The health and welfare of our participants, staff, volunteers and audience members is of the utmost priority. In order to protect this the following policy and procedures must be adhered to.
LEADERSHIP / RESPONSIBILITY
A Director has lead responsibility for each area of our work and takes overall responsibility for ensuring that the health and safety policies and procedures are implemented within that area. The lead Director will normally be Dr Ju Gosling.
At least one Director must be present at all evening, weekend and one-off events and activities organized by Together! 2012 CIC.
The relevant Senior Manager is responsible for risk-assessing a new activity and for seeking appropriate advice as necessary, and for reviewing the safety of an activity at least annually.
When carrying out risk assessments, Directors and Activity Leaders must be aware of the access requirements of different impairment groups and the health and safety risks that could particularly impact on them.
Activity Leaders must ensure that they have read and are aware of the risk assessments for the activity concerned beforehand, and raise any questions with the lead Director, in addition to being familiar with the Health and Safety (and other) policies and procedures as a whole.
During an activity, Activity Leaders should not absent themselves without handing over directly to a suitable deputy.
Team members should be made aware of the Health and Safety (and other) policies and procedures as a whole, and raise any questions with the Activity Leader.
All staff and volunteers should have current DBS (formerly CRB) clearance; where this is not possible (for example because of delays in processing these), no staff member or volunteer without a current DBS check should be left alone with participants.
Team members should not absent themselves during an activity without informing the Activity Leader directly, and must not leave an activity without adequate numbers of staff and volunteers remaining.
VULNERABLE ADULTS
Together! 2012 CIC will assist participants who require support to participate in an activity safely, but whose care packages are currently inadequate to enable participation, to negotiate for the appropriate support with the local authority.
See also our Safeguarding Policy.
If a participant has an accident while taking part in Together! 2012 CIC online activities, this must be reported to the lead Director and recorded appropriately.
All participants in regular activities will be asked to provide an emergency contact which will be recorded in the activity register kept by the Activity Leader. In the event of an online participant becoming unwell or distressed, permission will be sought (if possible) for the Activity Leader to phone the emergency contact.
ALCOHOL & DRUGS
Team members and participants must not attend activities under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs.
Any concerns about participants being affected by alcohol or illegal drugs must be brought to the attention of the Activity Leader.
Any concerns about Team members being affected by alcohol or illegal drugs should be raised using our Feedback, Compliments and Complaints Policy and related procedures.
FATIGUE / BREAKS
All workers and volunteers must arrive suitably rested and refreshed and fit to work.
Appropriate breaks must be taken throughout the day, including at least 30 minutes at lunchtime and 10 minutes in the morning and afternoon.
The length of the working day must be appropriate for the individual concerned and must not exceed this.
Personnel levels (including volunteers) must be sufficient to avoid over-fatiguing workers.
FURNITURE & EQUIPMENT
All furniture and equipment that is purchased or otherwise acquired by Together! 2012 CIC must be risk-assessed as being suitable, safe and appropriate for the intended use, whether this is within the home or secure storage. Regular checks must be made by Team members to ensure that any furniture and equipment provided for them remains in safe condition, and appropriate for any changes in use that may have take place.
RECORDING & REPORTING
Any action taken under the Health and Safety policy must be reported to the lead Director as soon as possible and be suitably recorded. Where possible, incidents should also be discussed at the following Directors’ meeting.
TRAINING
All Directors, staff and regular volunteers will be expected to attend relevant training courses when notified that these are available. Training for paid workers will take place during contractual hours.
MONITORING AND REVIEW
This Policy is monitored on an ongoing basis and reviewed annually by the directors to ensure that it remains fit for purpose, and is updated as necessary.
Reviewed and updated 12/4/2024.