Prior to a young person undertaking community service work that is not being supervised by a BB Officer, a responsible person from the Company or the appropriate Adviser or Convenor should complete the appropriate Health and Safety checklist. Officers who are responsible for the community service need to ensure that all the proper arrangements for the Health and Safety of BB members are in place before this work takes place. Most placement agencies (charity shops, residential homes, hospitals etc.) will have safe working practices in place for their staff and volunteers. The checklists for the Queen’s Badge and DEA cover a range of Health and Safety matters that apply equally to paid and unpaid employment.

The insert pages for the Queen’s Badge Record Book and/or the DEA Entrants Pack need to be completed by the young person prior to their community service work taking place. This should be done with the help of the responsible person from the Company or the appropriate award convenor.

The Underwriters of the Brigade Insurance Scheme have informed Headquarters that community service for Queen’s Badge or the service element for the DEA is only insured by the Brigade where this is supervised by a BB Officer. Where a BB Officer does not supervise this work, insurance cover must be provided by the placement agency, i.e. charity shop, residential home, hospital etc.

This is usually included in their employer’s liability insurance, (which covers both paid and voluntary employment) and their public liability insurance. Most employers have this level of insurance, although some may not be aware of it.

Where young people are part way through their community work that is not being carried out under the supervision of a BB Officer, checks must be made to ensure that the placement agency has the necessary insurance cover in place. If no cover is in place then either the work will need to be supervised by a BB Officer, or an alternative placement should be found and the hours already completed will accrue towards the total required for each award. Work undertaken for an individual towards the community service i.e. a retired persons garden etc. can continue and remains covered by Brigade Insurance. However, in such instances a risk assessment must be undertaken to ensure that the young person is working in a safe environment.

If you are unsure of what might be required or have any queries about these procedures, please contact your Regional Headquarters. Additional copies of the checklists and insert pages are also available from Felden, Carronvale or Rathmore. These may be found in the forms area of this website. Additional copies of the Safely Handbook are available from Brigade Headquarters and can be found on the BB web site under the Library heading.