom, carpet in good state of repair, hand rail for holding when climbing sited for use by children, no cables or wires, no shoes or toys on staircase etc
Think about monitoring - how often can you check a sleeping child? Baby monitor is not enough. How will you prove to parents / Ofsted that you have checked? What will you do if child A is downstairs having a strop etc and child B wakes up vomiting upstairs...? Think about what could go wrong and put together an emergency plan to cover it all...

Sorry, this is all that is springing to mind... screaming baby syndrome! Hope this helps