Preparing for a Tusla inspection: a practical checklist

Governance and management

• Policies and procedures are dated, current, and reflect what actually happens in the service, not a template copied at registration and never revisited.
• The complaints procedure is visible to parents and staff, and any complaints (formal or informal) are logged.
• Insurance cover is current and evidence of it is easy to find.
• Staff files include references, qualifications, and induction records for every employee, volunteer and contractor.
• Notifiable events from the past year have actually been reported to Tusla at the time, not just noted internally.

Health, welfare and development of the child

• Every child with an allergy or medical condition has a current, signed care plan, not one that was accurate a year ago.
• Menus and meal records show what's actually served and, where relevant, what's eaten.
• Observations and learning records exist for each child and are recent, not backdated in a batch before a visit.
• Rest, sleep and nappy records (where applicable) are timestamped and attributed to a staff member.

Safety

• Risk assessments are dated within the last review period and match the actual layout and equipment in use.
• Fire safety records, drills, equipment checks, are up to date and logged.
• Supervision arrangements hold up in practice, not merely on the rota. Walk the rooms and check who's actually watching which children at a given moment.
• Accident and incident records are complete, signed, and where required, shared with parents at the time.

Staffing

• Garda vetting is current for every staff member, volunteer, student and Board member in direct contact with children. Check renewal dates against the 36-month cycle, not simply whether vetting exists at all.
• Qualifications on file meet the minimum Level 5 requirement (or recognised equivalent) for everyone working directly with children.
• Rosters match actual attendance for the day, and ratios actually held, including around breaks, late arrivals and any last-minute absence.
• A paediatric first-aid-trained staff member is on-site whenever children are present, and full daycare settings have at least two adults on the premises at all times.

What to do on the day

If an inspector arrives unannounced, the most useful thing you can do is stay calm and let normal practice continue. Inspectors are assessing the service as it usually runs, not a performance. Trying to visibly change routine when they arrive tends to draw more attention, not less. Have someone available to support the inspector (usually the person in charge), but don't pull staff away from ratio to do it.

When asked for a record, produce it as it's actually kept, rather than trying to reconstruct or tidy it in the moment. If something genuinely isn't available, say so plainly instead of guessing. Inspectors are used to distinguishing between a gap and an evasive answer, and the second one causes more concern.

After the inspection

Read the draft inspection report carefully once it arrives. For any non-compliance, put together a real Corrective and Preventive Action response: what specifically will change, who's responsible, and by when. Where a finding points to a gap, it's worth checking whether the same gap exists elsewhere in the service. A care plan that lapsed in one room is worth checking for in every room, not just the one that was inspected.

Practical advice

1. Run through this checklist as a standing monthly habit, not a one-off before you expect a visit. It's far less work spread out than compressed into a panic.
2. Assign one area (governance, welfare, safety, staffing) to a specific team member to own, so nothing falls between people.
3. Keep a simple running list of anything you already know needs fixing, a slightly overdue risk assessment, a care plan due for renewal, so nothing is a surprise on the day.
4. After any inspection, good or not, do a short debrief with the team on what was asked for and how quickly you could produce it.

How Tot Tracker helps

Most of this checklist is really a question of whether the right record can be produced quickly and confidently. Tot Tracker keeps vetting and qualification expiries visible with alerts before they lapse, shows rosters against actual attendance instead of just the plan, keeps care plans on a re-signing schedule, and timestamps observations, incidents and consents to the staff member who logged them, so a walk-through like this one is mostly a five-minute check, not a room-by-room search.

Frequently asked questions