Safeguarding Learners Policy.
How we keep learners safe, including young people and adults at risk, and what we do if we are worried about someone.
About this policy
Elearnment Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales (company number 17458288). We provide online training under the Good Food Hygiene brand, at goodfoodhygiene.co.uk. Safeguarding means protecting people’s health, wellbeing and rights, and their right to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. This policy explains how we keep learners safe while they learn with us, and what we do if we become worried about someone.
Who our learners are, and why that matters
Our courses are online and self-paced. Learners work on their own and never meet us or each other in person. There are no live sessions, chat rooms, forums or messaging between learners, and nobody who works with us has unsupervised contact with learners.
Most of our learners are adults working in food businesses. Some will be young people aged 16 or 17, often enrolled by their employer, and some adults may be at risk because of their circumstances. This policy applies to all of them, and to anyone else we come into contact with through our work.
Because of how our courses are delivered, the most likely ways a safeguarding concern could reach us are:
- something a learner tells us in an email or message
- something we notice in a message, a complaint or an account
- a concern raised by an employer, a family member or another person
Our commitments
- The welfare of the learner comes first.
- Every concern is taken seriously and acted on promptly.
- We listen, we do not investigate abuse ourselves, and we pass concerns to the people whose job it is to act.
- Information is shared only with those who need it to protect someone.
- Our online spaces are designed to be safe, and our content is suitable for learners aged 16 and over.
Designated Safeguarding Lead
The Director of Elearnment Ltd is our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). The DSL:
- receives and records every safeguarding concern
- decides what action to take, and makes referrals to the police or local authority
- makes sure everyone who works with us knows this policy
- reviews this policy every year
To raise a concern, email enquiries@goodfoodhygiene.co.uk with “Safeguarding” in the subject line. We check this inbox every working day.
If someone is in immediate danger
Call 999. Do not wait to contact us first.
If you are worried about a learner
Anyone who works with us who becomes worried about a learner must:
- Stay calm and listen. If a learner tells you something, let them explain in their own words. Do not ask leading questions or promise to keep it secret.
- Tell the learner what happens next — that you need to share it with the DSL to help keep them safe.
- Write it down as soon as possible: what was said or seen, in the person’s own words where possible, the date and time, and anything you did.
- Tell the DSL the same working day.
The DSL will then decide whether to:
- contact the police (999 in an emergency, 101 otherwise)
- refer a child or young person to the local authority’s children’s services
- refer an adult at risk to the local authority’s adult social care team
- give the learner details of support services, such as the NSPCC helpline (0808 800 5000) or Childline (0800 1111) for young people
Online safety
- Learners cannot contact each other through our websites.
- Course content is written for learners aged 16 and over, and checked under our Course Content Review Policy.
- Learner accounts are protected by passwords and security controls described in our Data Protection Policy.
- We never ask learners for more personal information than a course needs.
People who work with us
- Everyone who works with us, including contractors, reads this policy before they start.
- Nobody who works with us has unsupervised contact with learners, so DBS checks are not required for current roles. We will review this if our work changes.
- Any concern about the behaviour of someone who works with us towards a learner goes straight to the DSL, or to the police if the DSL is the subject of the concern.
Confidentiality and records
Safeguarding concerns are recorded securely, kept separate from other learner records, and shared only with those who need to know to protect someone. The law allows us to share information without consent where that is needed to keep someone safe, and we will do so when necessary.
Relevant guidance
This policy is based on the Children Act 1989 and 2004, the Care Act 2014 and the government guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children.
Responsibility and review
The Director of Elearnment Ltd, as Designated Safeguarding Lead, is responsible for this policy. It is reviewed every year, after any serious safeguarding incident, and whenever we change how our courses are delivered.