According to the NSPCC, child neglect is the most common form of child abuse. The are four different types of neglect, these are:

• Physical neglect
• Educational neglect
• Emotional neglect
• Medical neglect

Neglect can be intentional or inadvertent, and there are many reasons why child neglect happens. The primary causes of child neglect are often poverty, substance abuse, depression, a lack of support, poor social skills and unloving relationships, former abuse, and misunderstandings about child development.

Need Safeguarding Training?

Our range of safeguarding training courses aims to provide you with the required knowledge to carry out your work whilst meeting safeguarding requirements. Take a look at our full Safeguarding Course library, where you’ll find everything from Designated Safeguarding Lead to Child Mental Health training.

What is Physical Neglect?

A parent or carer has a duty to take care of a child’s basic needs, which includes providing food, shelter and clothes, and keeping the child clean and hygienic. A failure to meet these basic needs is physical neglect.

The inability to provide a child with food may manifest in the child seeming thin and hungry or coming to school having had no breakfast, with no packed lunch and no money to buy food at school. The consequences can be very harmful; malnourishment in babies and young children can cause lasting damage to brain development, resulting in lower brain functioning.

The physical neglect of a child may lead to inadequate levels of hygiene, or they could turn up to school on a cold day with no warm layers of clothing. Their clothes may be unwashed, poorly fitting or may have holes. Their home environment may be dirty and unhygienic, or cold and damp.

Failing to keep a child safe from danger also counts as physical neglect. For example, if a parent were to let a young child walk around town on their own, or if they were to leave them home on their own unsupervised, this is classed as physical child neglect.

What is Educational Neglect?

Depriving your child of an education is against the law, so if a parent fails to send their child to school, or fails to take action to prevent truancy, they could be guilty of educational neglect.

However, it’s not illegal to take a child out of school if the parents or carers are providing them with an alternative education; that is, teaching them at home and having told the child’s school of their intentions (and the council, if the child is in a special educational needs school).

Local councils may make regular informal checks on parents who are homeschooling their child to ensure that parents and carers are meeting the child’s educational needs; if the council finds evidence of educational neglect, they can issue parents with a school attendance order.

What is Emotional Neglect?

A child has emotional needs as well as physical and educational, and if parents and guardians don’t meet these requirements, it’s known as emotional neglect. Emotional neglect could mean that a child isn’t getting the amount of attention, stimulation or affection that they need from a parent or carer, but it can also be more calculated than that.

For instance, a parent or carer may routinely scare the child, or humiliate them, or lock them away without human interaction. Emotional neglect can result in long-lasting mental health problems and can lead to issues maintaining healthy relationships with partners, friends or even their children when they reach adulthood. Unfortunately, emotional neglect is tough to prove, because it’s often one person’s word against another.

What is Medical Neglect?

It’s the responsibility of a parent or carer to ensure that a child receives adequate health and dental care; failure to do so is a form of neglect.

For example, a child’s injuries, health issues or dental problems may go untreated, or the child may suffer from repeated illnesses and conditions such as skin sores, ringworm or rashes. They may be anaemic or always tired, and they may not receive the medication they need for a particular condition. They may be small for their age and could lag behind their peers with literacy and social skills.

Medical neglect also includes ignoring the advice of a doctor or dentist, refusing to allow a child to be treated and not taking children to routine appointments such as vaccinations.

Child neglect can have a devastating impact on a person’s life, even after they’ve left their childhood years behind. It’s crucial that we learn to recognise and understand the common signs of child neglect so we can work to eliminate it.

Further Resources:

• Signs of Abuse in Children
• Safeguarding Children Definition
• Understanding Why Children May Stay Quiet About Abuse
• Safeguarding Children Level 1

The post Understanding the Different Forms of Child Neglect appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

It’s down to HR departments and diversity officers to implement schemes to promote a more inclusive and diverse workplace. However, without buy-in from all employees, such schemes may have limited success, meaning that some groups may still experience discrimination.

If you want to support such schemes in your office, you don’t have to be a militant campaigner for change to make a difference. In fact, simply being an advocate for and supporting greater inclusivity, equality and diversity in your office can have an impact.

Know What Discrimination Looks Like

To support greater inclusivity, equality and diversity you need to know how to spot when it isn’t happening. Familiarising yourself with discrimination and the different forms it can take means that you can spot if it happens. It also means you’re in a position to report any issues to management (especially if the discriminated person doesn’t feel comfortable about reporting it themselves).

Know what behaviour to look out for.

Discrimination can be way more subtle than overt behaviour such as name-calling, inappropriate comments or sweeping generalisations.

If you see it happening, make a note of the time, circumstances, people involved and what happened, and report it to your HR department or whoever is responsible for promoting diversity and inclusivity in your office.

Need a Training Course?

