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Den Building Risk Assessment Template
Create a professional, comprehensive risk assessment for den building in forest schools settings. Tailor hazards and measures to your needs and download a professional PDF. Add your own branding.
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What this covers.
This template focuses on typical risks and controls for den building in forest schools settings. You can add, remove or adapt items to match your context.
Potential benefits
Reinforces planning skills in choosing locations, materials, and shapes.
Encourages resilience and adaptability as children problem-solve structural flaws.
Develops physical literacy through crawling, stretching, lifting, and balancing.
Stimulates creativity as children imagine, design, and build their own dens.
Promotes collaboration and negotiation when working in small groups.
Typical hazards & measures
Strangulation or entanglement from ropes
— Use brightly coloured rope and limit length. Prohibit tying rope around body parts. Ensure rope pathways are visible and avoid across walkways. Supervise all rope usage and dismantle any unused setups.
Lifting fatigue or muscle strain
— Demonstrate safe lifting posture—bend knees, straight back. Children must only lift what they can handle comfortably. Promote team lifting for logs or tarps. Monitor closely and rotate tasks to prevent overexertion.
Rope burns or friction burns
— Teach children to pull rope slowly and wear gloves if needed. Avoid tying knots that jam under tension. Show safe knotting techniques and allow breaks if rope work is intense. Monitor closely during rope handling.
Tools causing cuts or injuries
— Tools stored centrally and only used with adult supervision. Deliver a clear safety talk before use. Provide gloves and one-to-one guidance. Limit tools to appropriate age groups and tasks. Clean and check tools regularly.
Thorns or brambles
— Identify bramble areas during site check and mark or clear before session. Ensure children wear long sleeves and trousers. Supervise movement near dense vegetation and demonstrate gentle detangling techniques.
How to use this template
Click Create Risk Assessment: Den Building to begin immediately.
Review suggested hazards and measures, then tailor as needed.
Download your PDF. Create a free account if you want to save.
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