SAFE GUARDING POLICY & PROCEDURE
Safeguarding policy
This policy and the way in which it operates will be reviewed every 2 years.
The policy was adopted in
January2019
This document contains
1. General Statement of Policy
2. Purpose
3. Scope
4. Responsibilities
5. Information
6. Safeguarding within the context of BK’S HEROES work
7. Confidentiality and information sharing
8. Record keeping
.9. Reviewing this policy
Appendix 1. Procedure in the event of a disclosure or safeguarding concern
Appendix 2. Recording concerns and disclosures
Appendix 3. Dealing with allegations made against a Trustee/volunteer
Appendix 4. Types and indicators of abuse
1. General Statement of Policy
1.1 BK’S HEROES believes that children and adults have the right to protection from abuse, and
should be able to live free from the fear of abuse.
1.2. BK’S HEROES is committed to ensuring that disclosures of abuse and safeguarding concerns are taken seriously and acted upon appropriately.
1.3. BK’S HEROES is committed to ensuring that our staff understand their roles and responsibilities,
and are provided with appropriate information and training, in respect to safeguarding children and adults
at risk
2. Purpose
2.1. The purpose of this policy is to outline the duty and responsibility of BK’S HEROES in respect to Safeguarding
The key objectives of this policy are to:
2.1.1. Explain the responsibilities of the Trustees, Safeguarding Officer and any volunteer workers in respect of the safeguarding of children and adults at risk
2.1.2. Enable workers who receive disclosures of, witness, or suspect abuse to make informed and confident responses
2.1.3. Ensure that prompt action is taken to minimise the risk of harm occurring from any further abuse.
2.1.4. Ensure that information relating to safeguarding is kept securely and only shared on a needto-know basis.
3. Scope
3.1. Safeguarding is about protecting the safety, independence and wellbeing of people at risk of abuse, and is everybody’s responsibility.
3.2. This policy relates to all children, young people and adults who become known to the charity through the course of our work and who may be at risk of abuse.
3.3. Assessing whether children or adults are experiencing abuse is the responsibility of professionals within the local authority. BK’S HEROES role is therefore not to assess whether abuse has taken place, but to safeguard by informing the local authority if information becomes known to us that could indicate that abuse mayhave taken place, or that a child or adult may be at risk of abuse.
3.4. For the purpose of this policy, a childis defined as a person under the age of 18 and an adult is defined as a person aged 18 years or over.A young person is a child aged 13 years and over.
3.5. For the purpose of this policy an adult at risk of abuse is defined as ‘someone who has care and support needs and is therefore unable to protect themelves from either the risk of, or the experience of, abuse or neglect’
4. Responsibilities
4.1. Safeguarding Officer
4.1.1. BK’S HEROES Trustees Committee delegates overall responsibility for safeguarding to David King safeguarding Officer.
4.1.2. The Safeguarding Officer should ensure that the Trustees receive necessary reports on safeguarding issues, and may call a special meeting of the Trustees where a safeguarding matter requires their urgent attention.
4.1.3. The Safeguarding Officer is responsible for implementing arrangements for safeguarding the welfare of children and adults at risk throughout the organisation.
4.1.4. The Safeguarding Officer is responsible for dealing with all instances relating to safeguarding children or adults at risk that arise within BK’S HEROES. He will respond to all safeguarding concerns and make appropriate referrals to the local authority.
4.1.5. In the absence of the Safeguarding Officer, Fiona King is responsible.
4.2. Trustees and voluntary workers
4.2.1. All trustees and voluntary workers have a duty to promote the welfare of children and adults at risk. It is everybody’s responsibility to recognise the signs of, and to report, abuse wherever it is seen, suspected or disclosed. Trustees and voluntary workers must also respond appropriately to any disclosure and take any immediate action necessary to protect children and adults at risk.
5. Information
5.1. All workers will be provided with information to enable them to recognise possible signs of abuse and respond appropriately. This information will form appendices to this Safeguarding Policy. It is the responsibility of the Safeguarding Officer to ensure this information is kept up to date. It is the responsibility of all workers to familiarise themselves with this information, particularly the information in Appendix 4. Types and indicators of abuse.
5.2. The Safeguarding Officer should complete training on safeguarding children and adults once every 2 years.
6. Safeguarding within the context of BK’S HEROES
6.1. The majority of direct work with service users is done in the context of our events and awareness presentations.
6.2. BK’S HEROES does not currently run services specifically for children and young people, although children and young people may attend our events and awareness presentations, either with a parent/carer.
6.3 The roles of BK’S HEROES Trustees does not fall within the legally defined eligibility criteria for requesting Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks (as outlined in the DBS eligibility guidance). BK’S HEROES does not, therefore, request Enhanced DBS disclosures for Trustees
7. Confidentiality and information sharing
7.1. BK’S HEROES have a responsibility to share information about children and adults at risk if that information may indicate that the child or adult at risk is experiencing abuse.
7.2. If a disclosure is made to a Trustee, or a Trustee has a concern about the welfare of a child or adult at risk, the Trustee should follow BK’S HEROES procedure in the event of a disclosure or safeguarding concern (Appendix 1). This includes ensuring that the person making a disclosure is aware that the Trustee may need to share the information, and cannot promise to keep it secret.
7.3. Information should only be shared on a strictly need-to-know basis. This means:
7.3.1. The Trustee who receives the information should inform the Safeguarding Officer on the same working day. If the Trustee who receives the information is the Safeguarding Officer, he should inform Fiona king, or, in her absence, one other Trustee.
7.3.2. The Safeguarding Officer and the Trustee will discuss the concern and decide whether there is a need to inform the relevant authorities. The decision about whether to make a referral should be based on:
7.3.2.1.The welfare of the child or adult at risk is paramount. Protecting the welfare of the person who may be experiencing abuse should be the only consideration when deciding whether a referral is needed.
7.3.2.2.If the Safeguarding Officer and/or the other Trustee is in any doubt as to whether a referral is needed, a referral should be made.
7.3.2.3.It is not the role of BK’S HEROES to assess whether abuse has taken place. A referral should be made if information is known that indicates that abuse may have taken place.
7.3.3. In the event of a disclosure, efforts should be made to get informed consent from the person making the disclosure before a referral is made to the local Safeguarding Team, however, a referral may be made without consent if the person does not give that consent and there are concerns about the welfare of a child or adult at risk.
7.4 Information will not be shared with other Trustees as a matter of course. Any information that is shared will be on a strictly need-to-know basis and kept to a minimum. Unlike most areas of BK’S HEROES work, it is not necessary or appropriate for all trustees to be informed of the detail of safeguarding concerns.
7.5 In the event of a disclosure, the person who made the disclosure should be kept informed about what information has been shared and with whom.Referral may be made without consent if the person does not give consent and there are concerns about the welfare of a child or adult at risk.
8. Record keeping
8.1. In the event of a disclosure or safeguarding concern, a detailed written record must be made by the person who receives the information, as soon as possible, and always on the same day, following BK’S HEROES procedure for recording concerns and disclosures (Appendix 2).
8.2. These records must be stored securely, in a locked drawer or password protected file, indefinitely.
8.3. Trustees may not access these records except on a need-to-know basis.
9. Reviewing this policy
9.1. This policy and its appendices will be reviewed by the Trustees every 2 years