1.3 Who is responsible for safeguarding?

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Four officials. Referee, coach, umpire, team official. In the middle of the graphic is a large green tick.

Safeguarding is not just the sole responsibility of the Safeguarding Lead – everyone has a role to play. In the next activity, you will be asked to think of the different stakeholders that have a responsibility for safeguarding in sport.

What does ‘everyone’ mean in relation to an organisation’s activities?

Take a moment to list everyone that might have some responsibility for safeguarding in your organisation.

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Answer

Here’s our list – were there others that you identified?

  • Management team and Board Members.
  • Event or competition staff.
  • Human Resources.
  • Welfare staff.
  • Coaches.
  • Volunteers.
  • Parents.
  • Social media staff.
  • Medical staff.
  • Officials or referees.
  • Player agents.
  • Chaperones.
  • Security staff.
  • Cleaning staff.
  • Transport.

The main point to remember is that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and that safeguarding also applies to everyone – athletes, staff, volunteers, and spectators should all be safe in sport.

Having everyone in your organisation understand and take on their safeguarding responsibility is really important, because the way that everyone thinks and behaves affects the ‘culture’ of your organisation – and this can have a big impact on safeguarding as you will explore in the next section.

1.2 Basic principles: what is safeguarding?

1.4 What is culture?