MercyCare Early Learning Service: Perth childcare fined after toddler trapped in hot shed

A daycare centre has been handed a hefty fine after a missing toddler was found locked inside a hot shed.

A Perth childcare centre has been slapped with a hefty fine after a toddler was accidentally locked inside a hot shed.

The incident occurred at Mercy Community Services Limited’s centre in Heathridge in Perth’s north on March 7 last year, with a tribunal ordering the company to pay a $15,000 penalty this week.

In agreed facts set out in the tribunal, the two-year-old boy had walked inside the shed looking for play equipment, when he was “inadvertently” locked inside by a staff educator.

The alarm was only raised when the boy’s older brother and sister were seen outside the centre, and a staff search located the “visibly hot” child inside.

Mercy Community Services Limited, the company that operates MercyCare Early Learning Service in Heathridge, has been slapped with a $15,000 penalty. Picture: Supplied/ Google

It’s understood the child was only inside the shed for a maximum of 15 minutes.

Department of Communities executive director for regulation and quality Phil Payne, said the case should serve as a warning about adequate supervision.

“In this incident the child was latched inside a metal shed on a 30-degree day which could have easily resulted in a different outcome,” he said.

“It’s the responsibility of the service providers to ensure their staff follow the supervision procedures and policies in place to prevent incidents like this from occurring.”

The alarm was raised after the boy’s older siblings were spotted without the toddler. Picture: Supplied.

In settling the proceedings, the company accepted it had failed to ensure all children at its service were adequately supervised at all times.

MercyCare had submitted the situation was “unique” as staff had followed proper protocols by searching the shed prior to locking it but an educator had reopened it a second time to place a toy inside.

They said, and the Department of Communities accepted, the time span for the child to enter must have “only been a second or two”.

Following the incident, MercyCare engaged an independent audit of its policies and implemented the recommended changes.

MercyCare Early Learning Service Heathridge was also ordered to pay $2,000 in legal costs within 30 days.