Work with young people to safeguard their welfare
Overview
Who is this unit for?
This unit is for those who work with older students in schools and other educational settings to safeguard their welfare.
What is this unit about?
This unit is about understanding and evaluating hazards and risks, and carrying out your work safely and in accordance with organisational procedures. It is about enabling young people to assess risks, helping them to develop their confidence to manage them and offering appropriate support to individuals when they are in crisis.
This unit contains three elements
1. Promote a safe working environment for youth work
2. Work with young people to assess and manage risk
3. Assist individuals to take action when they are distressed
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
Promote a safe working environment for youth work
P1 identify which organisational policies and procedures are relevant to your role
P2 work in accordance with legal requirements and organisational policies and procedures
P3 ensure that your personal conduct promotes the safety of yourself and other people
P4 identify those working practices in any part of your role which could harm yourself or other people
P5 deal with hazards and practices with low risks in accordance with organisational policies and legal requirements
P6 report those hazards and practices that present a high risk, and suggestions for reducing risk, to the responsible people in your organisation
Work with young people to assess and manage risk
P7 ensure that young people know the organisation's procedures for safeguarding their welfare
P8 work with young people to identify the hazards in youth work environments, and their associated risk
P9 agree with young people clear and concise safety ground rules for youth work
P10 actively encourage young people to be responsible for their own safety and that of others
P11 ensure that agreed ground rules and practice are within organisational procedures for safety
P12 work with young people to identify all potentially risky situations outside the youth work setting
P13 assist young people to develop safe practices which are in keeping with their abilities and with the relevant safety procedures
P14 work with young people to identify sources of support and actions they can take to deal with the risks they have identified
Assist individuals to take action when they are distressed
P15 recognise signs of young people's willingness or need to speak with you P16 create a relationship of openness and trust through the use of effective
listening techniques
P17 encourage the young person to explain their distress without pressurising them to discuss or disclose more than they want, need or are able to
P18 respond sensitively to the young person's need for comfort, within organisational procedures
P19 respect the young person's need for confidentiality within the organisation's procedures about disclosure
P20 identify sources of immediate support
P21 help the young person to identify options and decide on a course of immediate action
P22 agree process for supporting and monitoring progress with the young person, in line with organisational and legal procedures
P23 record and report your action appropriately
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
K1 organisational policies and procedures on health and safety and child protection
K2 the specific workplace policies covering your job role K3 safe working practices for your own job role
K4 the importance of personal conduct in maintaining the safety of yourself and others
K5 your scope and responsibility for identifying and rectifying risks
K6 organisational procedures for handling risks which you are unable to deal with
K7 why self-worth and self-esteem are important to young people as they manage the risk in their lives
K8 why young people should be encouraged to take responsibility for their own safety
K9 how to negotiate and agree safety ground rules for youth work with young people and encourage young people to develop ground rules for themselves
K10 common types of hazards inside the youth work environment, and their associated risk to young people
K11 common types of hazards and associated risk outside the youth work environment
K12 sources of advice and guidance on risks to young people and how to deal with them
K13 why it is important to listen and respond to young people's distress
K14 signs which indicate an individual's willingness or need to speak with you K15 listening techniques such as summarising, paraphrasing, checking out,
etc.
K16 organisational procedures about confidentiality and reportable disclosures
K17 organisational procedures on appropriate behaviour when supporting people in distress, with particular reference to the protection of young people from abuse
K18 sources of support/contact for particular (specialist) situations
K19 organisational procedures for dealing with reportable disclosures
Scope/range
Scope Performance
Scope Knowledge
Values
Behaviours
Skills
Glossary
Promote a safe working environment for youth work
organisational policies and procedures:
health and safety, child protection
safety:
physical safety, emotional safety
risks resulting from:
unsafe behaviour, environmental factors, working practices which do not conform to laid-down policies, the use and maintenance of machinery or equipment
responsible people:
those responsible for health and safety, child protection
Work with young people to assess and manage risk
organisation's procedures for safeguarding their welfare: health and safety, child protection procedures
hazards:
something with the potential to cause harm such as in activities, unhealthy and unsafe aspects of the environment, equipment and materials, unhealthy and unsafe practices, young people's or adult's behaviour
risk:
the likelihood of the hazard's potential being realised, affecting eg. physical health and safety, emotional welfare
safety:
physical safety, emotional safety
Assist individuals to take action when they are distressed individual crises:
related to relationships, health, finances, legal or illegal activities
immediate support:
may include support from family and friends, sources of specialist information, statutory and voluntary agencies process for supporting and monitoring progress:
maybeformalorinformal,internaltoyourworksetting,handingover responsibility to specialist agency
Links To Other NOS
TDASTL3 Help to keep children safe
TDASTL45 Promote children's well-being and resilience
Origin of this unit
This unit is taken from the National Occupational Standards in Youth Work where it appears as unit YW D4.