Health and Safety Policy

Al-Waris Foundation is committed to taking reasonable and proportionate steps to protect the health, safety and welfare of people affected by its activities.

This includes, where relevant:

The charity will seek to identify foreseeable hazards, assess material risks and implement reasonable controls appropriate to its size and activities.

Health and safety is a shared responsibility. Everyone acting on behalf of Al-Waris Foundation should take reasonable care of themselves and others.

This policy establishes the framework for managing health and safety across activities including:

This policy applies to activities organised or controlled by Al-Waris Foundation.

It applies to:

Contractors remain responsible for their own legal health and safety obligations, but Al-Waris Foundation will take reasonable steps to consider contractor risks where their work affects charity activities.

The Board of Trustees retains overall responsibility for appropriate health and safety governance.

The Board should ensure that:

Day-to-day responsibilities may be delegated.

Anyone undertaking activities for Al-Waris Foundation should:

Al-Waris Foundation will use proportionate risk assessments for activities presenting material health and safety risks.

A risk assessment should normally consider:

Not every ordinary activity requires a lengthy written risk assessment.

More detailed assessments are appropriate for higher-risk activities such as:

Circumstances may change during an activity.

Volunteers and project leads should remain alert to emerging risks including:

An activity should be modified, paused or stopped where continuing would create an unreasonable risk.

Where Al-Waris Foundation occupies or controls premises, reasonable steps should be taken to maintain a safe environment.

Considerations may include:

The charity should periodically review premises for obvious hazards.

Identified defects should be:

Appropriate fire precautions should be maintained at premises and events under the charity's control.

These may include:

Applicable fire-safety responsibilities should be identified for premises occupied by the charity.

People responsible for premises or organised events should understand how to respond if evacuation becomes necessary.

People must not be instructed to place themselves in danger to recover:

The level of first-aid provision should reflect:

Suitable first-aid supplies should be available where appropriate.

Serious emergencies should be referred promptly to the appropriate emergency services.

Internal reporting must not delay urgent medical, police or fire assistance.

Significant accidents occurring during charity activities should be recorded.

The record may include:

Personal medical information should be limited to what is reasonably necessary.

A near miss is an event that could reasonably have caused injury or significant harm but did not.

Material near misses should be reported where learning from them may prevent future harm.

Significant accidents should be reviewed proportionately to identify:

The purpose is primarily prevention rather than assigning blame.

Some workplace accidents, occupational diseases or dangerous occurrences may require reporting to the relevant authority under applicable law.

Where an incident may meet statutory reporting criteria, current requirements should be checked and appropriate advice obtained where necessary.

A serious health and safety event may also require consideration under the Serious Incident Reporting Policy.

Potential reporting to the Charity Commission should be assessed separately from any health and safety reporting obligation.

Volunteer activities should be organised with reasonable regard to health and safety.

Volunteers should receive information proportionate to their role concerning:

Volunteers should not be assigned tasks requiring specialist competence that they do not possess.

Examples may include:

Qualified or competent persons should be used where necessary.

Activities involving volunteers under 18 require additional consideration.

Risk assessment should consider:

Young volunteers must not be assigned inappropriate hazardous work.

Activities involving adults at risk should consider both:

A safety procedure must not override the dignity or rights of beneficiaries without appropriate justification.

Where a person works or volunteers alone, the charity should consider:

Higher-risk lone working may require check-in arrangements or another control.

No volunteer or representative should be expected to remain in circumstances involving a credible threat of:

Personal safety takes priority over completing a collection, obtaining content or protecting charity property.

Where a person becomes aggressive:

Volunteers should not physically intervene merely to protect charity property or donations where doing so would create significant danger.

Street collections may involve hazards including:

Collection planning should consider:

Collectors must not:

Collection permits or permissions do not remove the need for safe positioning.

Where fundraising takes place after dark, consideration should be given to:

Outdoor activities should consider weather conditions including:

Activities may be postponed or stopped where weather creates an unreasonable risk.

People should avoid lifting or carrying loads that exceed their reasonable capability.

Where significant manual handling occurs, controls may include:

Food packages and aid boxes may become heavy when assembled.

Packing processes should consider:

Very heavy packages should be divided where reasonably practicable.

When loading charity supplies:

Drivers undertaking authorised charity journeys must:

The charity should not encourage unsafe driving to meet project schedules.

Long journeys should be planned with reasonable consideration of fatigue.

Drivers should take appropriate breaks and should not continue driving where they are too tired to do so safely.

Drivers must comply with applicable law concerning mobile-device use.

Charity representatives should not pressure a driver to respond to messages or calls while driving.

Vehicles used for charity activity should not carry more passengers than legally and safely permitted.

Seat belts should be used where required and available.

Equipment should be:

Damaged electrical equipment should not continue to be used where it presents a safety risk.

Reasonable inspection and testing arrangements should reflect the equipment and environment.

Where volunteers use their own equipment for charity activity, it should be reasonably suitable and safe.

The charity may prohibit personal equipment where it creates unacceptable risk.

Contractors remain responsible for carrying out their work safely and lawfully.

Al-Waris Foundation should nevertheless consider:

Volunteers and beneficiaries should not be unnecessarily exposed to active:

Safe separation should be maintained where appropriate.

Water-project safety should consider:

Contractors should secure work areas appropriately during installation.

Open boreholes, wells or excavations must not be left unnecessarily accessible where they could create a fall or injury risk.

Suitable temporary or permanent protection should be used.

