Safeguarding Training

What is the aim of safeguarding training?

Safeguarding training aims to protect the most vulnerable among us--children, young adults, and at-risk adults--from different kinds of harm, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, and domestic violence. If you work within a field where you often come into contact with these populations, you should think about undergoing safeguarding training, if it’s not already a requirement for your occupation. Safeguarding training aims to protect the health and well-being of all people. During training, you will learn how to assess whether or not neglect or abuse is occurring and then determine what must be done to ensure the safety of the individual. This includes the proper way to disclose to law enforcement and local authorities.

Safeguarding training has been developed to align with the Care Act 2014 which establishes the procedures to identifying, assessing, and managing situations where people are being harmed and neglected, which also clarifying the legal duties of those with an obligation to intervene.

Who should take safeguarding training?

Safeguarding courses are usually aimed toward people who will be coming into contact with children or vulnerable adults. For example, this might include the health care, education, religion, or housing sectors. Some courses are targeted toward social workers in particular, and other courses might be for managers or people who are specifically safeguarders in their organisations. People who are public health officers or work in emergency services would also benefit from safeguarding training.

Because there are multiple levels of safeguarding training, you can take a safeguarding course even if you have some experience in the field. Some courses will be specifically for novices, and others will be more advanced or be geared toward a certain occupation. 

What will I learn in safeguarding training?

Safeguarding is the practice of protecting children and vulnerable adults from harm, so regardless of what your occupation is, safeguarding training will teach you the importance of protecting people and show you the difference you can make. Many courses will specifically discuss the role of safeguarding in your specific company. And importantly, safeguarding courses should help you gain the confidence you need in applying the principles of safeguarding.

Here’s an example of some of what you might learn in safeguarding training:

• Identify risk for neglect and abuse
• Recognise the signs of neglect and abuse
• The six key principles of the Care Act
• How to respond to concerns, allegations, and disclosures
• How to report concerns
• Understanding the responsibility to protect children and vulnerable adults
• Learn what is law is around information sharing

Safeguarding training will typically discuss the different kinds of abuse people could face, including:

When booking safeguarding training, pay attention to the aim of each course. Providers often have multiple levels that are designed for different levels of prior experience as well as your current occupation, with courses especially designed for people in healthcare, housing, or other industries. Some courses will also focus on children, some courses will focus on adults, and some courses will focus on both.

Some courses will offer course completion certificates that are valid for a set number of years. If this is important to you, be sure to enquire for details to your course.

Related training areas

If you are interested in safeguarding training, you might also find it useful to look into courses in the following health and social care fields: