Writing a risk assessment for one child

Record a child's hazards, control measures and benefit from their profile, and keep it linked to them.

Written byDaniel Broadhurst (Founder)|Published: 18 June 2026|
Ofsted Aligned

ℹ️Who this is for

Childminders and co-childminders who need to record the risks specific to one child, such as an allergy, a medical need or a child who climbs. Risk assessments are free on every plan. It takes about five minutes.

Video Walkthrough

A home safety audit covers your house. It doesn't cover a child with a severe allergy or a toddler who climbs on everything. An individual risk assessment is written for one child, kept on their profile, and includes the hazard, who is at risk, what you do about it and why the activity is worth the risk.

1. Open the child's Risk Assessments tab

Open the Children tab, tap the profile icon on the child's row, then open the Risk Assessments tab. Anything already written for this child is listed there. Tap Create Risk Assessment.

2. Check the child and the title

The form opens on Individual Child Risk Assessment. The child is already chosen and shown under Child, and Assessment Title is filled in with their first name and the month, like "Emma - Individual Risk Assessment - September 2026". Change the title if you want to.

3. Write the benefit and create it

Fill in Benefit / Rationale: why it's worth managing the risk so the child can take part. Create Assessment stays greyed out until you do. Tap it, then tap OK. You're back on the child's profile with the new assessment in the list, marked 1 Linked.

4. Open the assessment

Tap the assessment. Its areas are written for the child, under AREAS OF RISK: Allergies & Dietary Needs, Medical Needs & Medication, Mobility & Physical Needs, Behaviour & Supervision, Sleep & Rest, and Outings With This Child. Open one and there is no home-safety checklist, just space for what matters for this child.

5. Add a hazard

Tap Add Hazard. Who is at risk? is already filled in with the child's first name, and it is again for every hazard after that. Fill in What is the risk / hazard?, choose the Risk Level (Before Action), and write the Action Taken and the Educational Benefit (Optional). Tap SAVE TO ASSESSMENT.

Every edit keeps the assessment linked to the child, so it stays on their profile however many times you change it.

6. Check it belongs to that child

Open another child's Risk Assessments tab and it is empty. An assessment only appears on the child it was written for.

7. Find it in your main list

Open Tools, then Risk Assessments. The assessment is in your main list with an Individual Child badge and 1 Linked.

ℹ️Starting from the main list

Tap +, then Create New Assessment, and choose Individual Child Risk Assessment (after Lost Child). Because you haven't come from a child's profile, the form shows a Child picker, and Create Assessment stays greyed out until you pick one. Their first name then goes into the title.

ℹ️Deleting one

Tap More actions on the assessment's card, choose Delete Assessment, and confirm with Delete. The child's tab goes back to "No risk assessments linked to this child."

ℹ️Assistants

Assistants can see the assessments listed on a child's profile, but only childminders and co-childminders can create or delete them.

✅Why KinderStart does it this way

Inspectors expect a child's individual risks to be written down, and to find them with that child. The assessment lives on the child's profile, and keeps its link to them through every edit, so it can't quietly drop out of their record.

What to do next

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Track Your Progress
Don't get lost in the paperwork. Use our free interactive checklist to tick off each step as you complete it.

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Recording fire drills and alarm tests

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KinderStart strives for accuracy. Competitor features and pricing comparisons are based on publicly available information as of May 2026. Details are subject to change by respective providers.

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