Doing things safely is fundamental to everything we do in Scouting. 

It is very important that all leaders understand and know their responsibilities within the Scouts Safety Policy:

· Understand the Safety Policy and your responsibilities for keeping young people and adults in our movement safe.

· Be able to demonstrate how to assess and manage risk.

· Understand the role of the leader in charge.

· Know what to do in an emergency, and how to report incidents and near misses.

· Know where to access safety resources, activity rules and guidance for the safe management of activities.

· As an adult in our movement, you are responsible for making sure we deliver Scouts in as safe a way as possible, so never be afraid to change or stop an activity. Make sure you explain this to everyone and include the reasons why.

· You must know what to do in an emergency and make sure others are also aware, including young people.

· You have a duty to record and report incidents. Don’t worry, though – there’s a step by step guide in the Purple Card to help you do this.

· You must have an accident book in your meeting place and a record should be kept of all accidents that occur.

Remember, there are 5 steps to our Risk Assessments:

1. Look for hazards

2. Who might be harmed and how?

3. How are the risks controlled?

· Can the hazard be removed entirely?

· Is there a less risky option?

· What can be done to reduce the risk of people being in contact with the hazard?

· What instructions and supervision are needed?

· Is protective or safety equipment available to reduce risk?

· Don’t leave risk assessments on the shelf. Review them to make sure they’re still relevant and make changes when you need to.

4. Record and Communicate

5. Review and revise plans

Click here for more ‘Staying Safe and safeguarding’ information

Russell Shoulder

Safety & Safeguarding Adviser