All play organisations need to make sure they have effective safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures.

‘Safeguarding’ describes a preventive approach to keeping children and young people safe from harm. All organisations and individuals who work with children and young people, or are involved in providing services for them, have a duty to safeguard and promote children's welfare. Responsibilities and legal requirements extend to all who work with children, including playworkers, those involved in consulting children, and anyone in regular contact with children as a volunteer, administrator or in any other role delivering children’s services.

Every local authority area will have a Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB); this might have a different name in your area. Your local play lead or family information services will have details if you can’t find it through your local authority’s website. Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards have an overview of local safeguarding training, and in some areas organise and deliver it themselves.

Check with your local authority which commitments you need to make and which safeguarding training is appropriate to the activities of your group or organisation. Training is usually free to anyone who provides services to children paid for by the local authority.

You will need to ensure there are robust recruitment and vetting procedures to prevent unsuitable people from working with children. This applies to paid staff and volunteers, who will need to undergo a criminal records check via the Criminal Records Bureau to ensure they are not disqualified from working with children. 

From November 2010, people working with children will also need to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority. For casual volunteers (for example, a person who works for only a single day), it is essential to ensure they are supervised and not left alone with children. The Children’s Workforce Development Council in partnership with Action for Children has developed new guidance and resources on safer recruitment.

Bullying
You will also need to think about how you will tackle bullying. Bullying and the fear of bullying can prevent children and young people and from playing outside or using local play provision, so a clear and consistent response to bullying is essential. This may include a written anti-bullying policy.

Anti-bullying Alliance
Hosted by NCB, the Anti-bullying Alliance is a partnership of over 60 organisations that work to stop bullying and create safer environments for children.
www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/

Safe from bullying in play and leisure provision is part of a suite of guidance and training resources tackling bullying outside school.
www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/resources-and-practice/IG00363/

There are also other areas of safety you will wish to consider, for example:

• Are children able to access the play area safely, with safe routes to and from the play area?
• How will you maintain and take care of the area to ensure easily preventable accidents do not occur?
• Who will check equipment and other possible hazards (for example, broken glass)?
• How will you protect the play area from vandalism, anti-social behaviour, and crime?

To deal with these issues you will need work in partnership with your local council and other agencies, including the police. For example, untrained people should not tackle crime directly but can work alongside the police by contacting them when incidents occur and working with them to find long-term solutions to local crime and disorder problems.

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