Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy Ver 3.2

Status: Approved by Council of Management 10th April 2018

The London Canal Museum welcomes visitors of all ages and abilities.

We define children as persons under 18 years of age. Those aged under 14 years are regarded as needing a higher degree of protection than those aged 14-17. Most children visit in school groups or with a responsible adult such as a relative or youth group leader. (We refer to this adult in this document as the child's carer).

Where applicable, the principles of this policy also apply to vulnerable adults.

We consider that:

• The welfare of children and vulnerable adults is paramount
• All people have a right to protection from harm irrespective of their age, culture, disability, gender, language, racial origin, religious beliefs and/or sexual identity.
• The primary responsibility for the care of children in the museum rests with the child?s or vulnerable adult?s carer.

We:

• Ensure that the London Canal Museum and our online spaces are safe and secure and promote enjoyable and positive experiences
• Take seriously all suspicions and allegations of harm and respond to them speedily and appropriately
• Make all our staff (both paid and voluntary) aware of their responsibilities to ensure the safeguarding of all visitors. This includes a responsibility to raise any concerns or suspicions that may arise
• Have in place a safe recruitment process to ensure that our people do not pose a risk of harm to children or vulnerable
• Never take the place of the child's or vulnerable adult's carer. Children aged under 14 are not allowed on the premises without a carer in attendance. Children aged 14-17 are, however, permitted to visit the museum alone.
• Seek to protect the wellbeing of children and vulnerable adults as much as is reasonably practicable.

We will ensure that this protection is effective by the following measures:

• Volunteers and staff who are recruited specifically to work with children are selected with care and caution and their references are checked. Disclosure and Barring Services checks are only required by law if staff are to be on their own with children and so cannot be a prerequisite to working here; however, the Education Officer and those working on outreach projects will always be checked;
• We work in an open environment, avoiding unobserved or secluded
• locations or situations, for example, inside Coronis or outside on the wharf where sightlines are poor;
• We obtain the carer's, parent's, or guardian's consent in writing prior to taking photographs of children and vulnerable adults in the museum;
• We treat children and vulnerable adults with dignity and respect;
• We do not conduct education of any sort on a one-to-one basis;
• First aid treatment is wherever possible carried out with more than one adult present except in the rare situation of serious injury where any delay in providing urgent first-aid pending the arrival of medical aid would be harmful to the child or vulnerable adult;
• We have designated our Education Officer as responsible for child protection and safeguarding issues, reporting to the Chair of the trustees who in turn accepts responsibility for ensuring that child protection issues are taken seriously and any incidents or suspected incidents are thoroughly investigated and appropriate action taken.
• We involve teachers, parents and carers whenever possible in the museum's work with children and vulnerable adults;
• We require our staff and volunteers to be good role models and they may not use offensive language, make sexually suggestive comments,smoke or drink alcohol in the presence of visitors;
• We require staff to report any incident relating to safeguarding to an adult who is in a position to act on it for the protection of the child or vulnerable adult (e.g. a teacher) and to follow the museum's reporting procedure;

We avoid the following unacceptable practices both for the protection of children and vulnerable adults and the safeguarding of our own staff and volunteers:

• Spending excessive time with individuals;
• Taking children or vulnerable adults home (to theirs or to the adult's);
• Taking children or vulnerable adults in a private vehicle except in an emergency;
• Engaging in rough play, horseplay, or games of physical contact;
• Being closeted in a toilet or any private room with an individual child or vulnerable adult;
• Doing things of a personal nature that the child or vulnerable adult can do for him or her self or with the assistance of a carer;
• Physical restraint, other than to prevent danger to the child or vulnerable adult or to others, to prevent damage to property, or to prevent a criminal offence or serious anti-social behaviour;
• The giving or requesting of any contact details to or from a child or vulnerable adult, including those relating to social media.
• Touching a child or vulnerable adult without good reason

Signed

Martin Sach

Chair of Trustees

Other Policies Online

Collection related policies

Access Policy

Equal Opportunities Policy

Health and Safety Policy

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