Over the past 2 months I have been out and about running the new Child Safe Essentials workshop. In this workshop I invite participants to consider the Child Safe Standards/National Principals in the context of risk. A key activity during this session is to explore the different risks that may be present within their organisational setting. In today's blog I am going to share some of the key learnings from these discussions.
Discussions about risk should be done regularly and with transparency
When I first announce that we will be having an open discussion about risk in the workshop I am often met with uncomfortable looks. Staff within organisations are often reluctant to talk openly about risks that may be present, until management and leadership open the conversation. I always advice participants that there is always some level of risk and completely removing risk from children's environments is not possible. The key is knowing the risks, assessing their seriousness and mitigating unacceptable risks. (Children need some level of risky play to develop resilience and problem solving skills.) Every time I have facilitated this conversation new risks have been identified! If staff are not talking about risk regularly and openly, opportunities to recognise and mitigate risk are missed .
There is more to risk than slips, trips and falls
Staff working with children tend to be able to identify elements in their physical environments that could cause a child an injury or that have been designed specifically to allow some level of risky play. Staff can usually point out the activities or areas that they know they need to monitor closely in their environments. However, these are not the only risks children can face in organisations.
Children can experience harm accidentally or intentionally
It can be really hard to start considering the idea of intentional risk to children but we know from too many cases that people can and do harm children intentionally. Sometimes these people will target organisations providing services to children in order to access children. It is important to consider this type of risk. It is vital that staff working with children have a good understanding of what behaviour is, and is not, acceptable. Staff also need to know how to raise concerns and to who.
Policies need to be fit for purpose
Organisations will often have detailed policies around risk but it is essential to regularly review these policies and ensure all staff are applying them consistently. One of the frequent areas I see this become an issue is around use of technology with children and young people. As technology advances rapidly it is important that any new app, program or device is risk assessed. I have frequently seen instances where individual staff members, or teams, have introduced technology (usually well intentioned) that has not been risk assessed.
Sometimes our risk mitigation strategies can inadvertently introduce new risks
Organisations will often introduce measures to keep children safe without considering that those measures themselves may introduce additional risks. For example having a clear line of sight into toilets is common in early childhood settings, however an issue that is frequently raised in discussions is a lack of privacy for children using bathrooms at busy pick up/drop off times.
Risk awareness can differ across an organisation
Different teams can also have differing levels of awareness of risk and the needs or priorities of one team can inadvertently create risk in another team. An example that comes up often is pressure from marketing teams for those working directly with children to share images to be used in advertising. Often those working directly with children report that they have reservations about sharing images of children, even with parent's consent, for this purpose but experience pressure from marketing teams who's priorities and understanding of risk can differ.
What should organisations do?
Organisations should regularly discuss risk and staff at all levels should be encouraged to speak up and identify risks without fear of repercussions. Having safe, transparent conversations about risk is part of being a child safe organisation.
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