Our Equality & Diversity Training helps learners understand more about their responsibilities for promoting equality and diversity in the workplace. It looks at which behaviours are prohibited by the Equality Act and aims to help you promote a fairer, more tolerant and more diverse working environment.

Volunteer for Diversity Events

Events are a great opportunity to promote diversity and inclusivity in the workplace, and you can help these events meet their aims by being quick to volunteer and get involved.

This will encourage others to get involved too because many people are uncomfortable about being the first to sign up for something.

For example, a company ‘Come Dine With Me’ inspired event with a focus on international cuisine would be a great way for people of different cultures to share their country’s cuisine with colleagues, but some may feel shy about putting themselves forward for this.

By volunteering to go first, you’re effectively breaking the ice, and hopefully, others will be likely to follow suit.

Help with Recruitment Events

Increasing diversity among new recruits is an important part of widening team demographics, but committing to diversity goals also means adding additional tasks to the recruitment process.

For example, encouraging job applications from as wide a variety of candidates as possible may mean ensuring that the job vacancy and your organisation as a whole is showcased to people who may not normally be aware of it. That requires further resources.

To help support the recruitment of a diverse set of candidates, volunteer your services in any way you can.

For example, you could help to compile statistics on the demographics of applicants, or you could volunteer your time to be a friendly face representing your company at a recruitment event designed to promote careers to a wider audience, acting as a company ambassador to whom potential candidates can ask questions.

Get Employee Views

The person who’s making these positive changes in your organisation will want to know how their initiatives are being received among employees.

Employees often talk differently among themselves to how they talk to managers. So, you could be a useful set of eyes and ears in gauging the level of engagement among your colleagues. In fact, you may overhear comments or see behaviour that reflects staff attitudes which may not be obvious to senior management or HR.

Try talking informally with colleagues about the changes being made, get a feel for how they’re being received, and then report back to the person or team responsible for increasing diversity and inclusivity.

Voice Your Ideas

Finally, you may also have your own ideas on how positive changes could be achieved in your office, in which case you could voice your own feedback.

You may have come up with ideas as a result of speaking to colleagues. For example, from discussing issues with your co-workers, you might feel that an anonymous staff survey might provide useful insights to the HR department or diversity officer, particularly if you suspect that colleagues may have experiences they wish to share but are too afraid or shy to speak up about them.

Alternatively, you might simply have a great idea for an event that would help further your organisation’s goals of being more inclusive and diverse. Whatever your idea, don’t keep it to yourself: your HR department almost certainly wants to hear your input, as government guidelines encourage actively involving all employees in achieving equality in the workplace.

The success of inclusivity and diversity schemes are reliant on everyone in an office being on board, both engaging with the scheme’s aims and getting involved in events. If you’re quick to support and champion these initiatives, you’ll help encourage your colleagues to get involved too – and the more people who are proactive in taking part, the more likely a scheme is to be successful. The end result is that everybody in your workplace will feel equally respected and valued – and that’s surely worth striving for.

Further Resources:

• Equality & Diversity Quiz
• How Equality & Diversity Improves Your Workplace: Examining the Benefits
• Disabled Access Requirements for Restaurants
• Signs of Conflict in the Workplace
• How to Promote Equality and Diversity in Customer Service
• How to Promote Inclusive Communication in the Workplace
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policies in the Workplace: Free Template
• Why Your Business Needs an Intersectional Approach to Discrimination
• Equality and Diversity Training

The post How to Help Others Promote Diversity, Equality and Inclusion appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

If you or one of your employees is found to be in breach of the regulations, it’s a crime that could result in prosecution. Apart from the health and safety implications of not complying, and the fact that these important regulations are designed to save lives, it’s legislation that you can’t ignore.

What is COSHH?

COSHH is an acronym for the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (as amended), which require employers to reduce the risks posed by hazardous substances in the workplace. By minimising exposure to hazardous substances (including chemicals, dusts, gases, and vapours), you prevent employees from suffering work-related ill-health, such as occupational dermatitis and asthma.

Why was COSHH introduced?

COSHH is part of a general trend towards improving and legislating for workplace safety, but it was largely a formalisation of safety measures that employers were commonly already taking, as required by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The COSHH regulations have been an important factor in improving safety standards, raising awareness of the risks and giving employers an incentive to ensure that their workplace is as safe as possible.

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations grew from an earlier piece of legislation, originally introduced in 1988, designed to place more focus on the dangers associated with hazardous substances and the measures employers should take to reduce risk.

The more recent legislation combines amendments of earlier regulations with the implementation of a number of European Union directives. In the quarter of a century since the regulations were brought in, occupational health has steadily improved. Statistics from the Health and Safety Executive show that work-related cases of ill health have gradually reduced, though there’s still room for improvement.

What substances are covered by COSHH?

