Safeguarding Children and Adults at Risk

Everyone who comes into contact with ASF — including patients or residents at a facility undergoing a Monitor’s in-facility verification — has the right to be safe, and every person acting for ASF has a duty to prevent, recognise and report harm. Owner: ASF Secretariat (Safeguarding Focal Point).

Who is covered: children (under 18) and adults at risk — including patients, residents, and other vulnerable people a Monitor may observe or interact with during the full in-facility verification at 3-year renewal, or during any on-site visit called for a complex case.

Monitor conduct during in-facility verification is governed jointly by this policy and ASF-MON-STD-v1; any safeguarding concern observed during verification is reported immediately under ASF-POL-21, separately from the criterion sign-off itself.

Forms of harm

Physical, sexual and emotional abuse; neglect; exploitation, including child labour and trafficking (ASF-POL-34); online abuse and grooming; and financial abuse of adults at risk.

Safe practice during facility verification

• Assess safeguarding risk before any activity involving children or adults at risk, and record how it is reduced.
• Never be alone with a child out of sight of others; work in pairs or in open spaces during in-facility verification.
• Obtain informed consent (and, for children, parental consent plus the child’s own assent) for any photo, video, interview, or use in a case example.
• Never publish a child’s full name, school, home, or other identifying detail alongside a photo.
• Do not contact children privately or share personal contact details.
• No physical punishment, humiliation, or discrimination, ever.

Safer recruitment

Coordinator and Monitor roles, which involve access to patients and residents during verification, require two references (one addressing safeguarding specifically), identity verification, and, where available, a criminal record certificate from the relevant public records office — for France, extrait de casier judiciaire (bulletin n°3) — in addition to the Conflict of Interest screening already required under ASF-MON-STD-v1 Standards A3/C3.

Responding to a concern

1. Listen and reassure — do not investigate or promise secrecy.
2. Make safe — if a person is in immediate danger, call the local emergency number (112 in France and across the EU).
3. Record what was seen or said, in the person’s own words, with date and time.
4. Report to the Safeguarding Focal Point within 24 hours (the same day where a child is at risk), who refers to statutory authorities where law requires, and manages the case under ASF-POL-21.