Child Falls into Gap at Lempäälä Daycare After Substitute Raises Foldaway Bed

YLE reports that the incident happened in September at Kuokkalankulma daycare in Lempäälä when a substitute staff member raised a foldaway cupboard bed without checking it was empty. A child fell into the gap between the bed and a wall.

The Licence and Supervision Authority (LVV) investigated and found no unlawful conduct. It concluded that guidance on using the foldaway beds had been left to the substitute's own familiarisation and criticised the daycare manager for not ensuring proper staff induction and ongoing safety risk assessment.

The authority pointed to several contributing factors: no qualified early childhood teacher was present in the group even though staffing met the legal minimums, and waking, dressing and serving a snack coincided with shift changes. Lempäälä municipality has tightened rest-time safety rules, reinforced the beds' structural safety and revised substitute induction practices, and LVV said these corrective measures were appropriate, so no further supervisory action is needed.