Safeguarding and Participant Protection

Safeguarding and Participant Protection explains how the Commons seeks to protect the welfare, dignity, safety, rights, privacy, and interests of people involved in Commons activity.

The Commons is committed to creating conditions in which people can participate, learn, contribute, research, publish, collaborate, volunteer, attend events, join Community Groups, use Working Spaces, and raise concerns without fear of abuse, exploitation, harassment, neglect, coercion, discrimination, retaliation, avoidable harm, or misuse of power.

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.

The Commons will take safeguarding and participant-protection concerns seriously, respond proportionately, act within its authority, preserve appropriate records, seek specialist advice where needed, and use appropriate referral or escalation routes when a concern cannot safely or properly be managed within the Commons.

Purpose and Scope

The purpose of this framework is to ensure that Commons activity is designed, delivered, governed, reviewed, and closed in ways that protect people.

Safeguarding concerns may arise in person, online, through written communication, by telephone, during an event, within a Community Group or Working Space, through research activity, during editorial or Repository activity, through a Partnership, or in connection with another Commons role, service, decision, relationship, or activity.

This framework applies to:

• Children and young people
• Adults at risk
• Research participants
• Members and applicants for Membership
• Community Group and Working Space participants
• Volunteers, contributors, speakers, facilitators, moderators, mentors, advisers, and advisers
• Researchers, research providers, investigators, project leads, reviewers, and data stewards
• Authors, editors, peer reviewers, Journal contributors, and Repository contributors
• Event attendees, learners, presenters, hosts, and organizers
• Commons Administration, governance role holders, and Designated Authorities
• Partners, funders, sponsors, donors, providers, institutions, and external collaborators
• People making enquiries, complaints, review requests, or reports
• Any person affected by Commons activity

The Commons should take particular care where an activity involves:

• Children or young people
• Adults who may need additional support or protection
• Research participants
• People affected by trauma, discrimination, violence, exploitation, displacement, poverty, illness, disability, bereavement, abuse, conflict, or another source of vulnerability
• Sensitive personal information, controlled data, confidential records, images, recordings, or location information
• Private, restricted, one-to-one, remote, or unsupervised interaction
• Power differences, including differences in age, status, authority, funding, employment, academic standing, expertise, institutional influence, language, digital access, or dependency
• Community knowledge, lived experience, cultural knowledge, identity-based information, or other material requiring particular care
• Travel, accommodation, fieldwork, site visits, off-platform communication, or activity outside ordinary Commons spaces
• Partnership, provider, funding, sponsorship, research, publication, or Repository arrangements that may affect participants or communities

Safeguarding is broader than compliance with a single policy, law, or procedure.

It includes how the Commons designs activities, appoints role holders, manages information, communicates expectations, handles power, responds to concerns, supports participation, assesses risk, and learns from experience.

The Commons is not an emergency service, health service, law-enforcement body, court, regulator, or substitute for local safeguarding, medical, social-care, legal, or emergency authorities.

However, where there is an immediate or serious risk of harm, people should contact the relevant emergency or safeguarding service in their location. The Commons may also take urgent proportionate action within its authority to reduce risk, protect people, preserve information, and refer the matter appropriately.

Principles and Responsibilities

The Commons should apply the following principles across safeguarding and participant protection.

Welfare and dignity

The welfare, dignity, rights, safety, and interests of affected people should be central to safeguarding decisions.

The Commons should listen respectfully, avoid unnecessary delay, take concerns seriously, avoid victim-blaming, protect confidentiality appropriately, and avoid actions that may create further harm.

Prevention

The Commons should seek to prevent foreseeable harm before it occurs.

This includes clear participation standards, role descriptions, access conditions, moderation, risk assessment, accessible support routes, appropriate supervision, safe information handling, boundaries, conflict-of-interest management, and clear decision-making arrangements.

Proportionality

The response to a concern should be proportionate to the information available, the seriousness and immediacy of the risk, the people affected, the Commons’ authority, the need for confidentiality, and the need to prevent further harm.

Not every concern requires the same response.

