Whether you a supporting children or adults through a helpline, live chat, email or in person, safeguarding is more than just a requirement, it’s an essential part of keeping people safe. This course helps you meet your legal and professional responsibilities while giving you the confidence to respond with care and clarity.
We understand that recognising safeguarding concerns can be challenging when your contact is brief or not face-to-face. That’s why this training provides practical tools, including a structured approach to asking the right questions, to help you asses risk and respond appropriately.
By the end of the course, you will feel more confident in recognising the signs that a child or adult may be at risk of harm. You will also know the steps to take if you have concerns, how to listen and respond when someone shares something with you and how to record and share information in a safe and responsible way.
What will you learn on a Safeguarding for Call Handlers Course?
- Identify the relevant legislation and guidance that safeguards children and adults at risk
- Identify what is meant by safeguarding and child and adult abuse
- Name the categories of child and adult abuse
- How to identify signs and indicators of possible abuse and behaviour changes from your limited contact
- Identify the barriers to reporting concerns (from both the victim and professional perspectives)
- Recognise risk factors and explore risk assessment approaches
- Consider core skills for responding to safeguarding concerns, including active listening and building rapport
- Understand how to refer and report concerns or allegations of child abuse ( including emergency responses)
- Identify key considerations for recording and storing personal data (Risk Assessment Toolkit)
What is safeguarding training for call handlers?
Our training covers the required information and learning for Safeguarding Level 1.
The session focuses on active listening skills and rapport building and recognises the issues that are experienced by call handlers when communicating with individuals about whom they may have a safeguarding concern. It highlights additional issues call handlers face in spotting some of the more nuanced silent cues and NVCs that others who have face-to-face contact may notice.
The course also supports the development of a risk assessment toolkit to guide call handlers in key considerations for their callers in order to gain relevant information to support safeguarding reports.
Do call handlers need safeguarding training?
If you provide advice and support to families, children or adults, you will be required to attend safeguarding training, i.e. advice about housing issues, energy or other debt, gambling, addictions, sexual health, relationship guidance, other healthcare, etc.
Safeguarding Training is mandatory for all call handlers operating in this regard to have completed safeguarding training so they are able to identify and respond appropriately to safeguarding concerns.
What level of safeguarding training do call handlers need?
All call handlers providing advice and guidance to children or vulnerable adults should attend Level 1 safeguarding training – whether it's via the telephone, text, email or live webchat.
Those with additional responsibility, such as Call Centre managers or welfare teams, should attend Level 2 safeguarding training.
Why Choose The Athena Programme?
At The Athena Programme we provide training and consultancy to keep children and young people from abuse and neglect. As experts in safeguarding, we understand the issues and challenges organisations face. That’s why many organisations trust us to support them in training and the resources they need to help protect children and young people they work with. We work with many organisations in different sectors. Have a look at what some of our customers say about our safeguarding in our Case Studies.
Our highly valued training courses and consultancy services are developed by experts. We provide bespoke training courses tailored to your needs, providing up-to-date, clear and concise training with the latest statutory guidance. Our trainers are Caring, Creative, Compassionate and Passionate about training organisations to the highest standard.