Volunteers are transferring wheelchair patients in and out of vehicles without training

1
CONSIDER THESE ACTUAL EXAMPLES

• Volunteers are transferring wheelchair patients
  in and out of vehicles without training
• Volunteer counselors staff a crisis line with
  little training, including how to deal with
  potential suicides, and they have no professional
  backup
• A pharmacist volunteers as a befriender for a
  mental health organization and is giving advice
  to clients about which of their prescription
  medications they should and should not bother to
  take
• Female volunteers are sent out to do home visits
  with male ex-offenders - some of whom have been
  convicted of violent crimes. The volunteers go
  alone, with no briefing on the nature of the
  offence
• High school students volunteer at a home for the
  aged, helping to feed residents, but they are not
  told what to do if the resident begins to choke

2
CONSIDER THESE ACTUAL EXAMPLES

• Volunteers driving ... long distances ... at
  night ... and/or in bad weather they do not have
  accident insurance cover
• Volunteers handling large sums of cash ... at an
  outdoor fundraising event ... with no security
  personnel on-site
• Volunteers visiting clients in the clients homes
  volunteers go out alone ... into homes where
  illegal drugs are used or where family violence
  is a regular occurrence
• Volunteers participating in outdoor adventurous
  team building activitieswhich are dangerousand
  have no safety equipmentor first aid skills and
  equipment
• The political climate worsens around the
  volunteers working in relief efforts and advocacy
  work

3
VOLUNTEER POLICIES
KEY TO SUCCESSFUL VOLUNTEER INVOLVEMENT
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VOLUNTEERS RISK

• Every time an organization recruits volunteers
  and other community service workers, it
  introduces some measure of risk and liability to
  itself, and to its clients, staff, and other
  volunteers, and possibly to others as well.

5
WHAT IS RISK MANAGEMENT?

• About dealing with uncertainties
• About the potential for, and the forecasting of
  risks, and doing everything reasonable to control
  them

6
WHAT IS A VOLUNTEER POLICY??

• This is the foundation on which your
  organizations involvement of volunteers should
  be based.
• It forms the basis of your entire volunteer
  programme, giving cohesion and consistency to all
  the elements in your organization that affect
  volunteers (recruitment, expenses, health and
  safety and so on).
• It is the key to involving a diversity of
  volunteers, because it helps to define the role
  of volunteers within the organization, and how
  they can expect to be treated.

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WHAT SHOULD BE IN A VOLUNTEER POLICY?

• Recruitment- e.g. how will you advertise for your
  volunteers? Will application forms be used? How
  will you interview your volunteers? What will the
  diversity policy read like?
• Induction and training- e.g. how will the
  volunteers be inducted and trained into your
  organization?
• Expenses- Will you pay volunteers? What about
  reimbursements?
• Supervision and support- In most cases,
  volunteers should have a named supervisor and
  regular supervision meetings
• Insurance- should clearly state how volunteers
  will be insured

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WHAT SHOULD BE IN A VOLUNTEER POLICY?

• Equal opportunities and diversity
• Health and safety- organizations have a duty of
  care to avoid exposing volunteers to risks to
  their health and safety
• Grievance and disciplinary procedures- what will
  you do if your volunteer has a grievance with
  your organization? Or if a volunteer has acted in
  an inappropriate manner?
• Confidentiality- volunteers should be bound to
  the same requirements for confidentiality as paid
  staff

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• QUESTIONS?