The 5-10 minute sleep check is not a guideline; it is a forensic audit trail. A missing signature or a procedure not physically displayed is a direct breach of Regulation 55, creating liability that can terminate your service’s licence.
Regulation 55 of the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 mandates a documented check of every sleeping child every 5 to 10 minutes. The Office of Early Childhood Education (OECE) successfully blocked a government move to relax this to 15 minutes, arguing it violated a child’s right to protection. The standard is now locked in. Your documentation is the only proof of compliance.
The Audit Trigger
Auditors do not trust your word. They dissect your sleep logs like a forensic accountant. The first red flag is an incomplete audit trail: a check recorded without the staff member’s name and signature is treated as a check that never happened. They then cross-reference your stated capacity against staff rosters. If ratios are applied centre-wide instead of per sleep room, the auditor mathematically proves your 5-10 minute promise was a fiction. Finally, they will interview your staff. Inability to articulate the procedure is an instant fail.
The Regulatory Hook
The legal hook is Regulation 55, operationalised by licensing criterion HS9. It requires a displayed procedure, implementation, and records retained for the current year plus one. The OECE has already advised the Ministry that documented sleep safety training for all staff should be mandatory within two years; auditors are now pre-scrutinising for this evidence. Non-compliance is not an operational slip. It is a breach of the Education and Training Act 2020, putting your service’s licence to operate at immediate risk.
Director Action Point
“Show me the sleep log from the busiest day last month. Walk me through the auditor’s checklist: where is every required staff signature, and how does the staff roster mathematically guarantee 5-minute checks in every sleep room, not just on paper?”