Safeguarding audits- Beyond Compliance
We see it go wrong; we hear about all of the reasons as to why things did not work and of course what lessons are to be learned and at the heart of that it usually involves a person or group being harmed or even worse. When a serious incident occurs, or non-compliance has been founded, it can also lead to legal and financial penalties, reputational damage, and potential loss of funding. We have even seen organisations forced to close.
This is why safeguarding audits are crucial for any organisation that work with at risk or vulnerable people including both children and adults. Audits are an essential tool that can help to take us beyond compliance, to constantly evolve and always strive for excellence, after all safeguarding is never complete, it is ever evolving.
When an organisation conducts an audit, they can confidently demonstrate that not only do they meet legal requirements, but they are also striving for continuous improvement and going above and beyond the minimum or that good old saying ‘the tick box exercise.’ So therefore, it is important that we understand the why behind why we carry out and audit, and how we do with a beyond compliance approach.
Audits are essential for:
Compliance with legal and or regulatory requirements and tracking progress as well as providing that commitment for ongoing improvement.
Holding the organisation to standards of excellence.
Keeping safeguarding as a priority to the organisation and it’s sector and understanding preventative action.
Helping to identify and mitigate risks in a preventative rather than reactive way.
Ensuring policies, procedures, and safeguarding practices prioritise the safety and wellbeing of vulnerable individuals.
Understanding what a ‘culture of safety’ as a definition actually means to the organisation and its people, so therefore it is essential to implement a framework of how that looks in terms of data, strategy, compliance, feedback and your people and staffing.
Assessing the effectiveness of current safeguarding practices and how your organisation oversees training, visitor management, site safety, recruitment, reporting mechanisms, responds to concerns, how incidents are managed, and how people feel when they are supported.
Building trust with stakeholders and demonstrating your organisation’s commitment to any service users, their wider network, colleagues and any funders or regulatory bodies.
Providing transparency when addressing risk, findings and recommendations/ action plans.
Identifying gaps, outdated procedures, and areas for improvement and excellence.
Enhancing credibility within your industry.
Having a fresh pair of eyes on things that may feel like a normal for others working in the organisation- there are many benefits to having and external party either lead or co-lead the audit process.
Audits often highlight training needs among staff and volunteers, ensuring they are equipped with up-to-date knowledge and skills to protect vulnerable individuals.
When considering the above, it is essential that your organisation adopts safeguarding audits as business as usual and that they are completed at regular intervals or at least on an annual cycle including having a robust and comprehensive audit tool or document/software.
Taking an audit beyond compliance means to not only focus on meeting minimum legal and regulatory requirements but to strive for excellence in fostering a safe, supportive, and empowering environment. We can elevate an audit by focusing on the following areas:
1. Building a Culture of Safety
Look at your organisation’s mission and values. An audit will support with assessing whether your people prioritise safeguarding in daily operations, attitudes and values of stakeholders, and any leadership decisions or actions.
There must be a strong level of accountability for all roles within the organisation at every level and an audit allows us to understand relationships, priorities, and actions.
2. Stakeholders
Using surveys, interviews, and focus groups to listen to service users and any additional stakeholders.
Keeping a person-centred approach.
Empowering people to have a voice and choice. Asking them to have their say in how services are shaped and developed and how they can be improved upon.
Address gaps in trust through clear communication and transparent actions.
Evaluate your organisation’s value and reputation of trust.
3. Deep Dive Activities
Focus on stress testing policies and processes using thorough evaluation.
Explore specific types of questions or focus upon specific goals or intricacies of a service, for example, service user safety or online safety.
Always think IMPACT!
4. Training and Development
No tick box training- specific levels of awareness and skill for different staff including leadership and executive colleagues/Board members.
Bespoke, scenario-based training and opportunities for advanced knowledge and opportunities to reflect and practice safeguarding activities.
Train and empower staff at all levels to become safeguarding advocates, creating a network of individuals who reinforce practices in their teams and departments.
5. Impact and Data
Use your data to inform you about incidents, compliance, response times and interventions. This information is crucial for reports and analysis and helps to inform you of any gaps, information that can inform action plans, risk assessments, and future strategy. Remember to set ambitious goals!
Lessons are always there to be learned… think about how lessons should be communicated and how the learning is embedded for future situations.
Remember a one-off audit is not a good idea… build a cycle of audit activities into your strategic plan and repetition is key.
6. Safeguarding as a Golden Thread
Embed safeguarding throughout all practices, departments and initiatives within the organisation.
Stress test and survey so you have evidence of that culture!
Invest in strong and relevant partnership collaborations- share good practice, access co-training, work together and share knowledge and skills.
7. Use Technology to your advantage
Consider what technology you have in place- is it innovative, bespoke, fit for purpose and can provide you with a beyond compliance evidence and confidence in the safety of service users, colleagues and the organisation?
Use technology to support people to report safeguarding concerns, predict patterns and to predict and identify potential risks, for example, visitor management systems, incident management reporting tools and meeting generation systems.
8. Wellbeing as a part of safeguarding
Safeguarding should always be extended to consider emotional and wellbeing support for colleagues as well as service users and stakeholders.
Cultivate a culture of collective care and positive discussion around wellbeing and develop an environment where asking for support or discussing wellbeing or safety is normalised and valued.
Finally, it is most important that as an organisation, you strive for excellence but fundamentally, be transparent, involve stakeholders, share relevant information or updates, communicate to everyone and take the people in your organisation with you on the journey. Celebrate your teams and colleagues as well as other stakeholders and service users for their proactive safeguarding contributions, and share any lessons learnt and success stories to inspire a culture of safety and show that you truly are beyond compliance!
If you are interested in our audit services, contact us now for a free consultation