Before a water project is treated as operational, reasonable checks should establish that:

A functioning water source is not automatically safe drinking water.

Where water is intended for consumption, the charity should consider appropriate water-quality assessment according to local risk and circumstances.

No unsupported safety claim should be made.

Food distributed by Al-Waris Foundation should be reasonably suitable for consumption.

Considerations may include:

Where bulk food is repacked into smaller quantities, reasonable hygiene controls should be maintained.

Food should be:

Where Al-Waris Foundation prepares or directly serves food rather than distributing sealed products, applicable allergen and food-information responsibilities should be considered.

Volunteers should not guess when asked about ingredients or allergens.

Large distributions may create risks including:

Planning should consider:

Beneficiaries should not be required to:

to receive assistance.

Distribution arrangements should promote orderly and dignified access.

Before significant events, the charity should consider:

Where an external venue is used, Al-Waris Foundation should understand which safety responsibilities remain with:

The existence of a venue operator does not remove the charity's responsibility for risks arising from its own activities.

Overseas activities may present additional risks including:

Risk controls should reflect the actual local environment.

Before a material overseas project visit, consideration should be given to:

Relevant current official travel advice should be considered when planning overseas travel.

A decision to travel should consider:

No person should be pressured to travel against their reasonable safety concerns.

Travel to areas affected by:

requires enhanced assessment.

The need to obtain photographs, video or project evidence does not justify exposing representatives to unreasonable danger.

Emergency response may involve rapidly changing conditions.

Project leads should retain authority to:

where necessary for immediate safety.

Material changes should be documented afterward where appropriate.

Overseas contractors should be expected to manage safety appropriately for their work.

For higher-risk activities, Al-Waris Foundation may request information concerning:

Suitable personal protective equipment should be used where a risk assessment identifies it as necessary.

PPE may include:

PPE should supplement rather than replace safer working methods where those methods are reasonably available.

Reasonable hygiene facilities or arrangements should be available for activities where poor hygiene creates material risk.

This is particularly relevant to:

Where an infectious disease presents a material risk to an activity, Al-Waris Foundation should consider current public-health advice and proportionate precautions.

Measures should reflect actual risk rather than assumptions or stigma.

Volunteers should not ordinarily administer medication to beneficiaries unless:

Emergency assistance should be handled according to the circumstances and applicable guidance.

Some charity activities may expose volunteers to distressing circumstances.

Examples include:

Volunteers should be encouraged to raise concerns and seek appropriate support where needed.

Charity activities should be organised with reasonable regard to rest and fatigue.

Extended volunteering periods, particularly during:

should be managed sensibly.

Where volunteers are fasting, organisers should consider factors such as:

Volunteers should not be pressured to undertake tasks they reasonably consider unsafe.

Where children are present, organisers should consider:

Health and safety arrangements should operate alongside the Safeguarding Children Policy.

People taking photographs or video must not:

Content creation is secondary to safety.

Common hazards such as:

should be addressed promptly where reasonably practicable.

Supplies should be stored in a manner that reduces risks including:

Heavy items should normally be stored where they can be accessed safely.

Where cleaning chemicals or other hazardous substances are used, they should be:

Specialist hazardous substances should not be handled by untrained volunteers.

Smoking and vaping must comply with applicable law and premises rules.

They should not take place where they create:

No person should undertake safety-sensitive charity duties while impaired by:

Health and safety arrangements should consider reasonable accessibility needs.

Emergency and evacuation arrangements should not unnecessarily disadvantage disabled people.

Some incidents may simultaneously involve:

Relevant policies should operate together.

An immediate safety response should not be delayed while deciding which internal policy applies.

Al-Waris Foundation should maintain insurance appropriate to its activities where required or reasonably necessary.

This may include, depending on circumstances:

Insurance does not replace appropriate risk management.

For significant or higher-risk work, the charity should consider whether contractors hold appropriate insurance.

The appropriate level depends on the nature of the work and local circumstances.

Anyone identifying a significant hazard should report it to the relevant activity lead or authorised person.

Immediate hazards should be controlled or isolated where this can be done safely.

A person supervising an Al-Waris Foundation activity may stop or suspend work where they reasonably believe continuing presents a serious or uncontrolled risk.

No person should be penalised merely for raising a genuine safety concern in good faith.

Health and safety records may include:

Records should be proportionate to the activity and risk.

Accident and health records may contain sensitive personal information.

Access should be restricted appropriately.

Health information must not be publicly disclosed merely for transparency or donor reporting.

Health and safety records must be processed in accordance with the Data Protection and UK GDPR Policy.

Only information reasonably necessary for legitimate purposes should be collected.

Relevant people should receive proportionate health and safety information or training.

This may include:

Training should reflect actual responsibilities.

Where appropriate, volunteer induction should include basic information concerning:

People undertaking charity activities should be encouraged to raise practical safety concerns.

Those performing an activity may identify risks that are not obvious during initial planning.

Al-Waris Foundation may review:

Lessons should be incorporated into future planning where appropriate.

A serious or repeated failure to follow reasonable safety requirements may result in:

The response should be proportionate.

A person should not suffer retaliation for genuinely raising a health and safety concern in good faith.

Knowingly malicious or fabricated allegations may be dealt with separately.

This policy should be read alongside:

This policy will be reviewed:

Version: 2.0 Status: Approved Approved by: Board of Trustees Approval date: 25/08/2026 Next scheduled review: 24/08/2027