The Telure Standard for a child care program

Crib, play yard and infant sleep surface inspection

Crib by crib, with the room empty or the crib pulled out of the line: all hardware present and tight, no missing or substituted screws, mattress support hooks seated, slats and mesh sound with nothing split, torn or unstitched, casters locking, and the mattress sitting tight against all four sides with no gap opening at the ends. Read the tracking label or the manufacturer plate and confirm it against the registry rather than against memory. This is a hands-on hardware check, not the daily look at what is in the crib with a sleeping infant, which belongs on the room walk. Weekly is the cadence because these units are rolled, stacked and moved between rooms constantly and fasteners work loose from being handled, not from age. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Diapering station and handwashing point inspection

Station by station: the changing surface itself smooth, unbroken and non-absorbent, with no split, tear, crack or worn patch anywhere on it, because a surface that has split cannot be disinfected no matter how carefully somebody wipes it. Then the rest of the position: a handwashing sink reachable without carrying the child across the room, soap and paper towels stocked at it, a hands-free covered receptacle, liners and gloves in supply, and the guard rail or contour sound where the unit has one. Do the same at every handwashing sink children use. Weekly because this surface takes more use per day than anything else in the building and damage to it shows up in weeks rather than years. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Play yard walk: fence line, gates and surfacing

Walk the whole fence line from inside the yard: no gap, no loosened panel or picket, no rail or planter left where it turns the fence into a climbing frame, nothing overhanging that gives a foothold. Then every gate: swings freely, latches on its own from a light push and from a full swing, latch positioned so it is worked from above and not reached through the mesh, hinges tight. Then the ground: surfacing raked back level under the swings, at the slide exit and at the climber, no thin patch at a wear point, no standing water, and no debris, glass or animal fouling anywhere in the yard. Weekly because loose fill migrates out of the busy spots within days of use and a latch that has started to hang short gets worse every time it is swung. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Locked storage and reach sweep at child height

Go through every room on your knees, at the eye level of the children in it, and sweep for what has come within reach since last month: cleaning products, sanitizer, aerosols, medications, staff bags and personal medication, plastic bags and liners, cords and blind pulls, button cells, small parts and anything in an infant or toddler room small enough to disappear into a mouth. Then the storage itself: cupboards latched, medications and hazardous products in their locked place and nothing standing on a counter waiting to be put away, containers labeled and closed, the safety data sheets a staff member would need reachable rather than filed in an office, and the gloves and eye protection the cleaning products call for actually stocked. Monthly and whole-room because the failure is never a policy failure, it is a bottle set down during a clean and left, and a room that has been rearranged twice since the last sweep hides it. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Cot, mat and rest equipment inspection

With the whole set out on the floor rather than stacked: every cot frame square and unbent with feet and end caps present, every fabric bed and every mat cover unsplit, unpunctured and still sealed at the seams, no exposed foam, and every surface still one somebody can actually wipe down. Confirm each one is labeled to a child and that the room's own spacing plan is posted and matches how they are actually laid out. Check the stack or rack they live on is stable and not leaning. Monthly because vinyl and mesh split from stacking and dragging rather than from use, and this is the only time in the month the whole set is out where every single one gets looked at instead of the four on the top of the stack. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

High chair, gate and anchored furnishing inspection

High chairs and feeding seats: restraint straps present, unfrayed and latching, tray locked on, legs and locks sound, no cracked plastic. Indoor gates and barriers: latch positive from both sides, mounting hardware tight in the wall or frame, no bent bar or gap opened at the hinge. Anchored furnishings: every shelf, cabinet, cubby unit, changing station and television bracket still fixed to the wall or floor, with a firm pull applied to each one rather than a look, because an anchor that has pulled a fixing loose looks identical to one that has not. Monthly because rooms are rearranged constantly and an anchor is only as good as the last time somebody actually moved the unit. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Emergency drill and evacuation route walk

Run the drill your own licensing rule calls for this month and record it as it happened: which drill, the time started, the time the last room was clear, who was in the building, how the count was taken and any room where the route did not work. Then walk the routes cold with the drill over: exits and corridors unobstructed, exit doors and gates opening from the inside without a key, the evacuation crib or wagon where it is meant to be and rolling, the outdoor assembly point reachable, and the emergency information and contact lists at the exit current. Monthly because the group in each room changes constantly and a route that worked in September stops working the week a cot rack moves into a corridor. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

