{"id":554,"date":"2015-02-03T11:10:41","date_gmt":"2015-02-03T11:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teamkineticuk.wordpress.com\/?p=554"},"modified":"2024-03-05T14:51:37","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T14:51:37","slug":"volunteer-health-and-safety-for-beginners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teamkinetic.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/02\/volunteer-health-and-safety-for-beginners\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteer Health and Safety for beginners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Health and Safety, those dreaded words. The reason to stop, an excuse not to do something.\u00a0I’m sure anyone who reads this blog gets that same sinking feeling when someone uses health and safety as an excuse to make sure something does not take place. I hope to share some of the useful Volunteer Health and Safety information that has been shared with us at TeamKinetic.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Volunteer<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

I must make it very clear from the very start; \u00a0I am not\u00a0a health and safety expert and any advice I offer is either from other sources who I will aim to credit or my own experience. I also want to open this debate to other Volunteer Managers or those who have real Volunteer Health and Safety experience. Please share your knowledge and best practise with our audience. No advice will be ignored and all will be welcome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone who wishes to correct any mistakes or offer further clarification can always e-mail me at info@teamkinetic.co.uk and just put Volunteer Health and Safety in the subject field and I will happily add to this post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volunteering by its very nature involves people undertaking roles and responsibilities that often lack clear description, they are not employed and as we have found, people have the most amazing ability to do the craziest things!\u00a0All this means you can take nothing for granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what have we learnt whilst operating TeamKinetic? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

From the point of view of a technology provider who talks on a very regular basis with those that work at the coal face with volunteers and opportunity providers day to day, \u00a0its never dull!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must first establish some key distinctions so it is clear who is responsible or has a duty of care during the volunteer process (I will try and keep to a minimum the Health and Safety terminology).  I must also state that although this advice might be applicable to most volunteer situations it is written based on the volunteers being deployed via a VolunteerKinetic powered opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the point of view of a volunteer manager who is brokering opportunities that are often provided by others, we think there are some important issues to consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volunteers and opportunity providers must take all reasonable responsibility for their own health and safety.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This should be made clear in any code of conduct you create.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although you are acting as a broker of opportunities, the responsibility (duty of care) for ensuring safety at a venue, location or during an activity is that of the opportunity provider. \u00a0They should have a risk assessment for the activity, public liability insurance to protect volunteers\u00a0and the people they\u00a0may come into contact with through the\u00a0role, and policies and procedures in place that they make you aware of; such as fire evacuation procedures. \u00a0These basic responsibilities should not just extend to volunteers but all potential people who may be affected by the normal operation of the organisation and opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This does not fully exclude the broker from any responsibility, and in our opinion, best practice on behalf of the programme\u00a0administrator is to provide opportunity providers with guidelines. These should offer a set of operating standards an opportunity provider should meet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

University of Manchester Athletic Union have kindly offered to share their Health and Safety Checklist and Public Liability letter. You can use or adapt these to your personal needs. We also suggest a provider code of conduct. This covers the more soft policies around effective volunteer management, and may include some of the following points:<\/p>\n\n\n\n