Fostering Health and Safety Check question

[Fosterquestion]

Hi everyone,

We are going through the process of becoming connected fosterers to our nieces and nephews and are at the point of having a home check. Couple of questions if anyone might be able to help (our assessor is off until the day she comes out to us).

Blind cords: we are swapping all the blinds in the house to the pull down tension ones but in the conservatory we have blinds that were fitted by Hilaries or similar as odd sizes and they have the plastic pulley cord things. My question is: will they be ok if we fit the blind safety clips (the ones that screw in the wall and fix the cord in place) then will this be ok or do they need to be cordless?

They phrase the check as "There are no blinds or curtains with cords that constitute a hazed"

The other question is that we have 3 dogs, all of so sweet and lovely but 2 are very shy with new people (rescues that didn't have a good start in life). We have had them 8+ years and they are oldies but are scared when new people come in the house so run off. After a few times of meeting they are fine though. The kids have all met them as we used to have sleepovers. Do you think this would be a problem for the pet assessment? This is what is worrying us the most.

Any advise would be really appreciated x

you will be fine on both fronts. The H and S check is not a pass or fail. If there was a problem with something you would be given advice to resolve.

Thanks @Fosterquestion ! That’s a relief to hear, there’s so much to consider and go over… be glad when this bit is done and dusted.

We had blinds and had the chain screwed onto the wall with a pulley but we also split the chain and put a 'breaker' in which would come apart in the case someone did get caught in them .
(Similar to the one in the pic)

With the dogs they may ask for an official report as there are 3 of them. I've heard other foster carers have been asked to do this as 1 or 2 are ok but officially 3 are seen as a pack. (not sure if this true across all LAs). Your comments about the dogs seem to say this wouldnt be an issue though.

Good luck x

They will do a risk assessment on both issues.

For the pets, there is a separate form. You won't be expected to change how you live with your pets.

The blinds thing, if it's not satisfactory, they will give you advice.

Our H&S assessment was about having a carbon monoxide monitor, a lock on the bathroom that can be unlocked from outside, and a locked storage area (for booze and knives).