GENERAL

This is the Safeguarding Policy for Blue Ring Digital Services Ltd, a company registered in England (company number 12709437) with a registered office at 186 Wetmore Road, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, DE14 1QZ in relation to the websites and services provided at blue-ring.co.uk.

"Safeguarding Policy" refers to this Safeguarding Policy.

"You", "Your" refers to You the customer, user or employee of Blue Ring Digital Services Ltd.

"We", "Us", "Our", "Blue Ring Digital Services Ltd" refers to Blue Ring Digital Services Ltd.

"Beneficiary of Assistance" refers to someone who directly receives services from Us. 

"Child" refers to a person below the age of 18.

"At Risk Adult", "Vulnerable Adult" refers to a person who is or may be in need of care by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness; and who is or may be unable to take care of him or herself, or unable to protect him or herself against significant Harm or exploitation.

"Harm" refers to psychological, physical and any other infringement of an individual's rights.

"Psychological Harm" refers to emotional or psychological abuse, including (but not limited to) humiliating and degrading treatment such as bad name calling, constant criticism, belittling, persistent shaming, solitary confinement and isolation.

"Protection from Sexual Exploitation and abuse (PSEA)" is a term used by the humanitarian and development community to refer to the prevention of Sexual Exploitation and abuse of affected populations by staff or associated personnel. The term derives from the United Nations Secretary General's Bulletin on Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and abuse (ST/SGB/2003/13).

"Safeguarding" means protecting peoples health, wellbeing and human rights, and enabling them to live free from Harm, abuse and neglect.

"Sexual Abuse" means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions.

"Sexual Exploitation" means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the Sexual Exploitation of another.  This definition incudes human trafficking and modern slavery.

"Survivor" refers to a person who has been abused or exploited. The term 'survivor' is often used in preference to 'victim'.

We will try to keep everything in this document as straightforward as possible, but if there's anything You don't understand, please get in touch with Us.

The headings in this Safeguarding Policy are for convenience only and shall not affect their interpretation.The masculine shall include the feminine and the neuter and the singular the plural and vice versa.

If any provision or part of any provision of these Safeguarding Policy is found by a court or other competent authority to be void or unenforceable, such provision or part of a provision shall be deleted from these Safeguarding Policy and the remaining provisions or parts of the provision shall continue to be in full force and effect.

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to protect people, particularly children, at risk adults and beneficiaries of assistance, from any Harm that may be caused due to their coming into contact with Us. This includes Harm arising from:

  • The conduct of staff or personnel associated with Us;
  • The design and implementation of Our services.

The policy lays out the commitments made by Us, and informs staff and associated personnel of their responsibilities in relation to Safeguarding.

This policy does not cover:

What is safeguarding?

In the UK, Safeguarding means protecting people's health, wellbeing and human rights, and enabling them to live free from Harm, abuse and neglect

In Our sector, We understand it to mean protecting people, including children and at risk adults, from Harm that arises from coming into contact with Our staff.

Safeguarding means taking all reasonable steps to prevent Harm, particularly Sexual Exploitation, abuse and harassment from occurring; to protect people, especially vulnerable adults and children, from that Harm; and to respond appropriately when Harm does occur.

Safeguarding applies consistently and without exception across Our business. It requires proactively identifying, preventing and guarding against all risks of Harm, exploitation and abuse and having mature, accountable and transparent systems for response, reporting and learning when risks materialise. Those systems must be survivor-centred and also protect those accused until proven guilty.

Safeguarding puts beneficiaries and affected persons at the centre of all We do.

Policy Statement

We believe that everyone We come into contact with, regardless of age, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation or ethnic origin has the right to be protected from all forms of Harm, abuse, neglect and exploitation.  We will not tolerate abuse and exploitation by staff or associated personnel.

This policy will address the following areas of safeguarding: Child safeguarding, Adult safeguarding, and Protection from Sexual Exploitation and abuse . These key areas of Safeguarding may have different policies and procedures associated with them.

We commit to addressing Safeguarding throughout Our work, through the three pillars of prevention, reporting and response.

Prevention

We will:

  • Ensure all staff have access to, are familiar with, and know their responsibilities within this policy;
  • Design and undertake all of Our services and activities in a way that protects people from any risk of Harm that may arise from their coming into contact with Us. This includes the way in which information about individuals in Our services is gathered and communicated;
  • Implement stringent Safeguarding procedures when recruiting, managing and deploying staff and associated personnel;
  • Ensure staff receive training on Safeguarding at a level commensurate with their role in the organization;
  • Follow up on reports of Safeguarding concerns promptly and according to due process.

Child safeguarding

Our staff and associated personnel must not:

  • Engage in sexual activity with anyone under the age of 18;
  • Sexually abuse or exploit children;
  • Subject a Child to physical, emotional or psychological abuse, or neglect;
  • Engage in any commercially exploitative activities with children including Child labour or trafficking.

Adult safeguarding

Our staff and associated personnel must not:

  • Sexually abuse or exploit at risk adults;
  • Subject an At Risk Adult to physical, emotional or psychological abuse, or neglect.

Protection from Sexual Exploitation and abuse

Our staff and associated personnel must not:

  • Exchange money, employment, goods or services for sexual activity. This includes any exchange of assistance that is due to beneficiaries of assistance;
  • Engage in any sexual relationships with beneficiaries of assistance, since they are based on inherently unequal power dynamics.

Additionally, Our staff and associated personnel are obliged to:

  • Contribute to creating and maintaining an environment that prevents Safeguarding violations and promotes the implementation of the Safeguarding Policy;
  • Report any concerns or suspicions regarding Safeguarding violations by Our staff members or associated personnel to the Senior Leadership Team.

Enabling reports

We will ensure that safe, appropriate, accessible means of reporting Safeguarding concerns are made available to staff and the communities We work with.

Any staff reporting concerns or complaints through formal whistleblowing channels (or if they request it) will be protected by Our .

We will also accept complaints from external sources such as members of the public, partners and official bodies. 

How to report a Safeguarding concern

Staff members who have a complaint or concern relating to Safeguarding should report it immediately to the Line Manager. If the staff member does not feel comfortable reporting to their Line Manager (for example if they feel that the report will not be taken seriously, or if that person is implicated in the concern) they may report to the Senior Leadership Team. 

Response

We will follow up Safeguarding reports and concerns according to policy and procedure, and legal and any statutory obligations.

We will apply appropriate disciplinary measures to staff found in breach of policy.

We will offer support to survivors of Harm caused by staff or associated personnel, regardless of whether a formal internal response is carried out (such as an internal investigation).  Decisions regarding support will be led by the Survivor.

Confidentiality

It is essential that confidentiality in maintained at all stages of the process when dealing with Safeguarding concerns. Information relating to the concern and subsequent case management should be shared on a need to know basis only, and should be kept secure at all times.

CHANGES TO OUR Safeguarding Policy

This Safeguarding Policy replaces all previous versions. We reserve the right to change the Safeguarding Policy at any time.