Safe Practice – Policies and Practices

We take our responsibility for ensuring the well-being and safety of our Participants and Volunteers extremely seriously. We have developed policies and protocols to support this priority.

These include:
1. Safeguarding:
This policy sets out our responsibility to protect the vulnerable and gives practical guidance on how to achieve this – and what actions to take should there be any concerns.

2. Safe management of sessions:
This guidance – also included in part of the larger Safeguarding document – gives advice, in particular for Team Leads and the Volunteer Manager, on how to safely sessions and handle incidents that may arise during a session.

3. Specific issues:
We include in all relevant documents specific guidance on the safety of lone workers, young persons who volunteer who volunteer and disabled participants/volunteers. In addition, we have guidance on how to manage the very infrequent need to bar participants.

4. General Risk Assessment:
Our General Risk Assessment guidance aims that makes sure all risks to health are identified, recorded and appropriate actions taken. It is compliant with the guidance of the HSW and that of the Church of Scotland. Appropriate lead volunteers receive relevant training on this guidance.

5. Fire Risk Assessment and Evacuation Plan:
Our Fire Risk Assessment is similarly compliant with the guidance of the HSW and the Church of Scotland. It ensures that all fire risks can be identified, recorded and appropriate actions taken. The evacuation plan sets out how a fire should be managed to ensure that all Inverness Foodstuff participants and volunteers leave the building safely. Appropriate lead volunteers are trained in all aspects of this plan.

6. Equality and Diversity Policy:
The Equality and Diversity policy states that all participants, volunteers, employees, agency colleagues and visitors should be treated with dignity and respect and not be subject to discrimination, indirectly or directly, in any of its forms. The policy discusses the types of behaviours that would be considered discriminatory and sets out how any complaint of discrimination should be made and robustly managed.

7. Complaints procedure:
The Complaints procedure sets out the process for making a complaint and the way that would be managed by the Charity. It gives a clear pathway for handling complaints to ensure transparency and confidence.