A low-level concern may require clarification, advice, boundary-setting, adjustment, support, monitoring, or a record.

A serious concern may require urgent restriction of access, suspension of activity, specialist advice, referral, independent review, preservation of evidence, or another protective action.

Inclusion and accessibility

Safeguarding arrangements should be accessible and inclusive.

The Commons should consider disability, language, literacy, location, time zones, cultural context, digital access, financial barriers, caring responsibilities, identity, power differences, trauma, stigma, and other factors that may affect a person’s ability to participate safely or raise a concern.

A person should not be disadvantaged because they need reasonable adjustments, communication support, interpretation, a different reporting method, extra time, an advocate, a trusted supporter, or another appropriate arrangement.

Confidentiality and privacy

Information about safeguarding concerns should be shared only with people who need it to protect a person, assess a risk, take an authorized action, meet an applicable obligation, or support a fair process.

The Commons cannot promise absolute confidentiality where information indicates an immediate or serious risk of harm, a legal or regulatory duty, a safeguarding referral need, or another circumstance requiring appropriate disclosure.

Where possible and safe, the Commons should explain what information may be shared, with whom, why, and what will happen next.

Fairness and independence

Safeguarding concerns should be managed fairly.

A person who has a personal, professional, institutional, financial, research, editorial, Partnership, or other conflict of interest should not lead, determine, investigate, review, or appeal a safeguarding matter unless the conflict has been disclosed and managed appropriately.

Serious or sensitive matters should be handled through an appropriately independent route.

No retaliation

No person should be threatened, punished, disadvantaged, excluded, intimidated, discredited, or treated adversely for raising a safeguarding concern in good faith, seeking support, making a report, participating in a review, or assisting another person to do so.

Deliberately false or malicious allegations may be addressed through a fair and proportionate process. A report should not be treated as false simply because it cannot be substantiated, does not lead to formal action, is withdrawn, or produces an outcome different from the reporter’s expectation.

Shared responsibility

Everyone involved in Commons activity should contribute to a safe and respectful environment.

People should:

• Treat others with dignity, respect, fairness, and care
• Follow Commons participation standards, boundaries, policies, procedures, agreements, and access conditions
• Avoid harassment, bullying, discrimination, exploitation, intimidation, coercion, abuse, neglect, retaliation, sexual misconduct, unwanted contact, stalking, grooming, or misuse of authority
• Avoid conduct that could reasonably make another person feel unsafe, humiliated, pressured, threatened, isolated, or excluded
• Respect privacy, confidentiality, consent, cultural considerations, personal boundaries, and communication preferences
• Raise a concern where they believe that a person may be at risk of harm
• Cooperate with reasonable safeguarding measures, including access restrictions, reporting arrangements, confidentiality requirements, risk assessments, supervision, and review
• Seek guidance if they are unsure how to respond to a safeguarding concern

Designated safeguarding responsibility

The Commons should appoint or designate an appropriate Safeguarding Authority, Safeguarding Lead, or equivalent role.

The exact role title may vary. Its responsibilities should be clear.

The Designated Safeguarding Authority should:

• Receive, assess, record, coordinate, or oversee safeguarding concerns
• Advise Commons Administration, governance role holders, event leads, Group leads, Working Space moderators, research leads, editors, partners, providers, and other relevant people
• Ensure that urgent concerns are escalated promptly
• Support proportionate risk assessment and safeguarding planning
• Recommend appropriate temporary protective measures
• Ensure that conflicts of interest are identified and managed
• Seek specialist advice where the concern is outside the Commons’ competence or authority
• Coordinate appropriate referral, reporting, or information-sharing arrangements
• Maintain or oversee safeguarding records securely
• Ensure that affected people receive appropriate information about the process, within confidentiality limits
• Support review, learning, policy improvement, training, and quality assurance
• Report material safeguarding risks and trends to the Commons Governance Authority in an appropriately confidential form

A Designated Safeguarding Authority should not act outside their competence, authority, or professional role.

Where specialist safeguarding, clinical, legal, regulatory, security, medical, social-care, institutional, or emergency expertise is needed, the Commons should seek appropriate support or referral.

