Health & Safety, Insurance, Welfare, Consent.
GDPR
GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation, which is data protection legislation introduced by European Commission to protect personal data and privacy of EU citizens. While it was largely developed in response to social media companies that gathered data for one reason and used it for different purposes, it may be relevant to your project if you have reason to gather any personal information such as names, addresses or telephone numbers or images and audio and video recordings. Essentially you should only gather data that you need and only keep it for as long as you need it. Citizen’s Information provide useful, clear, easy to understand information on GDPR
Children and Vulnerable Adults
Participant Consent Form (Children and vulnerable adults)
This form allows for formal consent by project participants and/or their guardians to participate in the proposed activities. The form is also an opportunity to gather written notice of any needs participants may have such as accessibility needs/dietary requirements etc. While consent obviously does not apply for adults, it may be useful to have a similar registration process to gather relevant information from participants of any age.
Child Safeguarding Statement
According to TUSLA, a Child Safe-Guarding Statement is “a written statement that specifies the service being provided and the principles and procedures to be observed in order to ensure, as far as practicable, that a child availing of the service is safe from harm.” Organisations may make employment conditional on the provision of a Child Safeguading Statement in advance of commencement of a project. Guidance on drafting a Child Safeguarding Statement can be found on the Tusla website.
Garda Vetting Form
All personnel working must be Garda Vetted by the National Vetting Bureau in order to work with children or vulnerable adults. Garda Vetting must be undertaken by each organisation that personnel are due to work with. For this reason, personnel must be prepared to complete the Garda Vetting process many times in the course of your career. It is recommended that you keep a copy of your most recent Garda Vetting form so you can easily and quickly fill in the next using the last as a reference. Garda Vetting is a two step procedure that involves the following:
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The practitioner fills a form giving written permission for an external party to review her/his criminal record for the purposes of assessing suitability for a particular role
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The practitioner verifying her/his identity and previous addresses in order that the Gardaí can access all relevant information for review by the potential employer
Please note that a criminal record does not necessarily preclude opportunities for employment, depending on the nature of the conviction and its relevance to the role. See here for more information about Garda Vetting.
Insurance
Most institutions will request proof that freelance practitioners have Public Liability insurance in advance of work with participants. It protects the policyholder for claims made against them for the legal liability of third party property damage and personal injury that may happen in connection with the business of the insured. While it is not compulsory to have public liability insurance in order to practice, it is often a deal breaker for institutions hiring the services of a professional artist.
Different institutions require different levels of indemnity and it is advisable to check what those might be as the higher levels may incur increased premiums. Often, the institution will also need to be reassured of indemnity by being specifically named.
It is usually a simple case of calling your insurer and arranging a certificate of indemnity that states the levels.
Risk Assessment
Risks are uncertain future events that could impact on your project and ability to achieve your objectives. Risk management helps you to be better prepared by identifying and understanding potential risks and to manage and monitor them.