Important update on Safeguarding Requirements
- 22 February 2018, 09:57
Horse Sport Ireland
Children First Act 2015
Legislative requirements for Equestrian Sporting Body’s
On 11th December 2017 the Children First Act 2015 was fully commenced. A 3 month time frame was allocated to relevant organisations, stating that on or before, 11th March 2018, they must complete a Risk Assessment and then publish their Child Safeguarding Statement.
Risk Assessment
Within Horse Sport Ireland, the purpose of the Risk Assessment procedure is that each Equestrian Sporting Body considers the potential for harm that may come to children or vulnerable adults while they are participating in our sport and other activities and to minimise such risks and address them appropriately. Each Equestrian Sporting Body in Ireland with Children or Vulnerable Adults participating in their activates must review, discuss and complete the Risk Assessment that must then be signed by the relevant Equestrian Body’s Children’s Officer and Chairperson.
The Risk Assessment template has been drafted by Horse Sport Ireland for each of our Equestrian Sporting Body’s under six headings. Each risk under the relevant heading must be ranked as high, medium or low in terms of potential harm to children or vulnerable adults within the relevant sporting body. When completing the Risk Assessment, the relevant sporting body should take into consideration how compliant they are with child welfare and safeguarding procedures and indicate what mitigating factors are already in place to minimise the risk, and what further action could be taken to further minimise it.
Child Safeguarding Statement
Once the Risk Assessment has been reviewed, discussed, completed and signed by your relevant sporting body’s Children’s Officer and Chairperson, you may then download from the Horse Sport Ireland website, the Child Safeguarding Statement, which has also been drafted for each Equestrian Sporting Body in Ireland. The purpose of this statement is to indicate the practices and procedures we observe in our Organisation that ensure, as far as practicable, that children and vulnerable adults are safe from harm.
Equestrian Sporting Body’s should add their logo, if they have one, to this document. It should then be signed and dated by the sporting body’s Children’s Officer and Chairperson and displayed prominently and made available to members. The Child Safeguarding Statement can be displayed for example on the notice board, website etc. Equestrian Sporting Body’s should consider making the statement available as part of membership packs on a yearly basis going forward.
As this is the first year for Equestrian Sporting Body’s to undertake the Risk Assessment and Child Safeguarding Statement procedure as a requirement under the Children First Act, Horse Sport Ireland are making both documents available in template form. Both templates can be added to, should the relevant sporting body feel the need to do so. Going forward, each Equestrian Sporting Body will be required to complete this process at least every two years.
Downloads
For further information and to download your template documents, please visit the Horse Sport Ireland website at this link or contact your Affiliate National Children’s Officer:
- Popular
- Latest
