Following on from our previous blog of five tips for improving the levels of safeguarding in your business, here are five more tips for ensuring you really have safeguarding wrapped up at your organisation.
Do staff and volunteers know how to raise a concern?
Once staff and volunteers have learned and understood what they need to be looking out for in terms of safeguarding, do they know the procedure for raising concerns? For many organisations, this can be a major stumbling block, with staff unable to know who they are allowed to confide in. The policy for raising concerns changes from setting to setting.
Make your policy available online
Your policy needs to be accessible to staff and volunteers in addition to any member of the public or stakeholder in your business who might need to see it. The best place is your website, where you should ideally have a link with a series of policies including terms and conditions, risk assessment, safeguarding, and health and safety. Not only is this good practice, but it also makes you more appealing to customers – for example, a member of the public who is looking for a care home for their elderly mother.
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Make visitors aware of the policy
Having the policy available to read online is just one step. You should also make people aware of it when they come to visit. Have paper copies at the ready to pass to potential clients, customers and general stakeholders to show you really mean what you say in the policy. This also invites feedback about your policy.
Make pledges
Pledges, both for individuals and for the business as a whole, can really help you move in the right direction when it comes to safeguarding. In fact, pledges can be used in all areas of the organisation. Check back on pledges and hold yourself accountable when they are not upheld.
Have a criminal record check for all staff
Make sure all staff have an up-to-date criminal record check, now called a DBS. It is really important that new staff have had a criminal record check before they start working.
By getting through these steps, you can help ensure your business is working at its best when it comes to safeguarding.
