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Risk Assessment for volunteer staff member, wheelchair user
HGMartinHouse
Community member Posts: 3 Listener
Hello there,
I'm the volunteer coordinator for a charity where we have a number of charity shops in Yorkshire. We've had an enquiry from a lovely member of the public about helping as a volunteer in one of our shops, and she is a wheelchair user. So what I'm needing to do is have the shop risk assessed for a volunteer who uses a wheelchair. We have a duty of care for our volunteers that's different to our customers as it would include use of our onsite toilet facilities and assisting with sorting donated stock.
We also have a duty of care which is slightly different to our paid staff.
I wonder whether anyone on this forum could advise me in how and who can risk assess this kind of activity? Our own health and safety team have asked me to look into it.
Thank you!
I'm the volunteer coordinator for a charity where we have a number of charity shops in Yorkshire. We've had an enquiry from a lovely member of the public about helping as a volunteer in one of our shops, and she is a wheelchair user. So what I'm needing to do is have the shop risk assessed for a volunteer who uses a wheelchair. We have a duty of care for our volunteers that's different to our customers as it would include use of our onsite toilet facilities and assisting with sorting donated stock.
We also have a duty of care which is slightly different to our paid staff.
I wonder whether anyone on this forum could advise me in how and who can risk assess this kind of activity? Our own health and safety team have asked me to look into it.
Thank you!
Comments
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Hi @HGMartinHouse and welcome to the community. Thanks for your query!
One piece of advice I can offer from a health & safety perspective, and as a wheelchair user, is that the volunteer you mention will probably need to have a 'PEEP' or personal emergency evacuation plan, discussed and agreed on between yourselves, on how to evacuate in the event of a fire. You can find more information from Worksafe UK here.
While my reply isn't comprehensive, to help with further answers, I've marked your post as unanswered so that our members can find it more easily. I've also moved it into our Work and Employment category and changed the title slightly.
Don't hesitate to ask if you have any further questions.
AlexOnline Community Coordinator
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Concerned about another member's safety or wellbeing? Flag your concerns with us.
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Hi there
I would start with the local council or health and safety executive -
Fab and thank you for coming back to me so quickly!
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I'm glad the above replies have been helpful @HGMartinHouse, you'll have to let us know how you get on, and I'm sure any other members will offer their insight too if they have an idea
Online Community CoordinatorConcerned about another member's safety or wellbeing? Flag your concerns with us.
Did you receive a helpful reply to your discussion? Fill out our feedback form and let us know about it. -
Will do! And also if our H&S lead gains any information too.
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