Supervisors will be brought in to monitor a national childcare service’s buses and centres two weeks after a three-year-old boy was found dead after being left on a vehicle in far north Queensland.
From Tuesday, additional safety measures will be introduced at Goodstart Early Learning centres across the country after two staff were charged with manslaughter over the boy’s death in Cairns.
A supervisor will sit at the back of Goodstart Early Learning buses and there will be an additional “checker” at childcare centres after the company reviewed its policies and procedures after the tragedy.
The checker will perform a third look through buses after the driver and supervisor have completed theirs.
- Related: Boy found dead on Cairns minibus
Goodstart Early Learning CEO Julia Davidson said the company had apologised to the boy’s family.
“We’ve said sorry to the family. We continue to be there to support them in any way we can,” she told Nine.
She said there had been a number of incidents with Goodstart buses in recent years after which additional safety measures were introduced.
Charges laid in Cairns Magistrates Court
The manager of the Cairns childcare centre was released on bail after appearing in court on February 25 charged with manslaughter.
The Cairns Magistrates Court heard Michael Glen Lewis, 45, was also the driver of the bus on which the boy was found dead outside the Goodstart Early Learning Centre in the southern Cairns suburb of Edmonton, the ABC reported.
The court heard Mr Lewis initially forgot to pick up the boy from his home.
He dropped off a bus-load of children to the centre and doubled back, picked up the boy from his home and drove about 4.5 kilometres back to the childcare centre at 9:15am, the court heard.
The court heard the driver allegedly failed to sign the boy in when he got on the bus.
A casual employee at the centre who had been working at the centre less than four weeks was also granted bail after being charged with manslaughter.
-with AAP
The post Supervisors to monitor national childcare service buses after boy’s death appeared first on The New Daily.
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