Tip
Flag symbol (⚑)
A flag symbol (⚑) indicates a criterion that applies to services which include a home or homes that have children receiving out-of-school care (as defined in the glossary) in the home while the licensed home-based ECE service is being provided.
Criterion HS204
There is a written emergency plan and supplies to ensure the care and safety of the children and educator at the home and when away from the home.
⚑ The written emergency plan must also include out-of-school care children if out-of-school care is being provided in the home.
Documentation required (written or digital)
A written emergency plan that includes at least:
evacuation procedures specific to the home and relevant to its location, which apply in different emergency situations and if applicable, are consistent with the building’s fire evacuation scheme
designated assembly areas outside the building that keep children safe from further risk
a list of safety and emergency supplies and resources sufficient for the age and number of children and adults present in the home and details of how these will be maintained and accessed in an emergency
a communication plan for families and support services and
evidence of reviewing the plan annually and implementation of improved practices as required.
Guidance
How to show you are complying
Emergency plan
You need a documented emergency plan for each home used in the service. The plan should cover potential emergencies unique to each home to prepare each home to respond and recover effectively if an emergency occurred.
When developing the individual plans, you should consider your specific location and the kinds of events that could happen. At a minimum, there should be a plan for each home about how to respond to earthquakes, fires external threats (for example a chemical spill), floods and storms, and situations where a lockdown is required. If a home is based in a tsunami zone, there should be a plan specific to tsunamis.
⚑ If providing out-of-school care, the emergency plan needs to include how all children in the home will be safely evacuated at the same time. School-aged children must not be expected to help carry non-walking children or be responsible for evacuating ECE children.
Service provider responsibilities
The service provider is responsible for ensuring there is an emergency procedure for each home.
Emergency supplies and resources
There is no prescribed list that covers the supplies and resources that you must have in an emergency. You will need to consider the number of people and their needs when deciding the supplies to keep. For example, if your service includes children under 2 years old, your emergency supplies will likely need to include infant formula, clean bottles, and nappies.
If the home does not have a landline, the educator will need to ensure they have a means of accessing appropriate help and support.
When assessing whether you comply with HS204
Questions we are likely to ask
What steps have you taken to identify the risks relevant to the context and location of each home where care will be provided?
What emergency supplies do you have available? How have you determined that these meet the needs of children and adults at the service?
Where do you keep your emergency supplies and how are these maintained?
Where is the assembly point after evacuating the home, and how can you tell if that location is safe?
How do you make sure everyone is accounted for at the assembly area?
How do you keep families informed during an emergency?
When was the last time you reviewed your emergency plan, and what changes did you make?
We are likely to look at, measure or count
Where the assembly points are, and if offsite how they protect children from further harm
Emergency supplies in relation to the number of children and adults likely to be on-site and how they are stored.
We are likely to request
A copy of the emergency plan for the home where care is being provided
Information about the annual review of the emergency plan.
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.
Guide to support emergency plans and supplies
The National Emergency Management Agency and the Ministry of Education have produced a template that can be used for planning for a variety of emergencies. The guide provides practical guidance and information for emergency management plans for early learning services.
Planning and preparing for emergencies [PDF, 1.33 MB]
When working out what supplies you will need, you can consider National Emergency Management Agency | Te Rākau Whakamarumaru guidance against the age and number of children and adults at your service. For example, if your service has children aged under 2 years old, your supplies will likely need to include formula, clean bottles, and nappies.
Get your work ready for an emergency – Get Ready
Template emergency plan
You can use this template to prepare an emergency management plan.
Emergency management plan template [DOCX 522.72 KB]
Preparing children for an emergency
The National Emergency Management Agency have a What’s the Plan Stan website which focuses on helping children prepare for an emergency and a special section which aims to support teachers to develop children’s knowledge, skills and attitudes to respond to and prepare for an emergency.
What's the Plan, Stan? – Get Ready
Pandemics
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, early learning services have to manage potential or real outbreaks of communicable disease. These include influenza, measles and COVID-19.
The Ministry of Health has information about the New Zealand pandemic plan.
By having an emergency plan and supplies in place, service providers and educators will be well placed to keep children safe. It should also give whānau confidence in educators and the service provider, should an emergency occur.
Doing more than the minimum can shape better outcomes for children. Here are some ideas or examples you might like to consider.
Preparing for an emergency is an important part of the induction process that the person responsible (visiting teacher/coordinator) carries out with each educator.
Access to supplies
It might be useful to keep a “grab bag” near the exit if you need to evacuate the premises quickly. It could include emergency supplies, including children’s medication. It could also include items designed to help children calm and occupied while waiting at the assembly area, like toys and books. This would be beneficial because it might not be safe to go back into the home, depending on the emergency.
Mataara
The Ministry operates Mataara, an emergency contact system.
We use Mataara to connect with early learning services as quickly and simply as possible. We will text and email your emergency cellphone number and email address if there is an emergency in your area. If you wish to use this service, you should let us know if your contact details change at any time.
The Ministry is only able to send the first message, but you can reply after the first message is received.
Messages will come from 8707, a number only used by the Ministry. We recommend you save this number to your contacts list so that you know the messages are from the Ministry.