The Boys’ Brigade provides children and young people with opportunities to learn, grow and discover in a safe, fun and caring environment which is rooted in the Christian faith.
It is not realistic to expect that a totally accident free environment can be achieved, but by increasing the awareness of safety issues we can create the safest possible experiences for children and young people.
Keeping everyone safe is everyone’s responsibility, creating a culture of managing risk within The Boys’ Brigade will help us to do this. It is important that we consider safety and managing risk as part of everything we do and not just when we think something is high risk.
Although the Company Captain and Leaders-in-Charge of Age Groups have specific roles to play in ensuring the safety of everyone, every leader has a part to play in building and maintaining a safe space.
So, how do we achieve this?
Check out guidance below…
Assessing Risk & Risk Assessments
Leaders are required at a local level to carry out risk assessments for ALL activities being undertaken.
Risk assessments are an important part of our managing risk framework to create a safe space for children, young people and leaders. It is important that we consider safety and managing risk as part of everything we do and not just when we think something is high risk.
A reminder of the five steps in assessing risk:
- Identifying & locating hazards
- Considering who might be harmed and how
- Identifying how risks are eliminated or controlled
- Recording & communicating risks & control measures to everyone
- Reviewing & updating as necessary
As well as assessing the risk for activities being undertaken there MUST also be a risk assessment for the meeting space or venue you are using and this should be reviewed and updated annually by the Company. All leaders should have access to the latest risk assessments and understand the risks/hazards identified and the control measures in place.
To support you in carrying out risk assessments you can download a blank Template Risk Assessment (PDF / Word).
We have also developed a range of new template risk assessments for a variety of activities and settings including
- Premises
- Games/Sports
- Crafts
- Cooking
- Trip to Park/Outdoors
- Transport – Public Transport
- Transport – Coach/Minibus/Car
- Transport – Walking
Additional template risk assessments will be added in due course.
It is important to stress that these templates are only a tool to help leaders create their own risk assessments and need to be adapted based on local circumstances.
Keeping our records up to Date
To help keep children and young people safe it is important that we hold relevant, accurate and up-to-date information about them. We do this by collecting and managing data through the Joining and Information Forms and also through Online Brigade Manager (OBM). These provide essential information which will be required in the event of an accident, but also provide useful information with regards to allergies, disabilities/impairments and medication being taken.
When leading activities outside of your normal programme or for ALL residential activities, leaders MUST ensure they have up to date records for all those attending. This can be achieved through the Special Activity Consent Form or through OBM.
More details on these forms and how they should be used can be found below:
Joining Form
The Joining Form should be completed by all new members (children & young people) joining the organisation. The form assists Leaders in collecting the information needed to ensure parents/carers are fully informed and that we have all the information needed to ensure children and young people have a safe and enjoyable experience as they participate in BB activities. As part of the mandatory requirement to add children and young people to OBM, confirmation that the Joining Form has been completed and received by the Company will be required and be recorded as part of the process of adding children and young people into a section on OBM.
The form has been designed so that information is collected in the correct order to help with the inputting of data onto Online Brigade Manager (OBM). Where all information has been added to OBM the form can be securely destroyed on the basis that the relevant Leaders have access to data via OBM during BB activities.
Annual Information Form
The Annual Information Form follows on from the Joining Forms, and assists Leaders in collecting the information needed to ensure personal details for children & young people are up to date. It is a requirement for this form to be completed annually.
Special Activity Consent Form
The Special Activity Consent Form must be used for all residential activities involving an overnight stay and for those activities which are not usually part of the Company’s programme. This is to ensure that there is consent from parent/carer to participate in the activities being undertaken, and that the personal details (including medical details) are up to date. There is a separate form for use by Battalions/Districts/Regions for events/activities outside the Company (i.e. King’s Badge Completion Residentials, Young Leader activities, etc). This form takes account of the fact that the Leader in Charge will not have access to other data held about the young person by the Company (i.e. photo consent). Therefore, photo consent will be requested on this form as a one-off and is given for this event/activity only and does not impact on photo consent given to the Company through the Annual Information Form or as updated by Parent/Carer through OBM.
Joining/Information/Consent Forms can be found at boys-brigade.org.uk/forms/
Using OBM to keep Personal Details up to date
To help streamline administration for parents/carers and leaders, Companies that are using OBM for parents/carers to update personal details and register for events and activities (inc camps and residentials) are not required to use Annual Information or Special Activity Consent Forms. Tutorials are available on OBM to help leaders understand how to use key functionality such as this, go to ‘Help Centre’ in OBM and select ‘Setting up Parent Portal’. Additional support is available from BBHQ where required to help Companies start using functionality such as this on OBM, just get in touch.
To start using OBM instead of the Annual Information form, parents/carers will need to have been invited into OBM and provided with access to view and edit personal details for their child(ren). OBM then automatically sends out automated emails out every 6 months to parents/carers to remind them to review and update personal details where required. So, this then meets the basic requirement of ensuring personal details (including medical details, emergency contacts etc) are up to date.
To start using OBM instead of the Special Activity Consent forms in your Company, leaders should ensure that in Parent Portal Settings for each age group, the ‘Confirmed by parents’ toggle under ‘Personal Details’ is on, and the ‘Personal Details Confirmed’ dropdown has a set interval for parents/carers to have to have confirmed details are up to date (i.e. Confirmed in the last month). These settings will require parents/carers to confirm personal details are up to date when registering to attend events, if they have not already done so within the time period set. OBM will send automated emails out every 6 months to parents/carers to remind them to review and update personal details where required (this also forms part of our GDPR policy).
First Aid
Whilst it is not a requirement that leaders hold a first aid certificate it is recommended that a leader present at ALL BB activities has a working knowledge of first aid, which would enable them to assess, administer treatment where necessary and/or access external medical assistance (999, 111, GP or local Minor Injuries/A&E). If you would be interested in completing a first aid course/qualification to support you in your role please speak to your Company Captain.
Insurance
As an organisation we have Public Liability Insurance and Personal Accident cover in place for all registered leaders and children & young people. This cover operates based on activities being organised and delivered by registered BB leaders following our policies, procedures, and guidance. There are some exemptions and/or limitations to these policies for specific activities and also where activities are being run by third parties.
More information can be found on our website at boys-brigade.org.uk/insurance/.
What to do in an emergency
All leaders should be aware of the actions to take in the event of an emergency, to deal with the immediate situation, and this should include:
- Administering basic First Aid – it is important to know the location of the nearest first aid kit and have one with you when on outdoor activities
- Evacuating the venue via emergency exits, using designated routes and gathering at the agreed assembly point.
- Ensuring all children, young people, leaders and any other persons are accounted for.
- Immediately alerting the appropriate emergency services as required.
Your Company Captain and/or Leader-in-Charge will then be responsible for taking further action to report based on our procedures.
More information can be found at boys-brigade.org.uk/dealing-with-emergencies/
Recording & Reporting
Each Company is responsible for keeping a record of any accidents/incidents which occur during BB activities. Therefore, depending on the situation and who is present you may be required to make a record of the incident including who was involved, what has happened, where, when and any action taken. This must then be passed on to your Company Captain.
If someone (young person/leader/other person) requires professional medical attention at the time or as a result of an accident sustained whilst participating in a BB activity the Accident Notification Form must be completed and forwarded to BB Headquarters.
For more guidance on recording & reporting visit boys-brigade.org.uk/dealing-with-emergencies/
If you have any questions contact our Support Team on 0300 303 4454 or email support@boys-brigade.org.uk