Health Safety Toolkit: Guidance and Templates

Session Registers and Membership & Volunteer Forms

Knowing who is attending your branch’s activities is essential as it helps you plan your sessions, communicate with those present after an event and provides information in a timely manner to the emergency services if the worst happens.

Record Keeping

It is important to consider how the information you gather will be recorded, stored and shared. Keeping up-to-date records of all the young people and adults involved in your club is essential. It is also important to know when you should erase personal date.

Activity and Session Plans

The Session Plan and Risk Assessment template is designed to help you to think through how each session will run, and make sure that what you are doing is covered by YAC insurance.

Risk Benefit Assessments

In this section you will find information about why and how to complete risk assessments.

Venue Assessments

Once a year, YAC asks that, if you have a regular venue, you write or review a venue risk assessment for that venue and submit it to YAC HQ.

Food Safety

The information and resource here have been designed to help you plan how to work with food in a safe manner.

Chemicals and Hazardous Materials

We use chemicals all the time, whether that’s washing up liquid, poster paint, PVA glue, disinfectant cleaning spray, etc. There may also be times where you might use, handle, or come across more hazardous chemicals and materials. This might be uncovering asbestos on an archaeological excavation or within artefacts. Use this guidance to assess and mitigate risk.

A group of young archaeologists wearing high-vis vests digging in an archaeological trench.

Managing Behaviour

At some point all YAC volunteers will have to manage challenging behaviour. Good session planning and management, plus having clear expectations of acceptable behaviour will help ensure that your sessions run smoothly. On this page we provide some top tips on managing behaviour during YAC sessions and provide support plans and forms to record challenging behaviour.

Incidents and Emergency Procedures

This page sets out what do if in the case of an emergency. We provide model evacuation plans and guidance on reporting accidents. Every YAC branch needs a minimum of two trained first aiders so please read our guidance on first aid. We also provide guidance on first aid and incidents unrelated to safeguarding, such as severe weather and public health incidents.

Individual Support Plans

Where members or volunteers have a known allergy, medical condition or any other support needs, you should have a conversation about how you might and will support them when attending any of your sessions. The Individual Support Plans provide information that is used to support members and volunteers during YAC sessions, help plan for activities to avoid allergens or to provide additional support, and to help them in an emergency.