Concerns and Urgent Action

A safeguarding concern is any information, observation, disclosure, allegation, pattern, incident, behaviour, condition, or circumstance suggesting that a person may be at risk of harm or may have experienced harm in connection with Commons activity.

A concern may be raised by:

• The person affected
• A child, young person, adult at risk, participant, Member, contributor, volunteer, or visitor
• A parent, carer, advocate, guardian, friend, colleague, manager, adviser, teacher, supervisor, or supporter
• A researcher, editor, reviewer, moderator, event host, Working Space lead, Community Group lead, partner, provider, or other role holder
• A person who witnesses concerning behaviour
• A person who receives a disclosure or communication
• A person who identifies a pattern, risk, boundary issue, or unsafe condition
• An anonymous reporter, where sufficient information is available to assess the matter

Concerns that may require action

Safeguarding concerns may include:

• Immediate danger, threats, violence, self-harm, suicide risk, medical emergency, or risk of serious injury
• Abuse, neglect, exploitation, coercion, grooming, trafficking, forced labour, financial abuse, discriminatory abuse, or other forms of harm
• Sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, unwanted sexual contact, sexual exploitation, image-based abuse, or abuse of power
• Bullying, intimidation, harassment, stalking, hate speech, discriminatory conduct, targeted exclusion, or identity-based hostility
• Misuse of a professional, governance, institutional, educational, research, editorial, financial, supervisory, mentoring, or community role
• Inappropriate contact with a child, young person, adult at risk, research participant, or other person requiring additional protection
• A breach of an agreed boundary, safeguarding plan, supervision arrangement, access restriction, participation condition, or confidentiality condition
• Unsafe event arrangements, unsafe travel, unsafe accommodation, unsafe online conduct, unsafe fieldwork, or unsafe research conditions
• Pressure to disclose personal information, take part in activity, provide labour, share data, sign an agreement, accept a benefit, publish material, or remain in a situation against a person’s wishes
• A privacy, data, recording, image, publication, Repository, or confidentiality concern that may expose a person to harm
• A concern that a participant cannot provide meaningful informed consent or is being pressured to do so
• A concern that a person is being excluded from support or participation because of disability, identity, language, power imbalance, financial circumstances, or another vulnerability
• Retaliation against someone who raised a concern, made a disclosure, requested support, withdrew consent, or participated in a review

A concern does not need to be proven before it is reported.

People should not investigate a serious safeguarding concern independently, confront an alleged perpetrator without an appropriate plan, promise outcomes they cannot deliver, or share information widely.

They should record what they observed, received, or were told as accurately as possible; avoid leading questions or speculation; preserve relevant information; and use the appropriate reporting route.

How to raise a concern

Use Contact and Support to raise a safeguarding or participant-protection concern, request guidance, or ask for the appropriate reporting route.

Where a person is in immediate danger or requires urgent medical, police, safeguarding, mental-health, social-care, or emergency support, contact the relevant emergency or safeguarding service in the person’s location first.

When making a report to the Commons, provide only the information needed to help assess and respond to the concern. This may include:

• The name and contact details of the person reporting, if they wish to provide them
• The name, role, or relationship of the person or people affected, if known
• The nature of the concern
• What happened, or what is believed to have happened
• When and where the concern arose
• Whether there is an immediate risk
• Whether any action has already been taken
• Whether another organization, authority, parent, carer, institution, provider, partner, or emergency service is involved
• Any relevant evidence, communication, record, image, screenshot, document, or witness information
• Any accessibility, communication, confidentiality, safety, cultural, or support needs

People may report anonymously.

Anonymous reports can be harder to assess or investigate, especially where the Commons cannot seek clarification or offer support. The Commons should nevertheless consider available information and take proportionate action where possible.

Initial response

When a safeguarding concern is received, the Commons should assess whether immediate action is needed.