The COSHH regulations cover certain substances that can be hazardous to health. This includes chemicals, fumes, dusts, mists, vapours, pastes, liquids, gases, nanotech, and biological agents if they’re toxic, harmful, irritant, corrosive, sensitising, carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic to reproduction. Substances that have hazard symbols on the packaging and a Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL) established by the HSE are regulated by COSHH.

What measures do the regulations require?

To keep employees safe, the COSHH regulations require employers to take certain steps to ensure that exposure to hazardous substances is kept to a minimum, and that risk is reduced and monitored where exposure is unavoidable. In brief, the employer’s duties include:

Risk assessment

The legislation requires employers to carry out a risk assessment in order to identify potentially hazardous substances to which their employees may be exposed. In practice, this means systematically looking around the workplace, noting down hazardous substances and jobs that may lead to exposure to them. Accident logbooks should be reviewed for any areas of concern that employees may already have reported.

Prevention, control and/or monitoring of exposure

For each issue highlighted in the risk assessment, the next step is to determine what health risks they entail and whether alternative substances can be used that lessen or eliminate the risk of exposure.

The ideal situation is to prevent exposure by changing processes or by using the substance in a safer form, but where it does unavoidably occur, you’re required to control and monitor it. That means putting in place appropriate safety procedures and measures, such as totally or partially enclosing the area in which the substance is used, or ensuring proper ventilation.

Exposure must be routinely monitored – for example with air sampling pumps – with monitoring intervals depending on the type of substance.

Control measures

After appropriate control measures have been implemented, and safety equipment provided, they must be routinely maintained and tested to ensure that they are in good condition and continue to provide adequate protection.

Health surveillance

There are certain situations in which you’re required to monitor the health of employees who are exposed to hazardous substances, such as when they have a diagnosable disease or health symptoms that could be linked with exposure to a hazardous substance.

Health surveillance is also required when there’s a “reasonable likelihood” that an employee may become ill because of the job they do. There must be a valid monitoring technique for health symptoms related to the disease of threat, and it must be of minimal risk to the employee.

Training

Finally, it should be noted that it’s not just employers who have an obligation under COSHH regulations. For their own safety, employees are also duty-bound to ensure that they comply with COSHH, as they need to ensure that they follow safety measures correctly and report defective equipment.

As such, employees must have appropriate training and supervision to ensure that they understand the substances they could be coming into contact with, and know how to comply with COSHH stipulations. This also means that they should know how to deal with an accident or emergency should one arise.

Need a Training Course?

Our COSHH Training is designed to give workers knowledge of the health risks surrounding work with hazardous substances, including how to undertake a COSHH assessment by identifying the risks and the control measures needed, and ensure that they understand how to work safely with hazardous substances.

The greater the awareness and proper adherence to COSHH, the higher the likelihood that there will be fewer workplace health issues. And when compliance and non-compliance could, in the long term, be the difference between life and death, it becomes abundantly clear how important this legislation really is.

Further Resources:

• The New COSHH Hazard Symbols & Their Meanings
• COSHH – A Guide to Employers’ and Employees’ Responsibilities
• COSHH Storage Requirements
• COSHH Quiz
• What is COSHH Training and Why is it Important for Cleaners?
• Understanding DSEAR – Area Classification & Hazardous Substances
• COSHH Training

The post The History and Importance of COSHH appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

Preparing a Presentation – Where to Begin?

If you plan your presentation in advance you’ll increase your likelihood of success. Make sure you know what type of message you want to convey and think about the most effective way to deliver this message.

Ready? Take a look at our six preparation tips below.

1. Tell a personal story

Presentations can often be over-professional, impersonal affairs. But they don’t have to be.

Adding a storytelling element to your presentation can ensure that your delivery is both down-to-earth and professional at the same time, which will make your presentation a whole lot more engaging overall.

Think of any personal experiences of your own that are applicable to the content of your presentation. Do you have anything of value that could aid the delivery and help with engagement?

Example: Say you have an interview for a HR role at an international corporation HQ in the city. You’ve been told that you need to deliver a presentation on how you manage conflict in the workplace (we’ll use this example throughout).

By opening with a relevant story of your own about a time when you successfully and diplomatically resolved a conflict outside of the workplace – at home, or wherever it may be – you’ll:

• Demonstrate your competency in this area
• Ease any tension that is characteristic to the situation
• Capture your audience’s attention with an account that can only be delivered by you – making it unique and remarkable
• Openly display your personality and values, enabling the employer to make a better informed selection decision – beneficial for everyone involved

2. Use media

Starting your presentation can be the most difficult bit.

You’re tongue-tied, stumbling over words and your heart is beating so fast.

Give yourself the opportunity to collect yourself by using some form of media early on in the presentation.

Begin your presentation with a quick introduction to who you are and what the presentation is about (use a title slide and a ‘What I’ll cover’ slide, for example) and then incorporate a media break.

