INCIDENT REPORTING IN CHILD CARE FACILITIES

All licensed child care facilities are required to have policies and procedures in place for documenting minor accidents, illnesses, as well as reportable incidents to be reported to your Licensing Officer (LO). The legislative requirements are outlined in the Child Care Licensing Regulation.

WHAT IS A REPORTABLE INCIDENT?

Some examples of reportable incidents include the following:

• A child goes missing or is unaccounted for (even for a brief time) while in the care and supervision of facility staff.
• The facility manager is informed of an allegation of abuse of potential abuse. (E.g. A child has disclosed to their parent that a staff member hit them.)
• A child’s aggressive behaviour causes injury to another child
• A parent takes their child to a doctor or hospital for an injury that occurred at daycare.
• A child in care has been diagnosed with a communicable disease listed in Schedule A or B of the Health ActCommunicable Disease Regulation.
• There is a disease outbreak at the facility. Within a three day period, three or more children in your programhave contracted an illness not indicated in Schedule A or B of the Health Act. (E.g. three children in the preschool program have been diagnosed with hand, foot, and mouth disease.)

The following procedures are steps to be taken by the licensee or staff when a reportable incident is witnessed or reported to have occurred: 

• Address the immediate safety of children in care. (E.g. Call 911 for a serious injury or missing child.)
• Notify the child’s parent of guardian immediately if their child becomes ill, is injured or may have been involved ina reportable incident while under the care of facility staff.
• Notify licensing within 24 hours
• Forward a completed Reportable Incident Form to the Licensing Officer

Our preschool will Complete a Reportable Incident form including any follow-up actions of corrective measure we have taken to reduce the risk of the incident happening again.

WHAT IS HIGH RISK?

High Risk events include any incidents or allegations of the following: 

• Child who is missing.
• Child who has sustained a serious injury.
• Accidental death of a child while in care.
• Allegation of abuse by staff to a child in care
• Facility evacuation due to fire, flood, etc.

WHAT IS A MINOR INCIDENT?

The Child Care Licensing Regulation requires the licensee keeps a written log of any minor accidents, illnesses, and unexpected events involving a child that did not require medical attention. Some examples of minor accidents, illness, or events could include the following:

• A child trips, falls, and scrapes their knee. This would requires a water flush and a band-aid.
• A child hits another child with a toy–the affected child was upset ,however no injury was noted.
• WHAT STEPS DO I NEED TO FOLLOW WHEN A MINOR INCIDENT OCCURS?The following procedures are steps to be taken when a minor incident is witnessed or reported to have occurred:

What Steps do I need to Follow when a Minor Incident Occurs?

•   Have a designated logbookavailabletodocumentallminorincidents.

•   Recordtheeventorincidentinanobjective,professionalmanner.Includethetime,location,andthedetailsofthe incident.

•   Adviseparentsand/orguardiansofanyminorincidentsinvolvingtheirchild

  Take proactive steps to help prevent minor incidents from reoccurring.Licensing Officers will review this log of non-reportable incidents at the time of their inspection visits to your facility. The information contained in this bulletin can be utilized to develop your facility policies and procedures. If you have any questions, please speak to your Licensing Officer for assistance.

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