The initial response may include:

• Checking whether there is an immediate risk of harm
• Contacting emergency, safeguarding, medical, social-care, legal, institutional, or other specialist services where appropriate
• Taking urgent temporary action within the Commons’ authority
• Providing information about available support or reporting routes
• Preserving relevant records or evidence
• Restricting access to a Community Group, Working Space, event, platform, project, role, data set, communication channel, or other Commons activity
• Pausing an event, activity, project, publication, research process, Partnership, provider engagement, funding arrangement, or other activity
• Ensuring that a person does not contact another person through Commons systems or spaces
• Assigning an independent person to assess, coordinate, or review the matter
• Seeking specialist safeguarding, legal, data, privacy, research, editorial, financial, technical, accessibility, or other advice
• Making an appropriate internal or external referral
• Explaining next steps to affected people, where possible and safe

Urgent action may be temporary.

The purpose of urgent action is to reduce immediate risk and protect people. It does not determine guilt, final responsibility, or the full outcome of a later assessment, investigation, review, complaint, disciplinary process, appeal, or external process.

Temporary protective measures

The Commons may take proportionate temporary protective measures where there is a reasonable concern about safety, welfare, dignity, privacy, rights, access, or integrity.

Measures may include:

• Pausing an activity or event
• Restricting, suspending, or varying access
• Changing moderation, supervision, staffing, facilitation, communication, scheduling, location, or participation arrangements
• Requiring a person to avoid contact with another person through Commons spaces or systems
• Removing or restricting access to sensitive information, records, data, communications, platforms, or Working Spaces
• Reassigning a role, reviewer, editor, supervisor, moderator, facilitator, research lead, project lead, or decision maker
• Requiring additional safeguards, training, support, oversight, or supervision
• Suspending a Commons role, Membership-related access, volunteer activity, event participation, Partnership activity, provider engagement, research activity, editorial activity, or another form of participation
• Referring a matter to an independent review, complaints route, safeguarding authority, privacy route, research-integrity route, editorial-integrity route, or other appropriate process

Temporary measures should be documented, communicated appropriately, reviewed regularly, and ended, varied, or replaced when no longer necessary.

Safe activity and records

Safeguarding should be built into Commons activity from the beginning.

The level of safeguarding planning should be proportionate to the activity’s purpose, participants, setting, duration, scale, information involved, power relationships, known risks, and potential impact.

Risk Assessment and Activity Planning

Before a significant activity begins, the Commons should consider safeguarding and participant-protection risks.

This may include activity involving:

• Events and Learning
• Community Groups and Working Spaces
• Research, Commission Requests, Concept Notes, Commissioning Briefs, fieldwork, interviews, surveys, workshops, focus groups, observation, or participant engagement
• Children, young people, adults at risk, or people requiring additional support
• Online meetings, chat spaces, recording, messaging, forums, social media, digital platforms, or remote participation
• Travel, accommodation, visits, fieldwork, external venues, or in-person gatherings
• Sensitive topics, lived experience, trauma, discrimination, violence, loss, identity, health, disability, migration, conflict, poverty, or other matters that may cause distress or expose people to risk
• Controlled data, personal data, recordings, images, Repository deposit, publication, or public dissemination
• Partnerships, external providers, sponsors, funders, institutions, or co-hosted activity
• One-to-one contact, mentoring, supervision, interviews, support, assessment, or advisory activity

A proportionate Safeguarding and Participant Protection Risk Assessment may consider:

• Who may participate or be affected
• Whether children, adults at risk, research participants, contributors, volunteers, staff, or communities may require additional protection
• The nature of the activity and its setting
• Expected power differences and how they will be managed
• Access, eligibility, identity verification, supervision, moderation, and role arrangements
• Communication channels and boundaries
• Consent, capacity, privacy, data, confidentiality, recording, images, publication, and Repository arrangements
• Accessibility, inclusion, language, cultural context, and reasonable-adjustment needs
• Emergency contacts, escalation routes, local support, and referral arrangements
• Known risks, likely risks, warning signs, protective factors, and mitigation measures
• The roles and responsibilities of hosts, moderators, researchers, providers, partners, and other participants
• The arrangements for reporting concerns and responding to incidents
• Review dates, closure arrangements, and lessons learned

Safer Roles and Boundaries

People with Commons responsibilities should understand the boundaries of their role.

