Accidents, Incidents and First Aid Policy

Merged April 2026 — signed off

This policy is a draft (April 2026) merging two source policies into a single unified framework. It supersedes both the First Aid Policy (Online Context) v01.26 and the unratified DRAFT (not ratified) Accidents, Incidents and First Aid Policy. Signed off 29 April 2026 by Proprietor and Governing Body.

Date: April 2026 (draft) Review Date: April 2027 Coordinator: the Health and Safety Lead Nominated Governor: Elliot Wassell Version: 04.26-draft

1. Policy Statement and Purpose

The Haven is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare, health and psychological safety of all learners. While provision is primarily online, our duty of care remains active during live sessions, transport arrangements, and any in-person activity organised by the school.

This policy sets out a single, unified framework for how The Haven prevents, recognises, responds to, records and reviews:

• Medical emergencies
• Physical accidents
• Safeguarding-related incidents
• Online safety incidents
• Near misses
• Health and safety concerns

It replaces the previous First Aid Policy (Online Context) v01.26 and the unratified DRAFT (not ratified) Accidents, Incidents and First Aid Policy. All health and safety events are recorded within one system to ensure consistency, accountability and strategic oversight.

Haven specific

The Haven uses the safeguarding recording functionality within TutorCruncher as the central digital safeguarding recording system. Other schools adopting this policy stack should substitute their own equivalent system (e.g. CPOMS, MyConcern).

2. Scope

This policy applies to:

• All learners
• All staff, contractors and volunteers
• Online sessions
• Hybrid or in-person activity
• Transportation arranged or supported by The Haven
• Staff remote working contexts

3. Definitions

Clarity prevents risk drift. The following definitions are used consistently across this policy and The Haven’s broader safeguarding framework.

• Accident — an unplanned event causing injury, ill health or physical harm during school-related activity.
• Medical incident — a health-related event requiring support, intervention or escalation.
• Incident — any event compromising safety, wellbeing, safeguarding, digital security or professional conduct.
• Near miss — an event that could have resulted in harm but did not.
• Online safety incident — cyberbullying, inappropriate contact, content harmful to children, data breach, exploitation risk, or platform misuse.
• Reportable injury — an injury, occupational disease or dangerous occurrence that meets the threshold for RIDDOR reporting.

4. First Aid Provision

4.1 Named First Aider

The Haven’s named First Aider holds current accredited first aid training and provides professional guidance to staff. Where the named First Aider is the Cathy Wassell, deputy arrangements are documented in the Health and Safety Risk Register so that cover is maintained when the named individual is unavailable.

4.2 Online context

The Haven cannot administer physical first aid remotely. In online provision, staff are trained to:

• Recognise potential medical emergencies via online observation (e.g. seizure activity, breathing difficulty, collapse, significant distress)
• Remain calm, keep the learner online where safe to do so, and provide reassurance
• Contact emergency services (999 in the UK) where required, using the learner’s registered address
• Contact the parent carer / responsible adult immediately if a medical issue arises during a session
• Escalate concerns promptly to the Kirsten Roy

Primary responsibility for hands-on first aid during online sessions remains with the responsible adult in the home (see section 5).

4.3 In-person activity

For any in-person activity (visits, exams, assessments, hybrid sessions):

• First aid arrangements are planned in advance
• Risk assessments are completed prior to activity
• Emergency contact and medical information is accessible
• Trained first aiders are identified where required
• Incidents are managed, recorded, and shared in line with safeguarding and commissioning requirements

4.4 Transportation

Where transportation is arranged or supported by The Haven:

• Appropriate risk assessments and supervision arrangements apply (see Transportation Policy for Service Users v10.25)
• Staff follow health, safety, and safeguarding procedures, including first aid response expectations
• Any incidents during transportation are recorded and reported in line with this policy

5. Responsible Adult Supervision

For learners accessing online tuition or mentoring, The Haven requires that a responsible adult is present in the home and available throughout the session, unless an alternative arrangement has been formally agreed and risk-assessed.

Staff will:

• Confirm at the start of each block of provision that a responsible adult is present in the home and contactable
• Use agreed check-in methods (e.g. verbal confirmation, pre-session message, or agreed protocol for older learners)
• Escalate immediately to the Kirsten Roy or senior staff if concerns arise regarding supervision or safety

If a responsible adult cannot be confirmed as present:

• The session may be paused or ended
• The incident will be recorded and shared promptly with the commissioning school and/or named casework officer

6. Communication of Health and Safety Responsibilities at Placement Start

At the beginning of any placement with The Haven, health and safety and first aid responsibilities are clearly communicated to parent carers and/or the responsible adult through the induction and onboarding process.

This includes:

• Written confirmation of who holds responsibility for the learner’s physical supervision during online sessions
• Explicit clarification that The Haven staff are not physically present and cannot provide hands-on first aid during online provision
• Guidance on emergency response expectations, including the role of the parent carer / responsible adult
• Confirmation of any medical conditions, allergies, medication, or care needs relevant to first aid or emergency response

Parent carers / responsible adults are required to:

• Confirm that emergency contact details and medical information are accurate and up to date
• Acknowledge their role in being available and contactable during sessions
• Inform The Haven promptly of any changes to medical or health information

This information is documented prior to the start of provision and reviewed regularly.

