Health and Safety and Insurance

Overview

• Health and Safety - VE Information Sheet
• Insurance for Volunteers - VE Information Sheet

Articles

• Risk Assessment - VE article
• Volunteer Drivers - VE Information Sheet
• Child Car Seats: new 2006 regulations - VE Information Sheet
• Health and Safety and the Arts - Voluntary Arts Network
• 5 Steps To Risk Assessment - the Health and Safety Executive (PDF)
• Working Alone In Safety - the Health and Safety Executive (PDF)
• Health and Safety "Talking Leaflets" - Health and Safety Executive (audio versions)
  

Samples, examples and templates, templates

Generic sample documents
The Health and Safety Executive has developed some resources to demonstrate how to carry out a risk assessment in a range of everyday working situations. Below, we have highlighted the ones which are most relevant to volunteer managers:

• Introductory risk assessment documents by the Health and Safety Executive (external links)
  
• charity shop step-by-step risk assessment
• food preparation and service step-by-step risk assessment
• office based step-by-step risk assessment
• village hall step-by-step risk assessment

Templates for you to adapt

• Template Risk Assessment Form (MS Word format for you to adapt)
• Template Volunteer Driver's Form (MS Word for you to adapt)

Real life examples

• Example External Activity Risk Assessment Form - CSV North Nottinghamshire Mental Health Volunteering Project (PDF)
• Example Rsk Assessment Guidelines - CSV North Nottinghamshire Mental Health Volunteering Project
• Example Health and Safety Guidelines - Mencap (PDF)

Please note that Volunteering England has not produced the 'real life example' documents listed directly above and is therefore unable to take responsibility for the content. Volunteering England and the organisations that contribute example documents to the Good Practice Bank can accept no responsibility for how they are used. They are presented as examples of good practice, but it is every volunteer-involving organisation's responsibility to ensure that their volunteers are safe, and that policies and procedures meet current legal requirements. For further information about the resources listed in the Good Practice Bank, please visit our 'top tips' page.

Links

General websites on health and safety and insurance

• Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
  www.hse.gov.uk
• London Hazards Centre
  www.lhc.org.uk
• Chartered Institute of Environmental Health
  www.cieh.org
• The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA)
  www.rospa.com/
• Association of British Insurers
  www.abi.org.uk/
• The Ergonomics Society
  www.ergonomics.org.uk/

Website resources on lone working and personal safety

• Suzy Lamplugh Trust
  National Centre for Personal Safety
  www.suzylamplugh.org/
• National Group on Home Working
  www.homeworking.gn.apc.org/

Websites on driving

• Community Transport Association (CTA)
  http://www.communitytransport.com/
• Read the CTA's information on MIDAS and PATS training for volunteer driving schemes (external webpage)
• The Child Car Seats website
  http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/law/
• The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA)
  ROSPA has published a volunteer driver's handbook, along with other road safety resources for drivers
  http://www.rospa.com/roadsafety/resources/drivers.htm
• Brake - the road safety charity
  http://www.brake.org.uk/

Publications

Free publications

• The Risk toolkit: How to take care of risk in volunteering, a guide for organisations - Volunteering England
• On the Safe Side: volunteering and risk in 2006 - Volunteering England
• Cautionary Tales: Case studies of risk management - Volunteering England
• Getting a Grip: a review of the literature on risk and volunteering - Voluntering England
• Reasonable Care? Surveys on risk in the voluntary sector - Volunteering England
• Volunteers and the Law - Volunteering England
• Volunteer Drivers' Handbook - ROSPA (PDF, external link)
• A Guide to Insurance for Mentoring and Befriending Programmes - Mentoring and Befriending Foundation (PDF, external link)

Priced publications

• Risk Management - Volunteering England
• The Health and Safety Handbook: for voluntary and community organisations - Directory for Social Change
• Charity and Voluntary Workers: A guide to health and safety at work - Health and Safety Executive

Share your experiences!

The Good Practice Bank is growing steadily as more information is added to it. An important feature of the Bank is allowing users to share their documents with other volunteering organisations. We are particularly interested in receiving example policies or documents that you are happy to share with others. If we use your contribution, you could win a book on volunteering from our regular prize draw.

• If your organisation has an example to contribute, please use our simple form to submit it.
• Or, please send us an email or telephone 0800 028 3304 (Monday-Friday, 10.30am-12.30pm and 2.00pm-4.00pm)
• We welcome calls through Typetalk/TextDirect. Please dial 18001 followed by 0800 028 3304 (opening hours as above).