First aid kit, emergency supply and posted care plan check

Open every kit rather than counting sealed boxes: room kits, outing and stroller bags, the yard kit and the vehicle kit if there is one. Restock what has been used and read every expiry date in front of you, including the ones on emergency medications the program holds, the AED pads and battery where there is one, and anything a child's individual plan depends on. Then the posted half: each child's emergency care and allergy information current, posted where the staff in that room can see it without leaving the room and where visitors and other families cannot, and matching what is actually in the medication store. Monthly because a kit is emptied one bandage at a time by people too busy to mention it, and expiry dates arrive silently. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Vehicle child restraint and transport headcount check

Only for programs that carry children in a vehicle. Seat by seat: every restraint the right one for the child who rides in it, installed tight with no movement at the belt path, harness straps unfrayed and at the correct slot height, buckles latching and releasing cleanly, and nothing expired against the date molded into the shell. Then the vehicle side of the routine: the sweep-and-sign sheet in the vehicle, the interior swept front to back at the end of every run, and the headcount method posted where the driver and the escort can both see it. Monthly because restraints are moved between vehicles and between children constantly, and the failure that matters is a strap left at last month's height. Turn this check off with a documented exception if the program never transports. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Water temperature check at every fixture a child reaches

Run each handwashing sink, tub and any other fixture a child can reach, let it come up to temperature, and take a reading with a thermometer rather than a hand. Record the reading against the fixture, and confirm it sits at or below the maximum your own licensing rule sets. Then look at the tempering or mixing valve itself and note its setting and condition where one is fitted. Quarterly because a mixing valve drifts slowly and invisibly, and the value of this check is the trend across the year sitting on the record: four readings that have crept upward is a valve going out, and nobody sees that from one reading. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Play equipment close inspection: hardware, entrapment and use zones

A different act from the weekly walk: this one takes a tape, a light and an hour with the yard closed. Every fastener, S-hook, clamp, swing hanger and footing on each piece of equipment, checked by hand for movement and for wear at the wearing points. Every projection and every place a drawstring, a hood cord or a strap could catch. Every opening between rails, rungs, platforms and panels looked at for the gap a small body goes through but a head does not. Slide beds, edges and exits for cracking, sharpness and heat, and decks and steps for movement underfoot. Then the ground: surfacing depth measured at each use zone and recorded as a number, and the extent of the use zone itself checked clear of fences, footings and site furnishing. Quarterly because none of this changes in a week, and all of it is invisible to somebody walking the yard with children in it. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Staff currency review: pediatric first aid, CPR and required training

Person by person through everyone who counts in a room, including floaters, substitutes and anyone who covers a break: pediatric first aid and CPR in date and the certificate on file, the health and safety topics your own state requires before and during employment recorded with the date each was completed, medication administration training for whoever administers it, background check dates on file, and any topic somebody is exempt from marked as such rather than left looking overdue. Book the renewals that fall due before the next review rather than after they lapse. Twice a year because that is two chances to catch a lapse before it becomes a citation, and because the substitute who covered three rooms last month is exactly the person the annual review misses. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Licensing self inspection against your own state's checklist

Once a year, walk your own program against the checklist your own licensing agency actually uses, in the order they use it, with somebody who did not do this year's walks. Answer each line honestly and file the completed checklist against this task. Every gap opens a corrective-action item, with whoever owns it and when it is due written into its note, so the closure of each one is on the record before somebody else finds it. Where your state, your funder or your insurer sets a different self-review frequency or requires a different form, that governs. Annual because a full year of your own records is what gives this walk anything to read, running it more often turns it into another routine pass rather than the cold read it is meant to be, and the only useful time to find your own gaps is before somebody else does. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Full play yard inspection (qualified person)

Book a qualified person once a year for the yard as a whole: every structure against the manufacturer's own installation and maintenance documentation for that model rather than against a generic form, footings and below-grade condition, surfacing type, depth and condition across every use zone, fencing, gates and boundary, shade and site furnishing. File the report against this task, record who performed it and the qualification they hold, and open a corrective-action item for every cited deficiency so each closure is on the record. Where your jurisdiction or your insurer sets the frequency or the inspector's qualification, that governs. Telure records the inspection; it does not issue, verify or endorse anybody's qualification. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.