Nursery Risk Assessment Template: Safeguard Your Early Years Setting

Ensuring the safety and well-being of children in nursery environments starts with a robust risk assessment. A well-designed nursery risk assessment template serves as a foundational tool to proactively identify hazards, implement preventive measures, and meet regulatory standards—ultimately creating a secure space where learning and growth can thrive.

A reliable nursery risk assessment template covers key areas such as physical hazards (e.g., loose fittings, slip risks), health and hygiene protocols, staff training adequacy, emergency preparedness, and child supervision practices. By systematically evaluating each category, providers can prioritize risks, allocate resources effectively, and document compliance. The template should be reviewed regularly and updated with incident reports to maintain relevance and effectiveness in protecting vulnerable young children.

Integrating detailed checklists into the template ensures no critical area is overlooked. Essential components include visual inspections, incident logs, staff feedback loops, and alignment with national safety guidelines. Tailoring the template to specific nursery layouts and operational workflows enhances its practicality, enabling staff to apply risk assessments seamlessly across daily routines while fostering a culture of continuous safety improvement.

Digital nursery risk assessment templates streamline the process by enabling real-time data collection, automated alerts, and centralized reporting. These tools reduce manual errors, improve audit readiness, and support timely interventions. When paired with staff training, they empower teams to act decisively, ensuring every child benefits from a consistently safe and nurturing environment.

A well-structured nursery risk assessment template is more than a compliance tool—it’s a vital safeguard for children’s health and well-being. By integrating this template into your operational framework, you demonstrate a proactive commitment to safety. Implement it today and build a foundation of trust, accountability, and care in every nursery setting.

A template for assessing the health and safety risks in a nursery setting, covering topics such as slips and trips, manual handling, contact with heat, wet hands, cleaning chemicals and electrical equipment. The template provides examples of hazards, controls and actions for each topic. The following risk assessments cover the main areas of the indoor and outdoor environment.

The general checklist covers our daily considerations before opening up the environment to parents and children. Toileting, first aid and safeguarding are covered in our handbook and by whole. Famly has created a free, downloadable risk assessment template and a daily risk assessment checklist for Early Years settings.

Find them here! Hollyfield Preschool Nursery Overall Risk Assessment Hollyfield Preschool Nursery - EYFS - Suitable Premises, Environment and Equipment Risk Assessment Risk Assessment Title Outdoor and indoor spaces, furniture, equipment toys to comply with sections of EYFS. Early years risk assessment: Health and safety checklist This is a really useful nursery health and safety checklist for your early years risk assessment procedures.

The document details checks that are to be done daily, monthly and annually, and includes prompts such as: Fire extinguisher checks Fire exit checks Play equipment checks Fire drills Cleaning prompts The document is fully editable. Health and Safety Risk Assessment already completed for nurseries! Legally compliant, Excel format, immediately available for download. Download: Risk assessment template (Word) Download: Guidance on completing risk assessments (PDF) An example risk assessment (PDF) has been create to aid early years practitioners in completed a risk assessment.

These documents should be created for any child who has a Health Care Plan in place. Climbing Frame/Bike Track: - Check to ensure they are safe for use. -Nothing on the floor creating a hazard on the bike track.

Note any changes you have made as a result of completing the risk assessment. It is acceptable to secure exit doors with very simple cabin hooks or sliding bolts as the risk of a child escaping is far greater than the risk of a fire starting. Children are never left unsupervised so there is always an adult available to unhook bolts/hooks and worse-case scenario, a child could easily use a chair to reach the hook/bolt.