Incident prevention and management

Why this is a p​riority​

National Law section 167—offence relating to protection of children from harm and hazards, is consistently one of the most commonly breached provisions in Queensland as indicated by recent years' data. Section 167 requires that approved providers, nominated supervisors and family day care educators ensure that every reasonable precaution is taken to protect children being educated and cared for by the service from harm and from any hazard likely to cause injury.

The Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA)'s Occasional Paper 9 Serious incidents—injury, trauma or illness (PDF, 3.1MB) (June 2023) provides an analysis of trends in notifications of serious incidents during a two-year period. The paper found:

• most common types of injury, trauma or illness incidents—cuts/open wounds or bleeding; followed by broken bones/fractures or dislocations; and head injuries or concussions
• most commonly caused by—a fall or trip, followed by child-to-child interactions and equipment/furniture or toys
• most likely to happen—in outdoor play areas, during mid-morning and mid-afternoon, during the middle of the week, to children aged 3 and 4 years old; and male children.

Incident prevention and management considerations

Incident prevention

Every reasonable precaution must be taken to ensure children being educated and cared for are protected from harm and hazards likely to cause injury. This requires ensuring effective systems of control are in place, adhered to, monitored and regularly reviewed.

Effective systems of control allow services to identify and manage organisational risks in a timely manner.

Systems of control exist to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of children and are founded upon clear roles and responsibilities, good record keeping and procedures, shared understanding, a culture of risk assessment and management, and regular review and updates.

Supporting children to engage in active play is important for their cognitive, physical and social development. Approved providers and services should consider risk-benefit analyses alongside their incident and injury prevention strategies. Considerations may include how educators:

• support risky play
• work together to ensure adequate supervision
• use good judgement, and are responsive and flexible to prevent injury.

With systems of control firmly in place and followed by all, risks can be predicted, detected, resolved and—ideally—prevented.

Prevention is essential. Read more about the following systems of control:

• risk assessment and management
• policies and procedures
  
• adequate supervision.

Incident management

Accidents happen—how you respond makes all the difference.

The Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (Regulatory Authority) receives thousands of notifications of incidents every year. Though most are minor in nature, education and care service staff must know how to respond appropriately. It will depend on the situation and may require staff to:

• administer first aid—make sure all staff understand how to administer first aid and this is documented in the service's administration of first aid policy and procedures
• contact emergency services or medical professionals—err on the side of caution. If you’re not sure, call 000
• contact and communicate with families—being open and transparent with parents, in a timely manner, is essential to ensure children receive the best possible care. Don't forget injury notification forms
• manage the emotional wellbeing of all children and educators—serious incidents can be traumatic and stressful; approved providers should consider how best to support children and staff during and following a serious incident
• maintain adequate supervision—caring for a child post-incident is essential, however staff must ensure they are still providing adequate supervision for all children.

After an incident occurs, approved providers:

• must meet the requirements to notify parents and notify the Regulatory Authority.
• learn from incidents—reviewing and evaluating procedures after an incident should be part of the quality improvement process. This should involve updating policies, procedures and undertaking additional staff training if required after an incident to prevent recurrence and improve safety. Modifications to the physical environment, risk assessments and staff roles and responsibilities for health safety and wellbeing may also be necessary.

Videos and resources

Incidents can happen at any service. These videos and resources contain information and tips to help you prevent and manage them.

Videos

Incident prevention and management

If no one sees a child leaving your service, it doesn't matter how long they'​re gone or how far they venture, they’re in danger. Failures in 3 key areas are often the cause when a serious incident like this happens. What do you have in place at your service to prevent this happening?