People that are working in the childcare center truly deserve high respect, since they are putting a lot of effort, patience, and energy into taking care of the children constantly. In addition to the fact that they are taking care of them, their job includes educating kids as well. The job of childcare providers can be very challenging since working with children comes with different obstacles that others do not find significant. Even though they are doing an excellent job every single day, it can happen even the best childcare employees get caught at the wrong time when the licensing analyst comes over unexpectedly.
There are different little things that can be identified as mistakes. For instance, childcare providers can only forget to update a file of some child or to make copies of employee vaccination records, or some other rule violation. Even for tiny mistakes, they can end up getting a licensing violation from the inspection. Avoid Commonplace Licensing Violations by checking out what are the most frequent rule violations that childcare centers make. The remainder of them will help you pay attention to some particular things and not get a licensing violation.
1. Storing chemicals unproperly
One of the very significant rules that childcare centers must remember is that all poisons and any types of cleaning products need to be stored in specific places. More precisely, they should not be accessible for the child according to Title 22. Unfortunately, there are so many cases where employees in childcare centers misunderstand this rule. The most common mistake that they are making is placing cleaning chemical products on high shelves in the center and thinking that kids can not access them.
One more common mistake is placing chemical products of this kind in some rooms where children are not allowed to come in. Well, even though that kid won’t be able to access them, the licensing regulation is very strict about this rule and according to them, all chemical products need to be locked. This is because chemicals have a toxic compound and as you know, all cleaning products are including chemicals. The rule is defined in this way since chemicals can cause danger to a child.
Therefore, according to the regulation board, all chemicals need to be placed in a separate room that is constantly locked. Childcare centers can also store them in a cabinet with a lock on it, whichever option suits them more. This rule will ensure that all kids are safe and protected and that there is no potential danger that can happen unexpectedly. Best of all, the childcare center will not get you a license violation when the analyst comes.
2. Childcare center providers do not pay attention to the time when they are cleaning
Unfortunately, childcare providers must be highly careful when it comes to every little thing. This means that they should not allow themselves to get distracted by something not ever for a second because that can exactly be the moment when the licensing analyst comes on the door. While working with the children there is a big chance that the childcare providers must clean up after them while working, since kids can make a mess.
Especially if they are sick. However, while you are sanitizing and wiping down that messed up place, the licensing analyst can come over and see that cleaning chemical products are accessible to the kids. He will immediately issue a citation for this and no matter how much you are trying to explain to him what have you doing, it will not make any difference. Even though this scenario does not seem fair, it happens more than you would believe.
Therefore, you should be very careful when it comes to using cleaning products during business hours. It would be better to use them during off hours. In case you really need to clean something up, make sure that you are holding chemicals in your hands. In that way, you will be free of getting the licensing citation.
3. The Childcare Center is using cleaning chemical products that are not clearly labeled
Unfortunately, many childcare employees fail to label toxic chemical products in the right way. This is because a high percentage of cleaners come in a concentrated form which means that they need to be mixed with water before usage. In other words, this means that the final cleaning product is mixed in some separate bottle that in most cases is not labeled.
This means that even though you lock away the cleaning products that you are using you can still get licensing violations if the bottles are not labeled. However, there is not only the risk of having a licensing violation issued by the analyst. It is even worse when employees use some toxic bottle by thinking that it is something else that is not dangerous.
They can even mix these bottles with the water which can lead to different serious consequences and risks. Therefore, it is highly important for childcare providers to often have perfectly labeled all bottles that are stored. This will not protect the childcare center only, but the kids as well.
Bonus tip – start using non-toxic cleaning products
If you want to make sure that the childcare providers do not get the licensing violation issued, it can be a wise idea to decide on using some cleaning products that do not include any toxins and chemicals inside. This will also protect children from potential dangers. There are so many different natural products that are not harmful to our organisms.
By getting these types of products, childcare providers can be complete relief and relaxed without worrying whether they have correctly locked down the chemicals or labeled them or when the licensing analyst will occur.
Additionally, they can completely dedicate themselves to taking care of the kids and educating them. In general, this should be their only job after all, and not thinking about the licensing rules and regulations, and whether they are going to violate some of them.