Use video, music, an infographic – whatever, as long it’s suitable and on-topic, use any form of media that allows you to have a breather and recover from that all too familiar fear of public speaking.

Example: so here we are again – biting your lips and fumbling with your hands as you wait to open your presentation for the HR role.

Your presentation is on conflict management, a fairly sensitive topic, which you’ll want to get right. But don’t sweat it; simply introduce yourself and your specific presentation details/content, then bring in an attention-consuming piece of useful media.

In our case, it could be a funny clip of workplace conflict from a TV Program such as The Office* – this will lighten the mood and create a talking point. You’ll be back in the driver’s seat, and you’ll be surprised by how quickly those nerves calmed down.

*Disclaimer: implement with appropriateness! Only you can decide on what sort of media will be acceptable to use in your situation, so think about this one carefully.

3. All eyes on you

Feeling a little more confident?

Create a memorable moment by temporarily presenting without the aid of a prompt.

Open your presentation with conviction by using a blank slide as your second slide.

Why?

Once you’ve introduced yourself and the topic of your presentation, most people will expect a thoroughly professional delivery from there on in.

Surprise them; switch the attention to you, shatter expectations, disrupt conventional presentation practice and display clear confidence in your ability to speak independently.

Using such a brave tactic will help in stimulating and retaining interest in your presentation throughout, and perhaps keep you top of mind when the employer is making a selection decision.

It will also show your potential employer just how much you know about the topic at hand.

Example: Conflict solving requires someone with a calm temperament and an almost instinctive ability to thoroughly – and empathetically – understand the issues faced by people other than yourself.

Show that you’re able to remain calm under scrutiny with all eyes in the room on you and truly understand a topic without any form of prompt using this tactic.

Need a Course?

Head over to our Business Skills Course Library and browse available courses from Presentation Skills Training to Leadership and Management Training. All courses are fully online so you can complete them at your own pace, on your commute or in the comfort of your own home.

4. Incorporate props

Presentations can sometimes be a little boring to watch and listen to.

That’s no fault of your own; one person talking for a prolonged period of time is not a normal situation – how often does that actually happen in everyday life?

Engaging your audience during a presentation is a common problem that is widely discussed. I won’t go into it here as that’s not the core purpose of this post.

(This post from American Express details nine simple tips for preparing an engaging presentation if you’re interested).

So what props should I use? Think what you can use/bring that will be both relevant and add value to your presentation.

If you can’t think of anything, then don’t bother – this tip will only work in set situations.

Example: For your conflict resolution presentation, you could bring in something that will create a talking point and engage your audience.

In this situation, we’ll go with a newspaper – you could start a debate about a widely discussed controversial topic, and use this quick exercise as an illustration of how you’re able to apply your conflict solving ability in any circumstance.

5. Start with something you know

It’s natural to be concerned about freezing and making mistakes in the presentation that you’re preparing for.

If that were to occur, it’d be likely to happen at or near the beginning of your presentation when your emotions are at their highest.

To ease those nerves and open in a calm and confident manner, it might be advisable to use content that you know inside-out – that way, you’ll feel more secure in the first few minutes of your delivery.

Once you’ve sailed effortlessly through that first part of the presentation, you’ll find the remainder of your content will flow just as easily now that you’ve settled those self-doubts.

Example: Your presentation on workplace conflict is expected to last 20 minutes – that’s a lot of content to get through!

Before you find yourself scrambling for the right words, simply introduce yourself and the topic of your presentation, then start with something such as:

• Simple conflict stats that are easy to memorise
• An article or study that you really like and have read a few times
• Cornerstone conflict management knowledge that’s embedded deep in your brain

6. Engage your audience with an activity

A presentation is all about you.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be though.

By introducing an activity for your audience to get involved in, you can take the spotlight off you temporarily, and seize a rare opportunity to connect with your audience in a candid manner.

It’s pleasing just how much this strategy can reduce tension when starting your interview presentation. Once you’re able to start a dialogue with your audience, the unnatural situation becomes significantly more manageable.

Example: Well, you could make this one real interesting. Why not initiate a role play of a common workplace conflict, and then show the potential employers how you would deal with said conflict?

This is a fun exercise that shows your ability to apply the knowledge that you possess and will hopefully put your potential employers in a better mood for the rest of your delivery!

All of the techniques I’ve outlined above could be applied to almost any interview situation in which a presentation is required – now it’s over to you to get creative with how you’re going to actually implement these ideas!

In writing this post I made a conscious effort to consider different personality types in the interview presentation opening tips that I have suggested.

But these actionable methods represent only a very small proportion of ideas that you can utilise for making a lasting impression in your interview presentation.

Further Resources:

• Communication Skills Quiz
• How to Write a Business Letter & Envelope
• Presentation Skills Training

The post How to Start a Presentation for an Interview appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.