They should not use their role, status, expertise, access, authority, funding position, institutional influence, editorial responsibility, research role, supervisory relationship, or personal relationship to pressure, exploit, manipulate, intimidate, isolate, or gain inappropriate access to another person.

People in positions of responsibility should:

• Use official and appropriate Commons communication channels where possible
• Keep communication respectful, relevant, and proportionate to their role
• Avoid unnecessary private, secretive, inappropriate, or overly dependent communication
• Avoid requests for unnecessary personal information, images, recordings, contact details, private meetings, travel, accommodation, financial support, or favours
• Avoid one-to-one situations that create avoidable risk, especially where a child, adult at risk, participant, volunteer, or person with less power may be involved
• Follow agreed supervision, moderation, consent, safeguarding, privacy, and access arrangements
• Escalate boundary concerns early
• Maintain accurate and proportionate records where an incident, disclosure, concern, agreement, restriction, or safeguarding action occurs

The Commons should consider whether a role requires specific experience, training, supervision, background checks, references, professional registration, safeguarding clearance, institutional verification, or another suitability process.

The requirement should be proportionate to the role, activity, participants, setting, and risk.

Partnerships and Providers

Partners, providers, institutions, co-hosts, external facilitators, researchers, editors, contractors, venues, and other external parties involved in Commons activity should understand and follow relevant safeguarding and participant-protection expectations.

Before entering a material arrangement, the Commons should consider:

• Whether the external party has appropriate safeguarding arrangements
• Whether the party’s staff, volunteers, contractors, facilitators, researchers, or representatives are suitable for their role
• Which organization is responsible for which safeguarding function
• How concerns will be reported, recorded, referred, and escalated
• How information will be shared lawfully, safely, and proportionately
• Which policy or procedure applies if the organizations’ approaches differ
• Whether participants understand who they can contact for support
• How emergency, suspension, review, termination, and closure arrangements will operate
• How safeguarding responsibilities will be reflected in the Partnership, provider, event, research, funding, or other agreement

An external organization’s involvement does not remove the Commons’ responsibility to assess whether participation in the activity is safe and appropriate.

Records, Confidentiality, and Information Sharing

The Commons should keep safeguarding records that are accurate, dated, factual, proportionate, secure, and accessible only to authorized people.

A safeguarding record may include:

• The concern received
• The date, time, location, communication route, and people involved
• The information reported, observed, or disclosed
• The immediate risk assessment
• Any action taken
• Any advice, referral, consultation, escalation, or external contact
• Relevant evidence or records
• Safeguarding measures, restrictions, suspensions, adjustments, or support arrangements
• Decisions made and reasons for them
• Communication with affected people, subject to confidentiality and safety requirements
• Review dates, outcomes, variations, closure, and learning points

Records should distinguish clearly between fact, observation, direct disclosure, professional assessment, allegation, opinion, inference, and decision.

The Commons should not retain safeguarding records longer than necessary. Retention, access, correction, deletion, restricted access, data security, confidentiality, and information-sharing arrangements should be governed by the Privacy, Data, Consent, and Confidentiality framework and any applicable legal, contractual, ethical, institutional, safeguarding, research, or professional requirements.

Review and Learning

The Commons should review material safeguarding incidents, concerns, patterns, risks, and decisions appropriately.

Review may consider:

• Whether people were protected adequately
• Whether the reporting route was accessible and clear
• Whether action was timely, proportionate, fair, and within authority
• Whether confidentiality, privacy, consent, and information sharing were handled appropriately
• Whether any conflict of interest affected the process
• Whether a policy, procedure, training arrangement, communication, form, agreement, risk assessment, role description, system, or access arrangement should be improved
• Whether similar risks may arise elsewhere in the Commons
• Whether additional support, supervision, safeguarding measures, specialist advice, or governance oversight is needed

Review should focus on learning and improvement as well as accountability.

