10. Safety, health and wellbeing

The word ‘safeguarding’ has a precise meaning. It’s about protecting children, young people and vulnerable adults from neglect or abuse. This includes physical, sexual or emotional abuse, bullying and cyber-bullying. Safeguarding also includes protection from radicalisation and extremism.

Most students on industry placements are below the age of 18 so are covered by the legal safeguarding requirements.

Their college, school or other provider is primarily responsible for safeguarding students on industry placements. They must have measures in place to help reduce the risk of students being harmed. These measures include policies, processes, procedures and guidance about what to do if anyone is concerned that the student may be at risk. The provider must also have named individuals with specific safeguarding responsibilities.

It’s the provider’s job to make sure students know how to ask for help if they are worried about anything. Providers should also give your organisation information about how safeguarding concerns should be dealt with during the placement, what to do and who to contact if any issues arise.

Staff who supervise or mentor students do not usually need Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. Where this is necessary in particular environments the provider should be able to give advice on how to get the checks and who should be included.

Your organisation has a role to play in safeguarding as well – it’s not all down to the provider, even if they do have the primary responsibility. You should be conscious that your mentoring role involves a duty of care to safeguard students, so you should be alert to the possibility of harm however unlikely it seems. Remember that the relationship you have with the student means that you could be in a position to see things which others don’t.

Health and wellbeing used to be viewed in the past as the responsibility of individuals alone – not any longer. People are far more aware these days that being healthy and well are strongly influenced by broader social and environmental conditions as well as individual choices and actions.

In the work environment, employers know now that actively supporting health and wellbeing pays off. Employees benefit and so does the organisation – sickness absence goes down and productivity goes up. The same applies to students on industry placements. Paying attention to their health and wellbeing helps to reduce stress and anxiety, improves self-esteem and resilience, and has a positive impact on performance.

Be aware of external pressures on students too. They may have coursework to complete while they are on industry placements. Some may have caring responsibilities. Recognise that students are young and may not be confident asking for help.

Here are four practical ways for you to use your role as mentor to influence your student’s health and wellbeing in a positive direction:

• Help your student to personalise their workspace – having flexibility over the work environment creates a happier and more productive person (of course you have to balance this with safety and other factors, such as keeping a professional appearance).
• Encourage your student to work in their preferred way – for example, you could help them to order and prioritise tasks, use working methods which suit them, work collaboratively or alone if they prefer, and so on.
• Promote physical wellbeing – encourage them to stay active at work e.g. by moving around and not sitting in one position too long, and by walking or cycling to work if possible. Talk about their leisure activities as well – ask what sports they play, and if they have other hobbies, etc.
• See that they work within prescribed hours and don’t run over too much – make the point that productive people don’t work the longest hours, and that everyone benefits from time to recharge the batteries and return refreshed.