Safeguarding Essentials

As an employee of Handcrafted, you must familiarise yourself with the safeguarding policies for adults, children and young people. When you join Handcrafted, you will be given training on safeguarding and you will also receive an annual update of your training.

The following brief guide is for quick reference; however, full details are in the Safeguarding Children Policy and Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Policy. Please refer to the original policies for full guidance and you should speak to your line manager or the Safeguarding Officer (Dan Northover) when in doubt about what to do.

What is Safeguarding?

Safeguarding is the process of protecting children, young people, and vulnerable adults from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. At Handcrafted, safeguarding is everyone's responsibility, and all workers are expected to collaborate with statutory authorities and multidisciplinary agencies to ensure the safety and well-being of those we support.

Key Safeguarding Responsibilities:

• Duty of Care: Every worker at Handcrafted has a duty of care to act if they suspect or become aware of any safeguarding issues. Never assume that someone else will handle it.
• Reporting: If you suspect abuse or neglect, report it immediately to the Safeguarding Officer, Dan Northover, or the Deputy Safeguarding Officer if Dan is unavailable or involved.
• Confidentiality: Safeguarding concerns should only be discussed with those directly involved in the response, such as the Safeguarding Officer. Make a written record of your concerns and keep it secure.

Who is Vulnerable?

• Children and Young People: Anyone under 18 years of age.
• Vulnerable Adults: Adults over 18 who may be at risk of abuse or neglect due to their circumstances.

Recognising Safeguarding Issues:

• Children: Signs of abuse or neglect in children can include unexplained injuries, changes in behaviour, withdrawal, or inappropriate relationships.
• Adults: Vulnerable adults may show signs of physical, sexual, emotional, financial, or institutional abuse. Be aware of indicators such as unexplained injuries, financial discrepancies, or sudden behavioural changes.

Types of Abuse:

• Physical Abuse: Injuries that don’t match explanations, or repeated medical issues like infections or fractures.
• Emotional Abuse: Signs include withdrawal, anxiety, or changes in behaviour.
• Sexual Abuse: This can involve inappropriate touching, explicit behaviour, or STDs in adults who cannot consent.
• Neglect: Look for signs of poor hygiene, malnutrition, or lack of access to medical care.
• Financial Abuse: Discrepancies between financial resources and living conditions.
• Institutional Abuse: Involves poor care standards in institutions, such as lack of choice over meals or medication misuse.
• Exploitation: Be aware of issues like criminal exploitation (e.g., County Lines) or modern-day slavery.

Responding to Safeguarding Concerns:

• Do Not Investigate: Never carry out your own investigation. Report your concerns immediately to the Safeguarding Officer.
• Document Everything: Record your concerns as soon as possible, including any actions taken, decisions made, and the rationale behind them. Use AirTable to document safeguarding alerts and ensure that the safeguarding lead reviews them. When you are making a contact note, you have the option of flagging a safeguarding concern. This will make sure your note is quickly reviewed by the safeguarding team to see if there is a need for further action. However, it is also your responsibility to make sure the concern is registered at the appropriate level and resolved and you have done what you can to make sure someone is safe.
• Seek Support: If the Safeguarding Officer is unavailable, contact Social Services or the police directly.

Important Contacts:

• Safeguarding Officer: Dan Northover (07917 037479)
• Deputy Safeguarding Officer: Ruth Crichton
• Social Care Direct: 0845 26 79 79
• thirtyone:eight Safeguarding Helpline: 0303 003 11 11
• Crisis Team: Call 111 and ask for the Crisis Team if someone is in immediate danger.
• Emergency Services: Dial 999 for police, ambulance, or fire services.

Working with Offenders:

If someone attending Handcrafted is known to have abused children, appropriate boundaries will be set in consultation with the police to ensure safety. Offenders must adhere to these boundaries, especially during public events hosted by Handcrafted.

Record Keeping:

Personal information, including full name, date of birth, contact details, and medical conditions, should be collected from new service users within an hour of their arrival. Ensure this information is recorded and handled in line with confidentiality policies.

Questions to Ask Yourself When Assessing a Situation:

• Is a child involved?
• Are there signs of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, neglect, or exploitation?
• Is there a risk of harm or neglect?
• Has the individual’s vulnerability increased due to recent events?
• Is this part of an ongoing safeguarding concern?

What to Include in Your Report:

• The nature of the concern and the associated risks.
• Who you discussed it with and the actions taken.
• Update risk assessments as needed and cross-reference with previous notes.
• Attach any supporting evidence.

How to make a good safeguarding note

A good safeguarding note doesn't need to be long. It needs to be precise, factual, and clear. Here are the key things to get right:

Use precise, factual language. Avoid euphemisms and vague descriptions. If you need to record something uncomfortable or crude, record it. Saying "they reported a violent incident" is much less useful than "they said someone hit them in the head." Precision matters, and we are pretty unshockable.

Quote directly where it matters. If there is specific wording that is particularly significant, quote it verbatim. You don't need to reproduce a whole conversation, but accurate direct speech is more reliable and more useful than a paraphrase.

Name the relevant people. If a social worker, police officer, or other professional is involved, give their name and any relevant details — collar numbers, for instance. If another resident or trainee is involved, initials are fine. For people with no connection to Handcrafted, naming them is appropriate and helpful. If something needs removing, Dan will deal with it — but it's better to include the detail and have it taken out than to omit it.

Record what you actually did. It's easy to focus entirely on what was disclosed and forget to note your own response. What did you do? What did you say? How did you leave things?

Describe how the situation closed. By the time you're writing a note, the immediate situation will have resolved in some way. Record how — whether that was calling emergency services, making a plan together, agreeing to meet tomorrow, or something else.

State what the risk is. Don't just record what happened — articulate what you're concerned might happen. "I'm concerned that they will return to that partner" is far more useful than leaving the risk implicit.

Highlight the concern within a longer note. If the safeguarding concern sits within a longer contact note, put it in bold so that whoever is reviewing can find it quickly.

Be prompt. Don't leave it two days. Record the concern in a timely way — especially where a vulnerable person or child has missed an appointment or failed to make contact.

Keep it concise. Length doesn't equal seriousness. A precise, focused note is more useful than a lengthy one. Zoom in on the relevant facts.

Ongoing concerns:

if a safeguarding concern is already known and being managed, your note should reflect that. Explain how you've closed off this particular instance — for example, "I am following up on the concern raised last week; no new risks were identified; I will check in again on Thursday." Tick the safeguarding box each time while the concern is active — it links the notes together and makes the ongoing picture visible.