Policy purpose and brief
The underlying purpose of our organisation is to help people stay safe and well, and we want to deliver our services in a way that helps achieve this aim. We understand that we all have a duty of care to each other and will act in a proportionate and reasonable way to achieve the safe delivery of our services. By doing this we will; protect our passengers, enhance the good name and reputation of our organisation and reduce the potential liability of our volunteers and trustees.
The purpose of this policy is to outline how we will work to achieve these aims.
To achieve this we will ensure that:
• Everyone knows it is their responsibility, in any given situation, to take the safest course of action and to tell us if ever they feel unsafe or have concerns about other people’s health and safety. We will provide information to our drivers to help them make safe and appropriate decisions.
• On recruitment each driver will demonstrate:
o That they are generally accident and traffic fine free and they and their car(s) are road legal. We will accept a driver with 3 points on their driving licence
o That they are safe to help vulnerable people via an enhanced DBS check and two character references.
• We are aware of each driver’s abilities, are familiar with their vehicles, and that:
o Drivers and vehicles are placed on journeys that are suitable for them
o Passengers are placed with drivers and vehicles that are suitable for them o Drivers have every opportunity (and take them) to say no to a journey and know the systems that are in place to allow and encourage them to report issues they have on any journey.
o We will provide information and suitable training to help drivers manage manual handling issues and provide safe assistance especially where passengers are frail and/or using wheel chairs
• We are aware, as far as is possible, of the suitability of passengers to be carried by our volunteers, and when alerted to issues, will always take the safest course of action for our passenger and volunteers.
• Passengers will also be made aware that, if they have any concerns or complaints, they are able, in confidence, to report them to us.