| safeguarding

Child Safeguarding Statement

Sthoee Lifeguards Dublin



  1. Name of service being provided:
lifesaving   lifeguarding lifesupport classes

  1. Nature of service and principles to safeguard children from harm (brief outline of what our service is, what we do and our commitment to safeguard children): 

We run water safety classes for swimmers and the public and want to encourage lifesaving as a hobby and life skill for everyone

We run an open deck policy. Parents are welcome at all our activities including poolside. No invitation is required. 

We want all participants especially children to enjoy lifesaving as a fun activity in a safe and open environment.

  1. Risk Assessment

We have carried out an assessment of any potential for harm to a child while availing of our services including the area of online safety when accessing the internet. Below is a list of the areas of risk identified and the list of procedures for managing these risks.


Risk identified
Procedure in place to manage identified risk
1
Arrival and handover
Parents requested to ensure a handover to sthoee crew 
Swimmers waiting for collection requested to stay on bank and not in reception 
2
Dryside classes
Classes supervised by a crew member 
3
Equipment
Only crew and older members may move gear cages. Safety labelling in place on cages
Mannekin wipes (alcohol) used for cleaning face contact equipment.
Equipment log maintained  
4
Wetside classes ,changing
RLSS UK standards used including safety briefings (surface dive etc) 
Changing room have restricted access , crew changing is segregated from swimmers
Classes supervised by a crew member
5
Handover and collection
Parents requested to ensure a handover from sthoee crew 
Crew member Waits until last child is collected 
This does not include beach activities


  1. Procedures

Our Child Safeguarding Statement has been developed in line with requirements under the Children First Act 2015, Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children (2017), and Tusla’s Child Safeguarding: A Guide for Policy, Procedure and Practice. In addition to the procedures listed in our risk assessment, the following procedures support our intention to safeguard children while they are availing of our service: 

  • Procedure for the management of allegations of abuse or misconduct against workers/volunteers of a child availing of our service;

Sthoee operates lifesaving class run by volunteers.

We encourage any participant or parent making an allegations of abuse or misconduct against volunteers of a child availing of our service, where appropriate, to make a formal escalation to the relevant regulatory authority (e.g. Tulsa, An Garda Síochána). If appropriate we encourage that you also engage with our welfare officer /designated liaison person or any adult trainer

Where the allegation does not require such a formal complaint and it is your preference to engage with us directly we encourage you to engage with our welfare officer or, if unavailable,  any adult trainer.

The safety and wellbeing of all participants is paramount and we will, as appropriate, have volunteers step aside during the investigation of  allegations of abuse or misconduct.

  • Procedure for the safe recruitment and selection of workers and volunteers to work with children;

All trainers are known to us over extended periods of time and  are recruited from swimmers and participants in sthoee activities. We have no trainers recruited elsewhere.

Assessors for some senior qualifications and awards may be used for once off assessments or exams and are members of the royal lifesaving society uk. 

  • Procedure for provision of and access to child safeguarding training and information, including the identification of the occurrence of harm;
Following the appointment of a new welfare officer in September 2019  a training programme is planned for Q4 2019 for all crew (volunteers are referred to collectively as crew) 

  • Procedure for the reporting of child protection or welfare concerns to Tusla;

Any volunteer,  trainer or interested party may report a child protection or welfare concern to Tulsa

Where such a matter is reported to a welfare officer they may report to Tulsa directly.

  • Procedure for maintaining a list of the persons (if any) in the relevant service who are mandated persons;

Our welfare officers details are published on our website and circulated in joining information. 


  • Procedure for appointing a relevant person.

Our welfare officer is appointed from the volunteer crew. Any of the volunteer crew may volunteer to support the welfare officer or to undertake the role.


  1. Implementation

We recognise that implementation is an on-going process. Our service is committed to the implementation of this Child Safeguarding Statement and the procedures that support our intention to keep children safe from harm while availing of our service. 

This Child Safeguarding Statement will be reviewed every six months, or as soon as practicable after there has been a material change in any matter to which the statement refers.


Signed: ______________________________ 
Sthoee Lifeguards Dublin 
DCU sport , Collins avenue and Claremont Beach Howth
September 2019


For queries, please contact John Farragher, Relevant Person under the Children First Act 2015 or deputy Alice Breen.