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View Full Version : Risk assessment on the Ivy!



primula
25-10-2009, 10:16 AM
Action on inspection, risk assess Ivy. ok, so while doing that I have since discovered that probably 90% of the plants in my garden are potentially iffy! Including the privet hedge! Has anyone had the same??

Twinkles
25-10-2009, 10:30 AM
You will find most garden plants are potentially poisonous.
I have removed those at high risk and have on my risk assesment that I am aware that most are poisonous and the children are taught not to pick any garden plants and to wash their hands after being in the garden.
Those too young to understand are not left unsupervised.

sarah707
25-10-2009, 12:02 PM
Like Twinks says it's about removing the ones that are the most dangerous (likely to cause death).

Then risk assess any that Ofsted don't like... ivy being a favourite because it's easy to spot.

I removed my ivy after being told by an inspector a few years ago that it had to go... they don't make great pronouncements like that any more, just ask you to risk assess how you keep children safe around it.

If you google it, I'm sure you'll come up with ideas.

Hth :D

madasahatter
25-10-2009, 12:40 PM
I'm with Twinks and Sarah on risk assessing and teaching children not to pick garden plants or put anything into their mouth, along with close supervision.
Ivy is a great wildlife plant, providing hiding places for many insects and if it is thick enough some birds nest in it. Can you trim it so that the leaves/ berries are out of reach? I suppose that depends on what it is growing up.

primula
25-10-2009, 01:10 PM
Thanks all! It is a mine field. I do have daisies but i dont mind them picking those or the dandelions to feed to the rabbits! but as to the ivy, i have removed some (because i wanted to!) and rest will stay. And like I/we have always done.. watch the children. Off to do a risk assessment on the risks of doing risk assessments! A risk to mental health perhaps!

Winnie
25-10-2009, 08:29 PM
I have many different types of ivy growing in my garden & other hazardous plants, its not neccessary to remove them all but you should be aware of the risks & be ready to minimise the risks- Ofsted should be happy with a comprehensive risk assessment. I tend to add seasonal risks too such as the tree overhanging the patio has just finished dropping cob nuts -really stressful with lo putting everything into their mouths:eek: and i have an ivy that attracts wasps around Aug/Sep while its in flower (double risk- poisionious ivy & wasp stings :eek: ) but i managed to persuade my lovely husband to give it a good trim one evening when the wasps had gone home- that minimised the risk. Everything gets written up & a copy popped into my H&S folder.

Louise_Oaktree
16-11-2009, 05:52 PM
I only have 1/2 of my garden registered at the moment as the bottom half was just a building site until recently. Now we have a somewhat wild but usable lawn area I would like to register it so we can use the slides and climbing cube in the summer (too dangerous to have on concrete flags!).

However I have some lovely ivy :angry: growing over, through and under my fence from next door. Ofsted mentioned I would have to do something about it if I registered the bottom half of the garden so I trimmed it back thoroughly so it was unreachable to younger children, but within days it grew back even more vigorously :eek: now there is as much on my side as there is on the other, newer problem being as the fence posts have rotted it is actually holding the fence up (which is also owned by next door on that side - we own the other side) so the more I cut it on my side the more the whole fence leans towards next doors garden.

I really don't know what to do about it, other than risk assess to say children are taught about harmful plants and that younger ones are never left alone in that part of the garden (which they wouldn't be anyway). Do you think this will be sufficient?