Here at 365 Response, safeguarding is a crucial priority for us. It is of the utmost importance to us that through our platform we enable passengers, staff and organisations and their data to be kept safe. This is accompanied by easy reporting, enabling any concerns to be quickly raised and addressed, with a full audit trail of accidents and incidents.
Safeguarding is a word that we are all very familiar with, and it is now top of the agenda in many areas of life to ensure it is clear what it is, and whose responsibility it is to safeguard children and vulnerable adults. This is very important within the transport sector, especially for those transporting our most vulnerable children and adults, which is why our 365 Smart Platform solution puts safeguarding at the forefront of our minds. Organisations are now required to have a “Designated Safeguard Lead (DSL)”. The role of the DSL is to ensure safeguarding records are kept securely, that all policies and procedures are up to date and known by all staff, as well as maintaining responsibility for investigating or reporting any incidents or reports to the relevant authorities.
What is Safeguarding?
Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and adults and protect them from harm. Safeguarding means: protecting children/adults from abuse and mistreatment, preventing harm to a child or adults health or development, ensuring all children/adults can live their lives with safe and effective care.
Although none of us would like to think about the word “abuse,” it is something we all need to be aware of; how to recognise the signs; and what to do about it – it is simply not enough to ignore it or think it is someone else’s problem.
Abuse can come in many forms:
- Physical
- Emotional
- Neglect
- Sexual
- Bullying
Through ongoing training, we are all now more aware of what could indicate possible abuse, as well as knowing what our responsibility is to report it and to whom.
What are the 4 Rs of Safeguarding?
The 4Rs of Safeguarding Children is professional practice for how you can recognise, record, report and refer in the situation of child abuse.
- Recognise – If you see/hear something that does not seem right or is out of character, then it could be they are the victim of abuse of some kind.
- Record – What happened, why did it happen, when and where did it happen, what was said and by who.
- Report – Follow the procedures within your organisation to report it to the right person at the earliest possible opportunity.
- Refer – Your Designated Safeguard Lead will then refer this information to the relevant authorities and if an immediate danger, then you must call the police.
This subject is not easy to discuss or read about, and we have all been horrified by some of the stories in the news surrounding individuals or companies in positions of trust becoming perpetrators of abuse.
Safeguarding and 365 Response
One of the reasons I joined 365 Response was because of how important safeguarding is to them as a company. It is our goal to make difficult transport easy, and this includes making it safer for everyone.
From the very start of any journey on transport managed through the 365 Smart Platform, there are mandatory checks in place for staff and vehicles. Utilising the easy to use, convenient mobile apps, we can ensure all vehicles are fit for every journey. The all-encompassing platform takes all of the relevant information and presents this to parents/carers within the Parent App so that they have the knowledge and visibility of who the driver and/or passenger assistant is, what they look like and what vehicle they will be arriving in. This important feature reduces concerns and queries, giving reassurance that the child or vulnerable person can be prepared for their journey. The user-specific apps ensure any concerns are captured, recorded and reported, with a clear audit trail of who has done what and when.
When the passenger is on their journey, the digital platform ensures that only the relevant information is shared with the appropriate people, and only for the duration of the journey, to ensure all passengers and their information are kept safe. Any information regarding individual care plans for passengers is also securely held for the journey, giving parents and carers peace of mind that comfort steps and triggers are known to the staff and can be dealt with in the best way possible.
Compliance requirements, as discussed in last months blog, ensure that all staff across the transportation service have the relevant training needed to do their job to a high standard and that training records can be kept up to date and are always fully reportable. It also means if there are concerns raised or investigations needed to be done then a full audit trail involving the individual in question is held securely, and because all data is in real-time it means that they can be quickly replaced on any route at any time while investigations are carried out.
Organisations and individuals use the reporting suite to ensure we all play our part in keeping everyone – especially the most vulnerable ones in our communities – safe, and any issues are dealt with swiftly, in the correct manner and a full audit trail is available.
If you would like to learn more about the 365 Smart Platform and the Home to School Transport options available to you, then please contact our friendly team today at [email protected]
