Independent Member of Safety Committee

Independent Member, Safety Committee

The role 

The role of the Independent member is to provide the Safety Committee and the Movement with knowledge and experience for making key decisions. The role is pro bono, but reasonable expense will be paid in accordance with The Scout Association (TSA)’s Expenses Policy.

Main responsibilities 

The remit of the Committee is to support the Board of Trustees to fulfil its responsibilities in relation to Safety by:

• providing vision and direction for consideration and endorsement by the Board (as required), by identifying and contributing to the development of safety policies, procedures and guidance;
• ensuring that youth members, adult volunteers, parents and staff are engaged in contributing to the development of safety policies;
• developing and overseeing a performance framework to ensure that safety policies, procedures and practice are monitored to provide assurance to the Board (relating to members, staff and service users) and use this management information to inform and drive improvements; monitoring the local and national implementation of safety policies and procedures to ensure practice is effective and consistently applied;
• ensuring that appropriate connections are made with other areas of the Association’s work that may have an impact on safety (for example Adult Training by using incident data to highlight areas of success or concern);
• ensuring that members receive appropriate support and communication to aid understanding of their responsibilities to enable Safe Scouting;
• leading the process for Fatal Accident and/or Near Miss inquiries from commissioning through to completion;
• reviewing and overseeing actions from inquiry reports (this should be in conjunction with the respective staff functions, particularly where there is specific policy, procedure and/or practice changes that need to be recommended for consideration by the Strategy and Delivery Committee and/or Board (as required);
• identifying possible areas of development for the Association’s safety activities, taking into account relevant national agendas and learning from reviews whether this be external or internal to the Association.

The person 

Past or present membership of The Scout Association would be an advantage but is not an essential requirement.

What is essential is a commitment to the vision and values of Scouting and the ability to challenge the Association’s policies and practices positively.

Skills 

Primary Technical Skills (Core) 

• Competence: Experience of application of safety principles, regulations, and best practices within a high hazard environment / industry.
• Legal Compliance: Clear understanding of legal obligations related to health and safety in the workplace and how this translates across to Scouting to assure compliance with relevant laws and regulations. 
• Application of Health and Safety Regulations: Experience of applying health and safety regulations and standards to ensure compliance. This should be combined with an understanding and ability to identify relevant health and safety regulations and standards applicable to the volunteering sector.
• Risk Assessment and Audit and Assurance: Experience of identifying potential hazards, assessment, developing strategies to mitigate risk and audit and assurance in a work environment, including risk assessment methodologies and strategies.

Analytical Skills (Essential)

• Analytical Skills: Capacity to analyse data related to safety performance, incident reports, and trends to identify areas for improvement.
• Problem-Solving Skills: Ability to identify safety issues, evaluate alternative solutions, and implement effective corrective actions.
• Continuous Learning and Professional Development: Commitment to staying updated on industry trends, best practices, and emerging technologies in safety management.

Enabling Skills (Desirable) 

• Management Skills: Experience of leading safety initiatives and managing safety teams to influence organisational safety culture to prioritise safety – demonstrating an understanding of business operations and aligning safety practices with organisational goals.
• Communication and Influencing Skills: Experience of effectively conveying safety protocols, policies, and procedures to employees to influence behaviour, management, and regulatory authorities, showing the ability to lead by example and inspire others to prioritise safety.
• Interpersonal Skills: Understands the need for building positive relationships with stakeholders, including volunteers and employees, management, regulatory agencies, and community members to improve safety culture.

Secondary Technical Skills (Desirable) 

• Safety Training and Education: Experience of developing and or delivering effective safety training programmes to employees at all levels within an organization.
• Accident Investigation: Skill in investigating workplace accidents and incidents to determine root causes and prevent future occurrences.
• Emergency Preparedness and Response: Knowledge of emergency procedures and the ability to develop and implement emergency response plans.

Experience 

• Experience of high-hazard environments
• Experience of working in safety as a safety practitioner/holds a safety qualification
• Expertise welcomed in mental health/wellbeing, human factors or occupational health
• Experience of working or volunteering with charitable or youth organisations

Time Commitment 

For this role, the appointed candidate should expect to spend the equivalent of a day per quarter on The Scout Association’s work after the induction phase. This is based on preparation for and attendance at the scheduled Safety Committee meetings (four in each year, with the intention that two are held online and two face to face).

Appointment Term 

These appointments would normally be for a three-year term (subject to appraisal), extendable by mutual consent by no more than one further three-year term.

Safeguarding rules - Yellow Card 

We are a youth organisation who takes safeguarding seriously. The post holder agrees to comply at all times with the safeguarding rules as set out on TSA’s yellow card, which can be found here, This is shared with young people and carers, as well as employees, so everyone knows our rules of engagement.

In order to comply, stringent vetting procedures take place including checking against an internal database to assess suitability and also Basic/Enhanced DBS checks as required.

Data Protection 

The post holder hereby agrees not to disclose any confidential or sensitive information to a third party or outside organisation except where required to do so by law and to adhere to our Data Protection policies.

Health and Safety 

The post holder agrees to abide by TSA’s Health and Safety principles and code of conduct and to take all reasonable steps to ensure both their own safety in the workplace as well as that of their colleagues.

Equal Opportunities 

The post holder agrees to promote and uphold the principles of equal opportunities in accordance with TSA’s Equal Opportunities Statement and all related policies.

How to apply 

If you are interested in the position and would like to apply, please send your CV and supporting statement outlining your suitability for the role. 

The closing date for applications is: 31 December 2024 

Initial interviews should take place on week commencing the 3rd of February 2025.

If you would like to discuss the role in more detail, please contact the Governance Team.

This role is advertised as part of TPP's Free Giving Back Services. This volunteer advertisement copy has been supplied to TPP and applicants apply direct to the organisation. Please contact the organisation directly if you have any questions about this volunteer role.