I had my council visit and the lady advised I should move the things to a higher cupboard. Would a cupboard lock suffice? None of my high cupboards have the height for the bottles.

I have always had my things in under sink cupboard with a lock - no problem in 16 years so far :)

I was wondering if it is ok to put them on top of my cooker fan? It is a glass board like a shelf, and I could push them to the back.

xx

I think these things should be out of reach and sight ??? not sure though

mine are under the sink in a locked cupboard.

I believe that as long as you clearly Risk Assess and document where you are storing the hazardous items then you will be covered.... only you know how 'adventurous' your little ones are!!!!!!! :idea:

Hope this helps...
Tracey x

ps. Mine are under my sink!!!

Mine are in the cupboard but with a cupboard lock on it, and its been fine

Mine are in the cupboard under my sink with a lock on it.

I have risk assessed the kitchen as only being used under supervision.

Children are also supervised when they walk through the kitchen to the toilet or to meet their parents at the back door.

I believe that is enough to keep them safe :D

Might get shot down in flames for this but I have never kept hazardous items in cupboard under sink - there are pans and baking sheets in there (actually given the state of some of them perhaps they are hazardous:D ).

All my cleaning products are either in a high cupboard in the kitchen or in the utility area where mindees dont go, in a high cupboard.

Mmmm, I think I will risk assess my kitchen as supervised too and make access to outside through the playroom rather than through the kitchen.

Curly cathy, I dropped a stainless steel pan lid on my foot yesterday. Ouch!

OOOOHHH bet that hurt!!!

See everything is out to get us;) ;)

I am very sure this is a thick question, but what sort of locks have you got on your kitchen cupboards? Do you mean the child safety hook thingys or actual locks?

Oh, and Vickster, I dropped a 2 kg weight on my foot yesterday, from a shelf about head height!!! It's all blue and purple now! :eek: It now lives on the floor.
I knew sports were dangerous!!!

xx

I had my council visit and the lady advised I should move the things to a higher cupboard. Would a cupboard lock suffice? None of my high cupboards have the height for the bottles.

As long as the children can not get in there you will be fine with a lock

Under the sink my "hazardous" things will stay - that's what childproof catches and locks are for. My kitchen is only used at meal times when all children are either seated around the table or in high chairs. All the children eat at virtually the same time so the risk assessment said "no risk".

again mine are under the sink with lock on.... i did have them in high cupboard above the cooker as its the only one big enough but i thought it was more of a risk to me as i couldnt reach in there....:rolleyes:

Mine are under the sink in a cupboard in my downstairs loo. There are some confusing messages from the council though. Firstly they told me I couldn't have any alcohol on the premises (OMG!! lol), then I decided that was completely mad and put all the beer bottles and spirits (I sound like an alcoholic, there wasn't that much, honest!) into a locked cupboard or the top of the fridge. The council lady came out and said it was fine!!

She also told me I couldn't have the cat food dishes in the house, so I put them outside the garage door and again decided this was madness in bad weather, etc, couldn't expect the poor cat to bog off outside to eat in the snow! Bearing in mind he only has dried food in the day and a pouch when the kids have gone to bed, his food is on my tumble dryer in the porch, the kids were hardly likely to be eating it!! So I left it at the back of the dryer, and again the lady said it was ok.

I think I got myself into a blind panic about everything being perfect, when really all I needed to do was assess how safe it was. Oh, another thing she said was about not having sharp knives around!! I put them right to the back of the worktop, behind the kettle, and she said that was ok too, even though I was lead to believe they had to be locked away!! lol.

Panic over though, I'm slowly learning there isn't always just one way to do things :)
xxxx

Louise B, well we have every spirit under the sun on display very high up in our kitchen so we do look like alcoholics, but a very good friend of ours works for a drinks company and often arrives with welcome donations.

