Module 7 of 85–7 minutes

Equipment, Aids and Room Design in Education and Care

The equipment and room layout that take the lift out of everyday routines — change tables with steps, adjustable cots, adult chairs, trolleys, buggies and storage — and how to check and report it.

Last reviewed September 2026 · Part of Manual Handling Training for Childcare and Early Childhood Educators

Key learning points

Recognise the equipment and design features that reduce manual handling risk in a service
Understand that equipment must be used as intended and as shown by your service
Perform pre-use checks on buggies, cots, change tables and trolleys
Know how to respond to faulty, missing or unsuitable equipment

Equipment that removes or reduces the lift

Change tables with built-in steps: Toddlers climb up with you beside them; the lift from floor to bench disappears for every child who can climb. The steps must be stable, non-slip and fold away or gate off when not in use.
Adjustable-height cots and change surfaces: Set the height to the child and to you. Cot bases high for young infants and lowered as they become mobile; change surfaces around elbow height for the educator.
Adult-height chairs and kneeling stools: A comfortable adult chair in every room for feeding, settling and reading; low stools or kneeling stools for mat time and child-sized tables.
Meal and laundry trolleys: Move plates, jugs, linen and nappy bags on wheels rather than in armfuls down a corridor. Trolleys need working castors and a height that lets you push with straight wrists.
Buggies, prams and strollers: Multi-seat buggies with good brakes, pneumatic or solid tyres in good condition, and a handle height that suits the educators pushing them.
Sandpit covers and outdoor equipment: Covers on rollers or lightweight mesh with handles; climbing frames, planks and troughs with handles or castors, or stored where they do not need to be moved.
Step stools: A stable, non-slip step for reaching high storage and for standing beside deep cots. Never a child's chair or an upturned crate.
Storage design: Heavy items — sensory tubs, boxes of paper, water containers — at waist height; frequently used items within easy reach; light, rarely used items up high or down low.

This course does not sign you off on equipment

Online text cannot show you how a particular cot side releases, where a buggy's brake catches, or how a change table's steps lock. Your service must show you its own equipment, and you should not use a piece of equipment with a child until you have been shown how it works and what its limits are.

Rules that apply to all equipment

Use equipment only as the manufacturer and your service intend — a change table is not a bench seat, a stool is not a step ladder
Check it before use; a quick look and a push takes seconds
Respect load limits, including the number of children and the weight limit on buggies, high chairs and change tables
Keep children off equipment being moved or adjusted, and never adjust a cot or change table height with a child on it unless the design is made for that
Do not modify equipment — no cable ties on cot sides, no bricks under table legs
Report and take out of use anything damaged, loose or missing parts
Put equipment back where it belongs so the next educator is not searching or lifting to reach it

Checking and reporting equipment

Pre-use checks that matter

Buggies: brake holds on a slope, all wheels turn freely, harnesses buckle, frame locks and does not fold under load
Cots: base locked at the set height, side latches secure and not worn, mattress fits with no gap, no loose or missing hardware
Change tables: steps lock open, surface is clean and stable, safety strap or rail present, no wobble
High chairs: tray releases and locks, harness intact, legs level and not cracked
Trolleys: castors run straight and do not stick, brakes work, load is not above eye level
Step stools: feet intact, non-slip surface in place, no cracks

Practical scenario

Scenario: the buggy that rolls

Before an excursion you press the brake on the six-seat buggy and it holds on the flat. A colleague mentions that yesterday it crept forward on the slope outside the library while she was loading a child.

Should the excursion go ahead with this buggy?

Reveal the explanation

No. A brake that holds on the flat but creeps on a slope is a failed brake — excursions involve slopes, and a rolling buggy with children in it is an emergency waiting to happen and a sudden-force injury for whoever grabs it. Tag the buggy out of use, report it to the director for repair, and change the plan: a different buggy, fewer children on the walk, or postpone. Do not compensate by holding the buggy the whole time.

Practical scenario

Scenario: the top shelf

In the preschool room the twenty-litre water containers for the drink station are stored on the top shelf of the store room, above head height, because that is where they have always gone.

What is the problem and what should change?

Reveal the explanation

Lifting a heavy, sloshing load from above head height combines high force with the worst posture there is — arms extended overhead, back arched, load away from the body. Move the water containers to waist height, and put the light, rarely used items (paper plates, spare hats) up top instead. If shelving cannot be rearranged, a stable step stool and a two-person rule reduce the risk in the meantime. Raise it at the next room meeting so the store room is set up by weight and frequency of use.

Knowledge check

These questions are for your own learning. They are not part of the final assessment.

1. A multi-seat buggy's brake holds on flat ground but crept forward on a slope yesterday. What should you do?

2. Which storage arrangement best reduces manual handling risk in a store room?

3. You have never used the new adjustable cots in the babies room and a colleague says the side just pushes down. What should you do?