All organisations should develop and implement a safeguarding adults policy and associated procedures, regardless of whether they have adult participants/members, an adult workforce or a mixture of both.

A safeguarding adults policy should set out an organisation’s commitment to creating and maintaining a safe, positive environment for all people involved. An organisation’s safeguarding adults procedures will set out the processes that your organisation should follow if a safeguarding concern arises. Your Welfare Officer will be responsible for developing and implementing safeguarding policies and procedures, so make sure they can access the relevant training.

Organisations that support both adults and children/young people are advised to have separate policies outlining how they will effectively safeguard both groups. For more information on the differences between safeguarding children, young people and adults check out our safeguarding page here.

The Ann Craft Trust also suggests that your safeguarding adults policy and procedures should be supported by other organisational policies which help to promote a safe environment. Click here for more information on these additional polices and procedures.

Your safeguarding adults policy

All safeguarding policies will vary slightly depending on the sport/activity, or due to specific requirements of the governing body you are affiliated with so it is best to contact them for support. However the Ann Craft Trust also provides a Safeguarding Adults Policy and procedures template available here.

To ensure the policy document is adopted and appropriate to an organisation:

  • The policy should be in the name of the organisation, approved, signed, and dated by the committee/board members.
  • Policies should be reviewed at least every 3 years or:
    • Updated to reflect changes in legislation and government guidance.
    • Updated after a case or issue in the organisation.
    • Updated after relevant changes to the workforce e.g. the Welfare Officer.
  • Organisations should record evidence of any policy review in meeting minutes and add the dates of the review to the document itself.
  • The policy should be written in a clear, jargon-free way that is easy to understand

To help ensure that organisations provide a safe environment for adults, particularly adults at risk, it is important that they develop good recruitment practices and processes to determine a volunteer or paid staff member’s suitability for a role. Legally, anyone working with adults at risk needs to be taken through a safe recruitment process, but it is advised that organisations follow best practice when recruiting for any role, including:

  • The relevant level of DBS Checks.
  • Detailed application forms.
  • Self-disclosure.
  • Robust interviews that cover safeguarding, equality and diversity and skills.
  • Reference checks.
  • A thorough induction process.
  • Verification of qualification and experience.
  • Risk Assessment.

Further detail on safe recruitment practice can be found here.

How an organisation responds to and reports a safeguarding concern should be outlined within their safeguarding adults polices and procedures. To ensure everyone knows how to report or raise a safeguarding concern, and who with, organisations should ensure that information on reporting channels and key internal and external contacts are readily available and accessible to all. The Ann Craft Trust recommends that in the event of a safeguarding issue, the below process is followed:

  1. Seek consent from the person concerned. If you feel that they do not have capacity to consent, you can act without consent but you must log your decision.
  2. Collect all available relevant facts and appropriate information.
  3. Make a written record of the concern.
  4. Tell the person involved what you are going to do about the concern and note any views that they may have regarding how they wish the matter to be dealt with.
  5. Tell only the people who need to know – such as your Safeguarding Officer.
  6. Consider the balance between listening to someone’s wishes and needing to refer information where others may be at risk.
  7. Inform the person involved about the outcome of any process.

If someone is injured or at immediate risk, take immediate action. Seek help by dialling 999 for police or ambulance.


Last modified: Monday, 22 November 2021, 4:05 PM