The Safeguarding Framework details how staff and students can report concerns, suspicions or allegations of harm.
If you're concerned that someone is in immediate risk of harm you should contact emergency services on 999 and contact BSU Security 24/7, who can escalate to an on-call senior manager: +44 (0)1225 875555.
Bath Spa University is committed to:
Safeguarding is about protecting a person’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. It’s about working together to protect those most at risk of, or currently experiencing, abuse or neglect.
Safeguarding at Bath Spa University includes children and adults at risk (sometimes referred to as ‘vulnerable’ adults) who are connected with University activities or who visit our premises.
Safeguarding can sometimes be linked to domestic violence, gender-based violence, racial and/or sexual harassment and hate crime.
Our approach to Safeguarding also covers how we prevent and detect people being drawn into terrorist or extremist activities, which forms part of our response to the Prevent Duty.
Safeguarding affects all individuals in society, and we all have a role to play in safeguarding children and adults at risk.
Abuse can happen anywhere, in any situation. It can come in many forms and can be very difficult to detect. Sometimes it's visible, but many times it's not. It doesn't discriminate and can occur in any situation, privileged or not.
Staff and students have a duty to be alert to the possible signs of abuse and then act by reporting concerns promptly.
The Safeguarding Policy applies to all university staff, applicants, students, volunteers, anyone representing the University and visitors to the University. The policy applies to face-to-face activities and activities delivered online, both in the UK and abroad.
These include:
Abuse and neglect come in the following forms:
Sometimes the person involved might tell you about what is happening to them or you may observe or hear things that make you concerned for them.
The signs that abuse or neglect might be occurring can include:
Safeguarding is everybody’s business.
If you have a concern about anyone linked with our University community, you must report this using the Safeguarding Report Form.
Raise all concerns. Even if you're not sure the concern constitutes safeguarding or think it might be a small thing, it's your responsibility to report it.
The Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) will determine what actions(s) will be taken.
It is not your responsibility to investigate, make judgement or provide a response to safeguarding matters. If you have a concern, simply follow the safeguarding process for guidance on what to do.
If you need to report an issue, email safeguarding@bathspa.ac.uk or complete the safeguarding reporting form.
While safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, there are people who support staff and students to report a safeguarding issue.
We have a network of Local Safeguarding Leads (LSLs) and Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) who are here to manage all Safeguarding concerns.
We have a single point of contact (SPOC) for Safeguarding: Head of Student Wellbeing Services.
Bath Spa University has a SPOC for all external enquiries related to Safeguarding and they can be contacted via: safeguarding@bathspa.ac.uk.
Find out more about the University process on Safeguarding and Prevent Concerns/Allegations in this BSU flowchart document.
The following documents are intended for guidance:
For further information on the types of abuse and spotting the signs please see these resources:
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children have a number of resources online, including a whole section on different types of abuse.
The Government’s statutory guidance document, “Keeping Children Safe in Education” includes helpful information on emerging types of abuse, including “child-on-child abuse”, harmful sexual behaviour and the sharing of nude images online (see Part Five and Annex A).
This piece from the Social Care Institute for Excellence gives guidance on safeguarding vulnerable adults.