Operational Documents and Support

The Commons should maintain proportionate safeguarding and participant-protection documents, systems, and support arrangements.

Safeguarding and Participant Protection Policy

This should define the Commons’ safeguarding commitments, scope, principles, roles, reporting routes, risk assessment, records, confidentiality, information sharing, escalation, referrals, temporary measures, review, and closure arrangements.

Safeguarding Concern Report Form

This should provide a clear route for reporting a safeguarding concern, immediate risk, disclosure, incident, boundary concern, unsafe activity, retaliation concern, or request for guidance.

Safeguarding and Participant Protection Risk Assessment

This should support proportionate assessment of events, research, Community Groups, Working Spaces, online activity, travel, fieldwork, external collaboration, sensitive topics, participant support, and other higher-risk activity.

Safeguarding Incident and Action Record

This should record the concern, immediate action, assessment, decisions, referrals, protective measures, communications, reviews, and closure arrangements.

Safer Roles and Appointment Procedure

This should explain how the Commons assesses role suitability, verifies relevant experience, identifies training or supervision needs, manages references or checks where appropriate, and sets role boundaries.

Partner and Provider Safeguarding Schedule

This should define the safeguarding responsibilities, reporting routes, information-sharing arrangements, escalation contacts, training expectations, review arrangements, and termination conditions relevant to a Partnership, provider, event, research, or external activity.

Safeguarding Training and Guidance

This should provide role-appropriate guidance for Commons Administration, governance role holders, moderators, facilitators, researchers, editors, reviewers, event hosts, Working Space leads, Community Group leads, providers, and partners.

Safeguarding Review and Escalation Procedure

This should explain how the Commons handles material, complex, disputed, urgent, cross-organizational, high-risk, or unresolved safeguarding concerns; how conflicts are managed; when specialist advice is required; and how outcomes are reviewed.

Contact and support

Use Contact and Support if you need guidance about safeguarding, participant protection, a possible risk, safe activity design, role boundaries, reporting routes, access restrictions, participant welfare, or another related concern.

You may use this route to:

• Raise a safeguarding or participant-protection concern
• Request urgent guidance where there is a serious but non-emergency concern
• Ask how to design an event, research activity, Working Space, Community Group, Partnership, or other activity safely
• Request a Safeguarding and Participant Protection Risk Assessment
• Ask about safer roles, boundaries, supervision, moderation, or appointment arrangements
• Raise a concern about harassment, bullying, discrimination, coercion, exploitation, unwanted contact, retaliation, or misuse of authority
• Ask how privacy, confidentiality, consent, data, recordings, images, Repository deposit, or publication arrangements may affect participant safety
• Request support, reasonable adjustments, communication support, or another accessible reporting arrangement
• Seek information about an existing safeguarding decision, review route, or protective measure where you are to receive it

The Commons strives to always ensure that:

• People understand that their welfare, dignity, safety, rights, and interests matter
• The Commons has clear and accessible reporting routes
• People can raise concerns without fear of retaliation, dismissal, stigma, or unfair treatment
• Children, adults at risk, research participants, contributors, volunteers, Members, and other participants receive appropriate protection
• Activities are assessed proportionately before they begin
• Safeguarding is built into research, events, Community Groups, Working Spaces, publication, Repository activity, Partnerships, provider arrangements, and other Commons activity
• People with responsibilities understand their role boundaries and do not misuse authority, access, status, funding, expertise, or relationships
• Concerns are handled promptly, respectfully, fairly, independently, and proportionately
• Urgent temporary action can be taken when needed to reduce risk
• Safeguarding records are accurate, secure, appropriately confidential, and retained only as long as necessary
• Privacy, confidentiality, consent, data protection, accessibility, inclusion, research integrity, editorial independence, and fair process are considered together
• The Commons seeks specialist advice and makes appropriate referrals where a concern exceeds its authority or competence
• Lessons from concerns, incidents, feedback, and review improve Commons policies, procedures, training, systems, and activity
• The Commons remains a place where people can participate, contribute, learn, research, publish, collaborate, and raise concerns safely and with dignity