Health, safety and welfare policy

Page last updated 2 April 2025.
See change log for recent updates to this webpage.

In the event of a serious accident or death, Girlguiding must be contacted within 1 hour using the emergency safety line on 0207 592 1828. See what to do in an emergency for more information.

Health, safety and welfare are the things we all need to think about so we can enjoy great guiding experiences safely.

This policy explains what we expect of our volunteers and how we help you to create and maintain healthy and safe environments.

You should read it alongside the health, safety and welfare procedure.

Our glossary lays out a few definitions of key terms that are used across our policies - take a look.

Girlguiding’s commitment to health, safety and welfare

It’s Girlguiding’s legal duty to ensure the health and safety of everyone involved in our activities, as set out in the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. This includes our members, volunteers and staff.

Health and safety is everyone’s business. It’s everyone’s duty to look after themselves and others.

There are legal responsibilities and accountabilities associated with delivering Girlguiding. These include creating and maintaining healthy and safe environments – offline, online, and for anyone affected by Girlguiding activities.

We must have competent and responsible volunteers who:

• Are prepared.
• Respond appropriately (and know their limits).
• Follow up afterwards.

Girlguiding will provide the appropriate training, support, resources (such as risk assessment templates) and guidance to help our volunteers achieve this.

Expectations

As a volunteer you must:

• Ask for help if you think you need it. Always let Girlguiding know if you need reasonable adjustments, additional training or support. This includes being mindful of your own mental and physical health and welfare.
• Be prepared. Reduce the risk – as far as is reasonably practicable - of any incident happening because of Girlguiding activities. Plan activities by doing risk assessments and be vigilant during the activity. Make sure all equipment and resources used in activities are safe to use.
• Protect yourself. Never remain in situations where you feel unsafe or take unnecessary risks. Volunteering alone should be minimised wherever possible.
• Be vigilant. Girlguiding activities can take place in environments where things can change quickly. Always be vigilant and be prepared to carry out dynamic risk assessments.
• Never assume it’s not your problem. You must act if you have any concerns about health, safety or welfare. Take all reasonable steps to assess hazards and identify measures to manage risk.
• Find balance. It's not possible to remove all risk, as doing this can reduce or remove the potential for us all to learn, enjoy and thrive. But risk can be managed and mitigated. Promote appropriate and measured risk management to make activities enjoyable, challenging, and safe.
• Be accountable. Act in a way that protects the safety of everyone. Follow safety guidelines and the training given, and make decisions with care, especially in situations where risks are present.
• Report. You must report, monitor and respond to any incident arising from activities. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
• Be covered. You must have appropriate insurance cover. This could be Girlguiding’s, the activity or venue providers, or in some cases you may need to arrange additional insurance separately.
• Check your venue and activities are appropriate. Make sure that any venues, locations and activities are suitable. Meetings or activities involving young members under 16 are not allowed in private homes and gardens. However, volunteers aged 16 and over, such as young leaders and external volunteers, may attend adult volunteer meetings in these settings. Our health, safety and welfare procedure tells you how to check whether your meeting venue is suitable.

Members in British Overseas Territories countries must abide by local legislation when applying this policy, where relevant.

How Girlguiding helps to create and maintain healthy and safe environments:

• Our health, safety and welfare procedure explains how to apply this policy, and what you must do to maintain a safe environment for guiding.
• We have guidance around risk assessments and adult to child ratios.
• Adequate training is available in safer guiding.
• Breaches of this policy by adult volunteers will be managed under the managing concerns about adult volunteers policy and procedure.