7. Emergency Information: Storage and Access

Emergency and medical information is stored securely in line with the Data Protection, Confidentiality & Privacy Policy v10.25 and UK GDPR. Records include:

• Emergency contact details
• Relevant medical conditions, allergies, and care plans
• Information required to respond appropriately in an emergency

Access arrangements:

• Information is held in a secure central digital system accessible only to authorised staff
• Tutors are provided with clear guidance on how to access emergency information quickly during a live session
• The Kirsten Roy and senior leaders maintain oversight of accuracy and access permissions

8. Immediate Response Protocol

In any accident or incident, staff must:

1. Prioritise immediate safety
2. Contact emergency services where required
3. Inform the responsible adult
4. Inform the Kirsten Roy
5. Record the event within 24 hours

Where safeguarding thresholds are met (per Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025), referral to external agencies will be made without delay and in line with the Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy v01.26.

9. Supporting Learners with Medical Conditions

The Haven complies with Supporting Pupils at School with Medical Conditions (DfE, 2015).

For learners with known medical needs:

• Individual Healthcare Plans (IHPs) may be agreed in partnership with parent carers, schools, and health professionals
• Staff will be briefed on specific risks (e.g. epilepsy, severe allergies) where relevant
• Reasonable adjustments (e.g. breaks, flexible timetables, pacing) will be implemented

See Supporting Medical Conditions Policy (inc. Administration of Medicines) v10.25 for full operational detail.

10. Recording and Reporting

All accidents, medical events, safeguarding incidents, online safety incidents and near misses are recorded within The Haven’s secure safeguarding system.

Records must include:

• Date and time
• Individuals involved (recorded factually, role first)
• Factual description of the event
• Immediate action taken
• Follow-up required and by whom
• External reporting undertaken

Records are factual and non-stigmatising. Patterns are reviewed to identify systemic pressures within provision, not simply individual learner concerns.

Serious incidents are reviewed by the Kirsten Roy and Elliot Wassell on a termly basis.

11. Escalation and External Reporting

The Haven complies with statutory reporting duties including:

• RIDDOR — reporting of work-related injuries, occupational diseases, and dangerous occurrences to the Health and Safety Executive where the threshold is met.
• Safeguarding referrals — to the relevant local authority safeguarding teams, in line with KCSIE 2025 and Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023.
• Police referral — where criminal activity is suspected.
• Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) notification — in the event of a personal data breach meeting the UK GDPR notification threshold (within 72 hours).
• Online safety incident reporting — under the Online Safety Act 2023, content harmful to children, illegal content, and grooming-related incidents are escalated to relevant platforms and, where applicable, to the National Crime Agency or Internet Watch Foundation.

Parent carers will be informed unless doing so places the learner at additional risk, in line with KCSIE 2025 information-sharing principles.

12. Trauma-Informed Practice

The Haven recognises that incidents may reflect underlying distress, adverse experiences, or unmet need.

Events are not treated solely as behavioural breaches or procedural failures. Staff are expected to respond with professional curiosity rather than judgement, while maintaining firm boundaries and clear accountability.

Incident records must be factual and non-stigmatising. Patterns are reviewed to identify systemic pressures within provision, not simply individual learner concerns.

Trauma-informed practice does not remove consequences. It ensures responses are proportionate, humane, and protective of psychological safety.

13. Roles and Responsibilities

13.1 Kirsten Roy

• Oversees all incident recording and review
• Leads escalation and agency liaison
• Analyses patterns and risk trends
• Ensures first aid concerns are logged and reviewed where health may intersect with safeguarding

13.2 First Aider

• Maintains current accredited training
• Provides guidance and advice to staff
• Supports policy review

13.3 Staff

• Must not attempt to diagnose or provide medical treatment remotely
• Must respond proportionately and calmly to health-related concerns
• Must record incidents within 24 hours of occurrence (immediately for safeguarding-threshold events)
• Must escalate safeguarding risk to the Kirsten Roy without delay
• Must record incidents factually and without assumption

13.4 Parent carers / responsible adults

• Retain primary responsibility for first aid and physical supervision when learners are accessing online provision from home
• Must inform The Haven of any relevant medical conditions, allergies, medication, or changes to health needs
• Must remain contactable during sessions unless alternative arrangements have been formally agreed

14. Training

• The named First Aider maintains accredited first aid training.
• All staff receive annual training covering:
  • Recognising medical emergencies in online and hybrid contexts
  • Safeguarding and escalation, including online safety incidents under the Online Safety Act 2023
  • Recording standards and the use of The Haven’s incident system
  • Mental health first aid principles, recognising the overlap between wellbeing and safeguarding
  • Professional boundaries in digital environments

15. Monitoring and Strategic Review

Incident data is not passive record-keeping.

The Kirsten Roy and Elliot Wassell conduct termly analysis to:

• Identify patterns
• Adjust risk assessments
• Inform staffing ratios
• Review safeguarding capacity
• Strengthen prevention strategies

This policy is reviewed annually or sooner if legislation, risk profile or provision models change.

The policy is benchmarked against DfE and Local Authority guidance to ensure best practice.

16. Sign-off record

Version	Date	Approver role	Notes
04.26-draft	2026-04-29	(pending)	Merger of First Aid Policy (Online Context) v01.26 and DRAFT (not ratified) Accidents, Incidents and First Aid Policy. Pending Kirsten Roy + Elliot Wassell sign-off.