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Social Work vocabulary · Child Protection and Safeguarding

Safeguarding

Meaning in social work, with examples

/ˈseɪfɡɑːdɪŋ/nounCore term

In social work, safeguarding means: All the measures taken to protect children and adults at risk from harm, abuse and neglect, and to promote their wellbeing.

In Turkish: koruma, korunma ve güvenliğin sağlanması

How it is used

A key UK term in schools, hospitals, charities and councils. Organisations have a safeguarding policy and a safeguarding lead, and staff raise a safeguarding concern when they are worried. It is broader than child protection.

Example sentences

  1. If you are worried about a child, speak to the safeguarding lead the same day.

  2. All volunteers complete safeguarding training before they start.

Common collocations

  • safeguarding concern
  • safeguarding policy
  • safeguarding lead
  • safeguarding training
  • adult safeguarding
  • child protectionThe work of identifying children who are suffering, or are likely to suffer, abuse or neglect and taking action to keep them safe.
  • at riskIn a situation where harm, abuse, neglect or another serious problem is likely to happen unless someone takes action.
  • vulnerableMore likely than others to be harmed, exploited or left without support because of age, illness, disability, poverty or other circumstances.
  • abuseTreatment that causes someone physical, emotional, sexual or financial harm, usually by a person they know, trust or depend on.
  • neglectThe ongoing failure to meet a child's or dependent adult's basic needs, such as food, safety, hygiene, health care, supervision or emotional warmth.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Child Protection and Safeguarding

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