Safeguarding

Safeguarding Policy

Purpose. Who is the ‘Safeguarding Lead’

To protect all those involved with our charity by adhering to relevant
legislation. In the case of children and young people the principal
statutes considered and applied are The Children Act (Scotland) 1995
and the Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011. In the case of adults
the relevant statute considered and applied refers to adults at risk of
harm as defined under the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act
2007.

Principles
1. The needs and welfare of the children and young people and
adults at risk of harm will be paramount.
2. All concerns will be taken seriously and managed accordingly
because no one should experience harm whilst working with us.

Our context
Our work involves us in interacting with a wide range of people in our
community. This is usually to either interview them for one of our
podcasts or to provide some technical training.
When we work with children and young people who are under 18, we
usually do this in conjunction with other responsible adults.
A typical example is in relation to our close collaboration with Islay High
School which allows us to use its recording studio facilities. Here we
work together in the same space with staff who are vetted meaning that
there is little opportunity for a child or young person to be exposed to
potential harm. The same ways of working are applied to our
involvement with primary school children in that any member of the
podcast team should never be alone with a child or young person.
Our schools also have policies relating to parents granting permission
for their children and young people to be involved in such activities and
this provides another layer of protection.

The definition of adults at risk of harm, often referred to as vulnerable
adults, does not cover the whole of the adult population. Instead, it
narrows down the population to those who are more at risk of harm
because of age or specific conditions such as having a learning
disability. So our practice is to interview those adults outwith this
definition on their own and to ensure that there are others present when
interviewing those who are defined as being more at risk.
Overall, without being in any way complacent, the level and type of
interaction we have means that the risk of exposure to harm is limited.
An added protection is that several of the team have undertaken
Protection of Vulnerable Groups checks.

Reporting and acting on concerns
Any allegations that are made will be taken seriously and investigated as
soon as practically possible. If there is an immediate danger then
emergency services will be contacted at once.
All concerns will be shared with our designated Safeguarding Lead
within 24 hours and the situation will be formally assessed and acted
upon as appropriate.
The Safeguarding Lead will provide training for other members of the
podcast team to ensure that they are aware of their duties and
responsibilities.
The Safeguarding Lead will refer any relevant concerns to the relevant
statutory authorities, principally social work, health and Police
colleagues.
The Safeguarding Lead will keep Board members appraised of relevant
issues.
If allegations relate to the designated Safeguarding Lead, another
member of the team will investigate or delegate this task to an external
colleague with the appropriate expertise.
Serious incidents will be reported to the Scottish Charity Regulator
(OSCR) via notifiable events.

Training
All members of the podcast team will receive regular safeguarding
training.

This policy will be reviewed annually by the Board.