Safeguarding- An employer's duty of care

I am often asked by friends, professionals and acquaintances.... "your job sounds so interesting.... but what actually is safeguarding then?" 

I always start with telling them that safeguarding is the prevention of significant harm coming to a person or group and I then go on to say that organisations always have a duty of care towards their staff and customers whether this is fully recognised in a statutory manner like with schools, health care, apprentices etc., or not. Employers have a duty of care for their employee's wellbeing, health and physical safety, and safeguarding is about implementing and embedding a culture of vigilance that promotes safer environments for all people to thrive in. 

Often I have asked myself, where would some people be without having this duty of care in place? It is often a term used only in child protection, or adult protection for those with physical or mental health care needs, however why shouldn't we be implementing safeguarding across the board through any industry for any person as we can all become a person at risk at any time in our life? We do the very same for Health and Safety however the law just hasn't caught up yet for safeguarding all people from abuse regardless of age or 'vulnerability'.

Over the past year I have been extremely grateful and fortunate to work with partners and organisations that are implementing Health and Wellbeing strategies and/ or Mental Health First Aid style initiatives. This led to me think more and more about the true risks for the employer, employees, and volunteers who are willingly accepting these roles within the workplace. Without an understanding of safeguarding and robust policies and procedures, how are people supposed to know what to do in the event of a crisis or safeguarding situation?

There is a lot of work still to be done on this subject, however if you have or are thinking about your duty of care to your employees or customers please get in touch for advice and guidance.