Safeguarding at OSHI

Everyone who comes to OSHI has the right to feel safe. Keeping people safe from harm, abuse and neglect is part of everything we do.

Our commitment

Recovery is built on trust, and trust starts with safety. Safeguarding is not a policy we keep in a drawer. It shapes how we train our people and how we run our support, and it decides what happens when something is not right. If we are ever worried that someone is being harmed, or is at risk of harm, we will act on it.

OSHI provides services to adults aged 18 and over. We follow child safeguarding procedures where a concern about a child arises in the course of our work.

Who leads on safeguarding

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), the person responsible for making sure every concern is taken seriously and dealt with properly, is James Halls, Director. You can reach him at james@oshi.org.uk. He is DBS checked, and so is everyone on our team who works directly with the people we support (a DBS check is a criminal-record check for people whose work brings them into contact with adults at risk).

The law we work under

Our safeguarding work with adults follows the Care Act 2014, the law that sets out how adults at risk should be protected. If a concern about a child ever arises in the course of our work, we follow the Children Acts 1989 and 2004.

How we work

• Every safeguarding concern is logged within 24 hours.
• Our staff complete NHS safeguarding training within 30 days of starting, and refresh it every year.
• What you tell us stays confidential. But we may share information without consent where the law requires it, or where someone is at serious risk of harm. That could mean talking to the police, social services or a court. Our privacy notice explains how we look after your information.

Worried about someone?

If someone is in immediate danger, call 999 now.

If it is not an emergency but you are worried about someone, contact our Designated Safeguarding Lead, James Halls, at james@oshi.org.uk, or phone us on 07507 988 481. It might be about someone we support, a friend or family member, or something you have seen or heard at OSHI. You do not need to be certain, and you do not need proof. Tell us what you have seen or heard, and we will take it from there.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled a safeguarding concern, our complaints page explains how to raise it.