Crafts on the floor - risk assessment

If you allow children to do painting, drawing and other crafts on the floor can I please suggest you read the attached article from Surrey CC.

I know a few years ago it was all the rage - let the children be creative in any way they wish and anywhere they want to be rather than stifle their creativity by making them sit at a table or only paint at an easel etc.

However reading the article has really made me think about this area of provision and whether my risk assessment is robust enough.

Not nice reading guys sorry :(

http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/sccwebsit...1?opendocument

No Sarah not nice reading at all:(
Poor child ,parents - and poor teachers.
Mine do paint and draw on lining paper on the floor - its been thought through in a vaguely 'ra' fashion ( to avaoid slipping on crayons , stabbing with pencils , paint on the sofa!), but maybe I need to start documenting things more.

Beat me to it!

Thank you for posting this Sarah. It makes you think when you read things like this. Things happen so quickly.

oh lordy (shudder)

can I be honest though? i'm not sure if when risk assessing that scenario I could have predicted that that tha equipment could be a potential hazard to cause serious harm. I mean its almost a freak accident. I worry now that I am going to have missed something in all my risk assesments that I have no way of taking into account because it either would never occur to me, I don't recognise the risk or its something so out there that it it doesn't cross my mind. I mean clearly after this accident - people think oh yes thats definately something to be aware of - but how many people would have considered it before hand? There is common sense of course, but what about stuff like this that is kind of outside that sphere?

Oh how terrible for everyone.

Mine do not do craft on the floor inside but we use paint brushes with water ouside (on patio and fence) luckily only use big paintbrushes with short handels - but not because I had thought about the possibility of an accident woth the brushes.

Makes you think


Penny :)

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Originally Posted by Penny1959

Oh how terrible for everyone.

Mine do not do craft on the floor inside but we use paint brushes with water ouside (on patio and fence) luckily only use big paintbrushes with short handels - but not because I had thought about the possibility of an accident woth the brushes.

Makes you think


Penny :)

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Same here Penny.

Poor Child :(

ouch! I only have stubby end paint bruses, now I know why

That is horrible - poor child :(

Thanks Sarah for posting this, certainly makes you think.

Miffy xx

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Originally Posted by uf353432

oh lordy (shudder)

can I be honest though? i'm not sure if when risk assessing that scenario I could have predicted that that tha equipment could be a potential hazard to cause serious harm. I mean its almost a freak accident. I worry now that I am going to have missed something in all my risk assesments that I have no way of taking into account because it either would never occur to me, I don't recognise the risk or its something so out there that it it doesn't cross my mind. I mean clearly after this accident - people think oh yes thats definately something to be aware of - but how many people would have considered it before hand? There is common sense of course, but what about stuff like this that is kind of outside that sphere?

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I have to agree I thought the same. When walking in the woods do we add the risk that a child could fall onto a low branch and be impaled? Everything we do has to potential for a freak accident that might not be considered.

Horrible incident though, made me go cold and my thoughts are with the family and child and teachers/children who witnessed it. :(

The incident was 8 years ago - If there was a significant concern then it would have filtered through schools. It sounds more as if this school hadn't risk assessed at all. I may have risk assessed the same and concluded that with 10 year olds (which is how old they were) this was a very low risk. My risk assessment for toddlers wouldn't have allowed for the use of long handled brushes because of eyes in the first place. There's a huge difference between a toddler and a 10 year old. There is also a difference between a childminders house and painting scenery in a school with furniture etc to navigate. Childminders are used to creating safe spaces, schools are used to squeezing activities in to spaces they may fit!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by uf353432

oh lordy (shudder)

can I be honest though? i'm not sure if when risk assessing that scenario I could have predicted that that tha equipment could be a potential hazard to cause serious harm. I mean its almost a freak accident. I worry now that I am going to have missed something in all my risk assesments that I have no way of taking into account because it either would never occur to me, I don't recognise the risk or its something so out there that it it doesn't cross my mind. I mean clearly after this accident - people think oh yes thats definately something to be aware of - but how many people would have considered it before hand? There is common sense of course, but what about stuff like this that is kind of outside that sphere?

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I agree!! With the best will in the world you can't predict the unexpected! we can all take what we believe to be necessary measures and risk assess accordingly, but there is no way of forseeing the freak accidents that can and do happen! :eek: By the way I also use stubby paint brushes!

I did messy painting out on the patio with my toddlers earlier this year. We had no paintbrushes but one mindee did slip on the wet paint, so we did have a (minor) accident. Only thing, I've opted to change next time we do it is, to be on the softer grass.

However a freak accident could happen there too, with an oddly landed slip.

Poor child, and teachers / other children to have been party to this unfortunate mishap.

Really not nice reading...it sent a shudder down my spine. There is just so much o think about when doing the risk assessments, I would never have though of a paint brush posing a risk of penetration.

This is something that took place in a nursery and was surely and hopefully a one-off situation.

As childminders we don't have to cater for so many children in one go, so hopefully could contain this sort of thing happening.

I haven't read the article, the replies were enough to put me off.

I'm afraid I don't do art and craft on the floor anyway, I don't want paint or glue all over my carpets, and I'd worry too much about a very small LO getting a pencil and poke somebody's eye out with it (a near miss was enough to make me realise that actually you could put your eye out with a pencil just like my mum warned me all those years ago)

We do chalking on the flagstones in the garden and the kiddies have sponges and coloured water in the garden so I try not to stifle their creativity too much.

Freak accidents do happen but they are usually things you would never have thought of, hence the 'freak' part. I do hope the child in the article was ok, I can't bring myself to read it.

i must admit we only use crayons chalks and hands on the floor but I too could not have predicted this. :panic: horrible