Another thing the council woman said was that the wooden posts in our garden supporting the trellis (5 years old max) needs bolier laggng round them, in case of splinters, well I hvae probably had about 50 different children in my garden over the years and not one of them has a splinter, so I will see what ofsted say before we put those eyesores up, net they will be saying we need to put padded flooring down in the kitchen....

Louise B, well we have every spirit under the sun on display very high up in our kitchen so we do look like alcoholics, but a very good friend of ours works for a drinks company and often arrives with welcome donations.

Another thing the council woman said was that the wooden posts in our garden supporting the trellis (5 years old max) needs bolier laggng round them, in case of splinters, well I hvae probably had about 50 different children in my garden over the years and not one of them has a splinter, so I will see what ofsted say before we put those eyesores up, net they will be saying we need to put padded flooring down in the kitchen....

We put this up before Ofsted arrived (DH went safety mad) and I asked the question was it necessary? The reply was maybe he had gone a little OTT as children have to learn about the risks and dangers around them

My cleaning stuff isnt in the kitchen anymore they are in the boiler cuboard .

(no where near the boiler .........the cubard has a latch on the inside so cant be opened )

I keep all my kitchen hazardous things under the sink cupboard with a child lock on it. I have a stairgate on my kitchen to prevent children getting by themselves, this stops them getting to my other cupboards and the cat food.
Toilet cleaner etc is kept high up in the bathroom.
We normally only have alcohol in the house at the weekends but the odd bottle that we use in cooking is locked away in our dining room in a cupboard that contains all our glasses and best plates that I don't want to have broken.
To be honest though I think the woman from NCMA was more picky about things than the one from Ofsted! Guess it just depends who you have.

Goodness me, suggesting no alcohol, we often need a drink after a long day minding :laughing:

I have lots of alcohol, only cos we dont drink much, but at xmas make sure we have all we like and it lasts all year. Got a box of beer and a bottle of wine that have appeared as gifts on my dining room table, only arrived last night and this morning :laughing:

Louise B, well we have every spirit under the sun on display very high up in our kitchen so we do look like alcoholics, but a very good friend of ours works for a drinks company and often arrives with welcome donations.

Another thing the council woman said was that the wooden posts in our garden supporting the trellis (5 years old max) needs bolier laggng round them, in case of splinters, well I hvae probably had about 50 different children in my garden over the years and not one of them has a splinter, so I will see what ofsted say before we put those eyesores up, net they will be saying we need to put padded flooring down in the kitchen....

May I ask a question? I have been childminding for years and since Ofsted took over Inspections no one from my Council has ever been to my house to inspect. Where do you live and why do your Council inspect you as well as Ofsted?

Another thing the council woman said was that the wooden posts in our garden supporting the trellis (5 years old max) needs bolier laggng round them, in case of splinters, well I hvae probably had about 50 different children in my garden over the years and not one of them has a splinter, so I will see what ofsted say before we put those eyesores up, net they will be saying we need to put padded flooring down in the kitchen....

There is such a thing as overprotecting children and it sounds like that this woman from the council is of that mindset.

Lots of wood, posts etc in my garden and of course we keep a close check on raggy bits (HATE digging out splinters from a squirming child) but to put boiler lagging round - think this woman needs her head testing.
What a load of tosh. Mind you says it all - if they are from the council (want to get dodgy paths sorted first).

They don't inspect, they give advice, before you apply to Ofsted. I am sure that these people will be made redundant soon as they seem to have been introduced by the labour government and seem to be a bit of a waste of money IMHO. Alot of what she said was common sense but some of it was ridicuolus.

Mine are all under the sink and I have a child lock on the doors. That has worked and been safe enough for my own two kids so I should think it would be ok for the mindees :)

Just curious, I've only just started minding (3 weeks and counting!) sooooo what happens with these council visits? Do you have to phone a certain place/person and request one and if so what exactly do you ask for OR do they contact you to arrange a visit etc after you've been minding for a set period? Sorry, I'm still finding my feet! Lol! :blush:

If you are minding then you don't need a visit, obviously our council had a bit more money to waste/spend!