When assessing whether you comply with PF121

Questions we are likely to ask

• Can you talk me through the procedure you follow when washing a sick or soiled child?
• Can you tell me what hygiene and infection controls you have in place when washing a child?

We are likely to look at, measure or count

• Look at the body wash facilities you have, where they are located, whether they are age appropriate and support adults to wash children effectively.
• Check the supplies specified in your procedure and where they are located. 

We are likely to request

• A copy of your hygiene and infection control procedure before an assessment visit.
• The hash symbol # indicates that we might ask for a report from a National Public Health Service, under Regulation 55 of the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008. This report would help check if the body wash facilities and procedures will help prevent the spread of illness.

The tools below are here to support you, but you do not have to use them. You can use other tools or methods that work better for your service.

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora have created guidelines on wash down facilities and procedures for early learning services.

Wash down guidelines PDF | 484KB

The National Public Health Service can also give advice on body wash facilities, and processes to keep things clean and to stop the spread of infection.

Cleaning and sanitising guidelines PDF | 1MB

Contact public health services – Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora

Children sometimes need to be washed for their hygiene and the health and safety of others. By having appropriate washing facilities and a good procedure in place, you can help prevent the spread of infection and support the child’s health and safety.

Doing more than the minimum can shape better outcomes for children. Here are some ideas or examples you might like to consider.

Facilities

Locating a body wash facility near your nappy change facility is recommended.

Ideally the space for body wash facilities would be is easy to use, with warm water, good lighting, and enough room for adults move safely. This would also help support the child and may prevent the adult from straining and injuring themselves. 

Babies and toddlers

If you choose to have facilities specifically designed for infants or toddlers, you may find it helpful to have a shub (a deep sink or small tub) installed at bench height— around 800 mm from the floor. This setup makes it easier for adults to wash young children without bending down. 

You may also find it useful to have a large sink or shub built into a spacious nappy-changing bench to wash babies and toddlers. This will allow adults in the service to move easily between changing and washing facilities, while staying close to the child throughout the process.

A pull-out spray sink mixer – like the kind used in kitchens for rinsing vegetables – may give you more flexibility. They are attached to an extendable hose that retracts slowly when not in use. This should make it easy to wash a baby, and to clean around the sink or shub. This same setup can also serve as a handwashing station for adults after changing nappies.

Older children 

For older children, it is better to have washing facilities at floor level. You could consider having a floor-mounted shub (with a shower hose), or a sloped, textured floor with a drain, like those found in accessible shower areas.

Practices 

You may find it useful to think about the following points to keep children and adults safe.  

Ask yourself:

• How do you supervise the child who’s being washed and keep them safe?
• How are other children supervised while a child is being washed?
• How do you keep adults safe and comfortable while washing a child?

For children

• Cover the child while they are being washed to protect their privacy and dignity.
• Try to avoid exposing the child to others.
• Keep the process as brief and respectful as possible.
• Respect the child’s preferences (for example, who helps them, what they’re comfortable with)
• Maintain visual and verbal contact throughout the process.

For adults

• Make sure adults are trained in child protection, safe hygienic practices, safe handling.
• Design the body wash facilities to have visibility from another part of the service to support child protection or use a two-person process where appropriate.
• Encourage a culture of respect and professionalism, where staff feel empowered to speak up if they have concerns.